Supreme Court Expands Scope of ‘No-Knock’ Police Searches

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that property damage is not a consideration in deciding if police with search warrants can lawfully break into a home without knocking.

The nation’s highest court said the statute on “no-knock” entries does not prohibit damage but authorizes officers to damage property in certain circumstances.

The ruling means evidence cannot be excluded in a case solely because police officers with no-knock warrants damaged property when they entered a building.

The Supreme Court reversed a U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that held that police officers with a search warrant wrongfully broke a garage window while searching for an escaped inmate. The appeals court held that there were insufficient circumstances to justify the destruction of property.

Writing for a unanimous court, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist said an entry’s legality does not depend on whether property is damaged.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that no-knock entries by police usually are unlawful but can be allowed if the situation involves danger to the officers or others.

“A no-knock entry is justified if police have a ‘reasonable suspicion’ that knocking and announcing would be dangerous, futile or destructive to the purposes of the investigation,” Rehnquist wrote. “Whether such a ‘reasonable suspicion’ exists depends in no way on whether police must destroy property in order to enter.”

The ruling stems from an appeal by federal prosecutors who wanted to use weapons seized from a man’s home in Boring, Ore., as evidence against him in a gun-possession case.