The Police Want to Search My Home or Other Property Should I Let Them?

So the police want to search your home or your car or your place of business and you’re wondering whether or not you should let them. Understand that one of the most basic constitutional rights that we all have is the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. This is embodied in the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Florida Constitution and the constitution of every other state in our country.

This right is so sacred that the police cannot enter your home unless they have a search warrant or they get your consent to search. In order for police to get a search warrant to go into your home, your car or your place of business they have to apply for one with a judge and that’s a process that the police many times don’t want to go into. First it takes quite a few hours and second they may not have sufficient evidence to allow them to get that permission from a judge and get a search warrant.

Many times what the police try to do is get you to consent to search. The police are trained in obtaining that consent from you. They may tell you things that are very scary and very upsetting to you in an effort to get you to acquiesce and agree and allow them to come into your home or your place of business or even your car.

My advice to you is do not consent to search. If the police have justification and sufficient cause, tell them that they need to go get a search warrant from a judge. Many times that will get them to go away. Other times they may very well go to a judge and ask for that search warrant but either way you know that your constitutional rights have been protected and you’ve made the right decision.