Can an officer arrest you inside your house, and in front of your child?

Question

Can an officer demand entrance into your home? They told my cousin that if she did not open the door, she would be arrested? They arrested her fiance in front of his daughter and inside his home. Is this a violation of their 4 amendment rights?

He knows why he was arrested, and was cool with it. It just doesn't have anything to do with how they went about arresting him...

Answer 1

A police officer can enter your property if they have come to arrest a person inside it. They can not enter your house other wise unless they have a court issued warrant.

Answer 2

DO you mean that he ran to the house and the cops came in after him? Because you seem to believe people are dim to think that a cop just casually came to the house and then busted in. They can go inside the house to arrest him with or without kids. 4 amendment rights say the State is to protect it's citizen with equal protection of the law.  

Answer 3

The Police are allowed to follow someone into a residence in order to arrest them.  There is no requirement for the Police to arrest the guy outside or to fill any other requests he might make.  The arresting Officer is in charge not the person breaking the law.  If he did not want to be arrested in front of his kids then he should not have gone inside.

Read the US Supreme Court case of United States v. Santana it clearly states that if a person break the law outside of their home they can not go inside their home to avoid arrest:

http://supreme.justia.com/us/427/38/case...

There is no Fourth Amendment Violation here.

As for the person at the door they could have been arrested for Obstructing the Officer.  It is not a "threat" to tell someone you are going to do something (i.e. arrest them) that you have a right to do.

Answer 4

Yes, they can. And under the circumstances you described in your "Additional Details," they should!

If he didn't want to be arrested inside his home and in front of the child, all he had to do was submit to arrest outside and not go in.

Added after your second addition: Give it up. You're contradicting yourself. And if he's 19 the legal limit is ZERO.

Answer 5

You can be arrested in front of your child, there is no law against that at all.

Answer 6

The only way the can DEMAND entrance into your home is with an Arrest Warrant, or Search Warrant.

Other than that, the Officer can only ask for permission to enter the home.

Also, yes, an Officer can arrest someone in front of their children, no matter where they are.  

I would be questioning why the Officer let your cousin's fiance drive all the way home, and get into the house because of a DUI.  He should have been pulled over on the road, so other driver's lives weren't in danger.

I am not saying your cousin's fiance is a bad person, but that is just on of the questions I would have.

But no, they can only demand entry into your home with a warrant.

Answer 7

Yes, they can.They were following a suspect that they had observed to be possibly under the influence, this is know as hot pursuit and is an exception to the warrant requirement. They did not need a warrant to arrest him as they had directly observed him committing an apparent crime. Your cousin would have, and could have, been arrested for "Obstruction of Justice" if she had not opened the door. The suspect does not dictate where he is arrested, and given that they had seen him enter the house, they may have believed that he was trying to evade capture, and thus taking him outside would give him a better opportunity to run again. Being underage can make him a DUI, but even being "under the limit" can still be charged as a DUI, that is part of what the field sobriety tests are for.

Alpha_Dog-

"The only way the can DEMAND entrance into your home is with an Arrest Warrant, or Search Warrant."

This is incorrect, exceptions to the search warrant requirement include-

- Hot Pursuit <- that is the case in this scenario

- Exigent Circumstances

You also said-

"I would be questioning why the Officer let your cousin's fiance drive all the way home, and get into the house because of a DUI. He should have been pulled over on the road, so other driver's lives weren't in danger."

It's entirly possible that the officer only noticed him near the house or had to turn around to catch him. Alternetively he could have been waiting for another unit.

old lady- They were not "bluffing", an officer does NOT always need a warrant, under any of the exceptions an officer can force entry. In this case the exception was "Felon- Hot Pursuit"

See also-

Consent, Exigent Circumstances, and Warrantless Home Entry

http://www.patc.com/weeklyarticles/conse...

"In Minnesota v. Olson, the United States Supreme Court held that warrantless entry into private premises may be allowed when officers have probable cause to believe one or more of the following circumstances are present:

- In hot pursuit of a fleeing felon;

- To prevent the imminent destruction of evidence;

- To prevent a suspect's escape"

- David

Answer 8

An officer needs a warrant to enter your home without your permission. If they told your cousin she would be arrested if she didn't open the door, they were bluffing. As to arresting someone in front of their child - there's no rule against that.  

Answer 9

If he had gone outside and didn't hold up in his house he wouldn't be arrested in front of his kid. you also have no concenpt of the fourth amendment b/c it says nothing about getting arrested in front of your kids, its about search and siezure rules. You dont' explain the situation enough but basically if he had a warrent and he spoke or came to the door so they knew he was inside then they can come in. Basically dont ever open the door for cops, if they had enough evidence or reason to come in they would get a search warrent, not ask.

Answer 10

In this case, the officers had every right. They were following a suspected felon. DUI is a felony now everywhere. By not admitting the officers your cousin was aiding his escape and should have been arrested for her interference. If you don't want to be arrested in front of your children, you should not commit crimes. Arrests are made in front of witnesses all the time, what's that have to do with the arrest ? Thankfully, guns weren't needed this time. And you can't avoid arrest by running into your house. The cops could have broken down the door even. A warrant is not needed when the crime is being observed.

Answer 11

if they got a warrant they can come in and arrest him.

Answer 12

The problem with questions like this is you either weren't there and are relying on information from others or you were there and just aren't aware of all the facts.

The other problem is your question is starting to be a little difficult to follow.

To make matters worse, people are giving you answers that are just plain factually wrong.  

Under some circumstances, I can legally demand entry into your home and I do not have to have a warrant - and you can be arrested for failing to allow me to enter without a warrant.  If I have the legal right to enter without a warrant, you can be arrested for interfering with my doing so.  

DUI is one of the reasons why I might be able to enter a home without a warrant, depending on the circumstances.

It's not possible to tell you if the arrest was a 4th amendment violation because we don't have all the information needed to make that decision.  Being arrested in front of a one year old child is not a violation of the 4th amendment, though.  

And as Neil pointed out, there is no legal limit for a 19 year old to be over when they are driving.  If you're suggesting his blood alcohol level was zero, that's one thing.  If it was anything more than that he was over the limit, period.

If there's any way you can clean up your facts and present them in a somewhat more organized manner, you might get better answers.  Leave out the part about the child, though - that has nothing to do with the legality of an arrest.

Answer 13

If they had a warrant or they were let in, they can arrest you inside your house. They shouldn't of let him in if there wasn't a warrant.

Answer 14

Betcha  they had an arrest warrant.  And if someone doesn't want to be arrested in front of their child, they can try being a law abiding citizen.

Answer 15

They did not need a warrant because they witnessed the crime.  You can't just go in a house, after committing a crime, and expect to get away with it.  If someone does not want to be arrested in front of their kids, then don't commit the crime.  Responsible parents wouldn't put themselves in that situation.