The majority of students are familiar with the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution regarding unreasonable search and seizure. But it is not uncommon for young people to be easily intimidated by the power of law enforcement. This fear often leads to unnecessary hassle and preventable self-incrimination.
It is our duty as American citizens to know and understand our rights so that we can continue to protect ourselves against ever growing government. In the words of prominent Knoxville defense lawyer Mike Whalen, “Rights are like muscles. If you don’t flex them, they atrophy.”
Due to a lack of understanding, students fail to realize the potential to exercise this right against unreasonable search and seizure, particularly in their residence. The Fourth Amendment means that unless police have a warrant, you do not have to let them into your private residence. Citizens are granted the absolute expectation of privacy in their home.
In order to properly exercise this right, students must first swallow their ego and respect the police. Give officers the appropriate politeness and they will likely reciprocate. Use “sir,” “ma’am” or “officer” when addressing authority and never escalate tensions by losing your temper. Officers will probably respect students who are both knowledgeable of their rights and considerate towards authority in such circumstances.
It is difficult to truly understand how to prevent unreasonable search and seizure by simply reading the Bill of Rights. As such, to illustrate, the following is a walkthrough of how to legally and reasonably handle a police encounter should the police show up at your off-campus residence.
A group of students are having a gathering at their apartment in Fort Sanders. The police receive a call for loud music and approach the apartment’s front door. If the door is left open, the residents automatically forfeit their right to privacy. Keep your door closed at all times. Officers have the ability to enter under probable cause, but they must have physical evidence to do so. In other words, a “hunch” is not enough.
When the officers knock, a legal resident of the apartment should step outside and close the door behind him or her to address the concern. Politely ask the officers what the problem is. In this instance, the officers might say, “We received a call about loud music, so we’re here to check it out.” At this point, excuse yourself and go back into the apartment (closing the door behind you) to turn down the music. Tell everyone inside to keep the noise level to a minimum.
After this, go back outside and close the door behind you. Explain to the officers that you’ve toned it down and that they won’t have to come back there again. At this point, the officers could either leave or ask to step inside. For illustrative purposes, these officers want to go into your apartment.
The officers could approach this a variety of ways: “We’d like to do a welfare check on everybody inside” or “We thought we smelled marijuana/saw underage people drinking.” If they ask for a welfare check, explain that everybody inside is fine. If they go for the second approach, politely say “I don’t smell anything” or “They look younger than they are.”
If you find yourself in a situation where you might get into trouble, never lie to police but use wit to respond to their rhetoric. If the officers begin to ask questions you’re uncomfortable answering, respond by asking, “Am I being detained officer, or am I free to go back inside?” Unless you are guilty of some crime that they can visibly see, you should be allowed to go in peace.
After you’ve made it clear that you’re not interested in the police sweeping through your apartment, the officers will likely leave the scene. Police have the power to receive a search warrant over the phone but rarely do so for a legitimate welfare check or for a couple of drinking tickets. The key is to be calm, collected and considerate of the officers.
Students should avoid activity that might provoke a police response in any form. Refrain from breaking the law and you’ll avoid the consequences as well.
Though many young adults have a stereotypically negative perception of law enforcement, the men and women of the police department would take a bullet for any citizen any day. But like all people, police can make mistakes or get out of line.
By exercising your right to privacy in your residence, you perform your duty as an American and correct any misbehavior on the part of law enforcement. Knowing your rights and flexing those muscles will allow you to legally “body build” your way to a healthy private life.
— Oliver Casey is a sophomore in enterprise management. He can be reached at [email protected].
