# Are the police allowed to break and enter in this case?



## ironpony (Dec 20, 2019)

For my story, a witness to a crime's house is being broken into cause the villains want to find out what she told the police and possibly kill her, if she knows too much.

The police have responded to a 911 call from her place of a break in.  I'm guessing the police would have gotten a APB, about her being witness and her being a target, so they would know the situation if any 911 call from her were to be made.

However, if a cop gets there and the doors to the house are locked, assuming that maybe the villains broke in without damaging the locks, and then relocked the doors, would the police be allowed to break and enter in this case, if she is possibly, or even probably in danger?

Also when the police come in, would they announce themselves outloud as the police or would this be considered dangerous since they alert the crooks breaking in, to their presence, which could endanger the home owner even more?


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## Dan Rhys (Dec 20, 2019)

In that situation, if police have probable cause that a crime is being committed and are responding to a call to that effect, they certainly would have the authority to break into the place (though it wouldn't be called 'breaking and entering' because that is a crime). However, they would have to announce themselves before doing so. If a police officer did not announce himself, which happens often on TV, the homeowner would legally be allowed to shoot the officer without getting in any trouble because the person would not know it was the police coming in.

For what it's worth, my father was an LAPD officer in the 1980s.


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## Amnesiac (Dec 20, 2019)

Definitely NOT called B&E. I don't know about an APB. Seems like a very dated term..... Anyway, if they have radio traffic of a burglary in progress, they are going after the suspect, if they are still on-site. And when I entered an unfamiliar building or residence, I always had my weapon drawn, and I would always announce in a loud voice, "Hello! ____ County Sheriff's Department! Hello!"


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## Foxee (Dec 21, 2019)

ironpony said:


> However, if a cop gets there and the doors to the house are locked, assuming that maybe the villains broke in without damaging the locks, and then relocked the doors, would the police be allowed to break and enter in this case, if she is possibly, or even probably in danger?


Research 'probable cause' and exceptions to the warrant requirement.


> Also when the police come in, would they announce themselves outloud as the police or would this be considered dangerous since they alert the crooks breaking in, to their presence, which could endanger the home owner even more?


Police are supposed to announce themselves when entering a house, if there are exceptions to this you'll need to research that further. (I imagine that there are but I don't know the exceptions myself)


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## ironpony (Dec 22, 2019)

Oh okay thanks.  So even if the police do no see any suspects, they can still break in if a 911 call about a home invasion is placed still?  And they would break in just by kicking the door in?


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## Ralph Rotten (Dec 22, 2019)

ironpony said:


> For my story, a witness to a crime's house is being broken into cause the villains want to find out what she told the police and possibly kill her, if she knows too much.
> 
> The police have responded to a 911 call from her place of a break in.  I'm guessing the police would have gotten a APB, about her being witness and her being a target, so they would know the situation if any 911 call from her were to be made.
> 
> ...




Most of your assumptions here are absolutely wrong.
The police would not know she is a witness, they are just responding to a 911 hangup call.
An APB would not be issued for this, they would simply dispatch uniformed units to check it out.
They would check the doors, peer through windows, and look for signs of distress. At the same time the dispatcher may try to call the number back, and they would listen for the phone ringing (to localize it).
Only if they saw something fishy would they break in, and if they did, they absolutely would announce themselves.

You may wanna have the woman call a detective assigned to the case, so HE could inform the responding officers that she is a witness. Otherwise, that info wold never be connected.


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## ironpony (Dec 22, 2019)

Okay thanks.  I thought of that too, but not sure if she would pull out a detective's card to call, in the heat of the moment rather than 911.  But maybe.

The way I have it written now, is that she calls 911 and the main character detective, hear's the call while driving, on his radio, and realizes who's house that is, so and speeds there.  So he knows about the case.  I just thought would the officers are closer, be able to take any action, while waiting for him to get there?  Or should he call the other officers and explain the situation and tell them to break in then?


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## Foxee (Dec 22, 2019)

ironpony said:


> Okay thanks.  I thought of that too, but not sure if she would pull out a detective's card to call, in the heat of the moment rather than 911.  But maybe.


She's your character. Stop trying to think of what the exact right perfect thing is that she would do _according to everyone else_ and sort out what SHE would do. 

People don't always do the proper or right thing, there are variables. In the heat of any moment it can be hard to think straight. She could call 911, she could call the detective, she could call the last number dialed on her phone because it's the only thing she can think of to do and she's shaking so hard...I mean, she isn't exactly thinking straight depending who she is. Get into the moment of the situation you've created, imagine the mental state of your character, figure out where you're going to point your plot and GO.


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## ironpony (Dec 23, 2019)

Well even if she calls 911, the detective will still get the call and come I think.  So that should yield the same result either way.  But if the detective kwows she is a witness in a case, and tells the first arriving officer to break in, can he then?


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