The police enter your home without a warrant: how to act step by step
Few situations generate as much confusion and disorientation as the irruption of officers into one's own home. The violation of that intimate space leaves the person in a state of shock that can lead them to make serious and irreversible mistakes. There is an enormous difference between an entry carried out with all the guarantees, with judicial authorisation and respect for the formal requirements, and one carried out without them: the latter is a constitutional violation with very favourable consequences for the person who suffers it, but those consequences only materialise if one acts correctly from the very first moment.
The first rule is not to act impulsively. Do not physically resist the officers under any circumstances: even if the entry is unlawful, resistance may lead to charges of resistance or assaulting authority. The way to combat an unlawful entry is not physical force at the moment, but the subsequent legal route. Nor should you expressly consent to the entry if they do not show you any order: there is a crucial legal difference between an entry against the occupant's will and one to which the occupant consents.
The first step is to demand to see the court order. Ask clearly whether they have it and ask them to show it; you have the right to see it before the search begins. If they show it to you, verify that it is signed by a judge, that it refers to your specific home and that the search fits within its limits. If they have no order and enter anyway, state out loud and clearly that you do not consent to the entry and that you consider it unlawful: that verbal act has real legal importance.
The second step is to call your criminal lawyer immediately or, failing that, the Bar Association. The lawyer can travel to the home, demand the production of the order, contact the duty court and document what has happened. If you cannot call, ask a relative to do so. The third step is to document as much as possible: if you keep your phone, you can record the course of the search, since recording the police on duty in your own home is generally lawful, without interfering with the officers; note the start time, the badge numbers, what they have found and seized and any incident.
The fourth step is to record your objections in the official record. Read it in full before signing and state that you did not consent to the entry, that no order was shown to you and any irregularity. Ask for a copy of the record.
From there the legal actions open up: requesting the nullity of the evidence obtained, which may lead to dismissal or acquittal if it was the basis of the case; criminally reporting the officers for breaking and entering a dwelling committed by an official; claiming State liability for the damages suffered; and, once the ordinary route is exhausted, bringing an appeal for protection (amparo) before the Constitutional Court.
It is worth being clear about what should never be done: resisting, threatening the officers, destroying evidence, signing the record without reading it or making a statement without a lawyer. And one should not assume that the situation is beyond remedy because the search has concluded: the available legal actions can be very effective even after the procedure has ended.
