Do you have to answer the door to police?

rubydust

rubydust

Member
If the police call round, for whatever reason, do you have to open the door to them, or can you just ignore them? Obviously if they have a warrant, they would come right on in regardless. But if they don't have a warrant, are you within your rights to ignore their request to open the door?

If they want to question you as a key witness, do you have to talk to them?
 
Of course you have the right to not open the door if they don't a warrant. But refusing to let them in would send the wrong message. They'll have a good reason to believe you have something to hide. It's much better to open the door and let them in. In any case not all police officers will take no for an answer.

2 Men Arrested For Refusing To Open Up The Door Of His Own Home | Libertarian

"2 Men Arrested For Refusing To Open Up The Door Of His Own Home"
 
If they are doing house to house inquiries then it's best to answer because they will come back. You don't have to let them in or answer the door, but if you don't then they will return with a warrant or to cross you off the list. There is no law saying you must answer the door, but you can refuse to give a statement if you are a witness, but many would question why you don't want to help.
 
That news story is pretty scary. I'm shocked they got arrested just for not opening their door. It's a shame the video won't load - I would have been very interested to see that. I wonder why it was taken down?

I know it doesn't 'look good' if you don't want to give a statement. I just want a peaceful life, and try my very best not to get involved with police stuff. I've learned my lesson from previous experience that being a witness is a horribly stressful and intimidating thing to go through.

I've now also learned through recent experience that police are VERY persistent! If you don't open your door to them, they will keep coming back, and then they also want to know why you were avoiding them in the first place. Urgh. There's just no getting away from it.
 
I don't think that people should open their door just to not send the wrong message. That's bullshit. If you open your door and they notice something that you shouldn't have, then they are legally allowed to arrest you for it -- and I don't really care if it means that the person would HAVE something to hide, but seriously, you're not always aware that you have something illegal because you don't know all the laws and privacy is still a right. People just giving it away all the time makes it harder for others to keep this right.

Now, if the police officers don't have a warrant, I'd say a possible way to deal with it would be to ask for their names and state your intentions clearly. I've heard people say that you can call the police station to make sure they really are police officers sent to you specifically for a reason -- you could then clarify that you are not interested in whatever their business is or, if you are but don't want the bother right now, try to make an appointment for you to go and visit the police station. Surely that could work? And even if the cops are insistent, if you talk to someone from the station who gives an okay, they'll probably call the cops back.

At least in my mind this sounds like a probable course of action.
 
Unfortunately power is in the eye of the beholder and how they choose to feel regardless of the situation at hand. If they want to be rude and enforce laws they can, if they want to be treated badly they can, but if you don't open the door no matter the situation when they knock they're going to get the wrong idea and already be in a "bad" mindset.

I would just open the door and treat them any other normal human being, they already got enough on their plate as is.
 
Sometimes you need to answer the door. I was staying with my uncle who had just moved into a new apartment and one night the police were banging on the door and no one wanted to get up to answer it and they kept banging. It was a good job we did, because an apartment a few doors away was on fire and we had to evacuate, so sometimes it really is necessary to answer the door.
 
You don't have to open the door and they will not be able to arrest you or force entry unless they have reason to believe that it is imperative that they do so. However I am not sure of exactly why you would not want to open the door to the police, because they will usually have an excellent reason for wanting to speak to you. For example, if something has happened in the local area that you should be aware of, they may be giving you vital information that you could then use to improve your own chances of being safe. The police are people who should be trusted by members of the community, and you should always try your best to set a good example and provide help and support to your police force whenever you possibly can.
 
I would recommend opening the door for them just to see if they have a warrant. If for some reason they do not have a warrant and they want to question you, just reply and allow them to know that you will not be talking because you have nothing to do with it. However if they try and threaten to take you to court or what ever just tell them you will be giving your lawyer a call and shut the door.
 
If you're genuinely busy just let them know, and ask for the purpose of their visit. If it's nothing serious they will typically wait or find another time/person. For all you know something might have happened to your closed ones if the police are at your door. If you have done nothing wrong you should not have to fear answering them.
 
You have the right to ignore them but they might just keep coming back and knocking. It's best to answer the door and tell them you don't want to speak to them or let them in, so they'll at least leave you alone or do what they were going to do anyways (if they already have the warrant).

It's like jehovah's witnesses. Better to answer and tell them to take you off their list than to ignore them, because they'll keep coming back.
 
rubydust said:
If the police call round, for whatever reason, do you have to open the door to them, or can you just ignore them? Obviously if they have a warrant, they would come right on in regardless. But if they don't have a warrant, are you within your rights to ignore their request to open the door?

If they want to question you as a key witness, do you have to talk to them?
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You are in your rights to ignore them if they do not have a search warrant. You have to be careful when the cops show up at your door if you let them in then you are done for if you got things that you should not have.
 
You absolutely have the right not to open the door for the police. However, things like the above can occur or the police can 'say' they heard someone in distress to & enter accordingly. When I lived in an apartment with my guy we had left our door open & a few police officers ended up walking in on us in our room. It was in credibly frustrating for me but they tried to justify it with probable cause for entrance. Of which there was none.
 
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