Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

July 7, 2010

When police seek to enter private property, they can obtain a warrant, secure the consent of the owner, or enter without consent if they?re acting on probable cause in exigent circumstances.

Police and other officials in some jurisdictions are circumventing the constitutional impediments to warrantless searches by creating special teams composed of police and safety personnel. Under the guise of conducting safety inspections, the police gain access to apartment buildings ? often with the help of landlords ? and collect evidence to be used in prosecuting residents for various offenses, typically involving narcotics.

In Oakland, for instance, the police have created a unit called SMART ? Special Multi-Agency Response Team ? that includes two police officers, two building safety enforcers, and a fire inspector. For several years, SMART has conducted warrantless searches of apartments and other rental properties, sometimes thoroughly demolishing living quarters in search of drugs or other evidence.

This is the kind of thing that drove our colonial ancestors to take up arms against their government.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.