Occupants of properties may give you consent to enter restricted areas of the property. This can be overriden by the owner of the property.

Emergency searches may be performed when there is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that a person within the private property is unconscious, critically injured, or a preventable ongoing crime is taking place.

When doing so, the following procedure must be followed:

• Orders of compliance must be given to the occupants for at least 3 seconds with no response or refusal to comply

• Only the on-duty supervisor (or the highest rank) is informed of the search in progress whenever possible

• Only rooms which are the subject of the emergency search should be entered

Reasons to perform an emergency search:

• Burglary alarm or 911 call from the property, with no occupants of the property in sight to confirm their safety

• Reasonable suspicion of an ongoing crime on the property, e.g, proof of narcotics, a meth explosion, a murder...

• Medical emergencies (Life alerts, moaning bodies, reasonable suspicion of injured persons)

• Shots were fired within the property

• Threats within the property that would pose a risk to the general public, e.g. bombs, fire...

If a situation does not require immediate entry to the property, a search warrant should be executed. 

Refer to the reasons listed below in "Search Warrants" when NOT to perform an emergency search. If evidence of a crime is found during an emergency search, you may continue without a warrant.

Search warrants give you exclusive permission to search a property within the limits listed in the search warrant. Once the subject of a search warrant is found, it means the situation is concluded and the search should no longer continue, with the exception such as illegal substances.

Reasons to perform a search warrant:

• Warranted suspect(s) spotted within the property

• Any other situation or crime, where immediate entry isn't necessary to prevent the life or safety of officers or the general public