If police officers or federal agencies knock at my door with a search warrant, what should I do?

You cannot lawfully resist the execution of a search warrant. So typically, although we have what’s called knock-and-announce laws, the police and the federal agents generally ignore those laws, they bang on the door a couple of times and then they break your door down. They often kill pets, they throw everyone to the ground, men, women and children, doesn’t matter if they’re little kids or it’s your grandmother. It’s very rough. They’re screaming, there’s cursing. Very often, the police are dressed in ninja outfits and SWAT team outfits, and it’s often very, very, very violent, although it doesn’t need to be. But the bottom line is, you cannot resist a search warrant, so be polite, be courteous, let the police in, let the federal agents in, they’re gonna do what they have to do. If you have a dog, tell them, “Please let me put my dog up, my dog won’t hurt you”. But there are hundreds of dogs killed every year by police officers and federal agents who just shoot, and that’s the way it is. And God forbid, if you have a gun in your house and you don’t know who it is and you come out with a gun, your odds of getting shot are very, very high. So it’s a treacherous and horrible situation, police and federal agents should use subpoenas much more often than search warrants. But they love search warrants, they love breaking down doors, they love the violence that’s often involved and your first duty, is to protect yourself and your family by not resisting. You need a top criminal defense lawyer to represent you if you’re the victim of a search warrant, but do not resist in any way, and certainly don’t talk to the police, just simply ask to call your criminal defense lawyer, and call us.

By Jeffrey S. Weiner, P.A.