Warrants: Can Police Kick in My Door?
Who wants to get woken up to the knock at the door shown above?
There not at the door to sell you a vacuum cleaner. Likely, that picture was taken during the execution of a Warrant by police. The Warrants I’m talking about here are Warrants of Arrest, not Search Warrants. There are important differences between the two. Police can kick in your door with a Search Warrant. Usually when I get phone calls about Warrants it’s because someone has one out due to unpaid tickets.
Other times the phone calls are due to the person not showing up for Court. And then there are the ones who committed a crime, have not been arrested yet, and received a pile of letters in the mail. Those letters are from law firms who have done Warrant checks and found your name/mailing address.
Stopping it before it even starts
I know what you’re thinking… junk mail is the worst but somehow it’s even WORSE when it comes from lawyers. Fortunately, clearing up Warrants isn’t that difficult. Maybe they’re keeping you up at night? Or you’re worried that Police will show up at your job and arrest you in front of your boss and co-workers. Or worse yet, the police will arrest you in front of your, friends, family, and neighbors.
Follow those steps at the link above and you’ll be back on track and can breathe a little easier. Once the Warrant is lifted, you’ll be given a Court date and things will move along as normal.
So recently I had a client ask me: Can Police Kick in My Door?
The short answer is usually no, but it depends. Police are technically allowed to look for and arrest any person with an active warrant. The important thing to remember is that police, like other parts of government, have limited resources. Does it really help things if they kick grandma’s door down for an unpaid parking ticket? No, it probably doesn’t.
The type of crime that was committed or the reason for the Warrant existing in the first place, matters. The more serious the crime, the more likely it is that the police will get permission from a Judge to kick your door in. Here are some prime examples of where the Police would come and kick your door in:
Running a meth lab out of your house? The door’s coming down. Went on a string of armed robberies? Don’t be surprised if you have a small SWAT Team in front of your house. Basically, if guns, drugs, or violence are involved then you can expect the Police to show up at your door.
Why? It’s somewhat of a waste of resources to do it any other way. Most of the time the Police will just arrest you the next time you’re pulled over for a traffic stop. So the chances of you getting a knock at the door from your speeding ticket are slim. Sleep easy tonight. If you want to know if you have a Warrant out in Texas you can contact a Bail Bondsman or my office.
