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Can police officers enter a neighbor's backyard during a SWAT operation?

Author
Anthony Bandiero
Published
Wed 26 Jan 2022
Episode Link
https://rss.com/podcasts/b2gsss/373242

The following is a computer-generated transcription, some grammar and spelling errors may be inherent

Hey guys, it's Anthony Bandiero. Here attorney and senior legal instructor for Blue to Gold Law Enforcement Training bring you another roadside chat from the studio got an excellent question. I'm looking at my computer here from an officer in California. Okay, so the officer basically is asking, Can police go into a neighbor's backyard during a SWAT operation? Excellent question. So let me just kind of give you a little feedback about the scenario here. So during a SWAT operation, let's say a search warrant, SWAT operators are attempting to establish containment next to the house, right to the residence, the target. Now they ask permission to go into somebody's backyard, but they are denied. Can the officers still enter the neighbor's backyard for containment purposes only? or would this be a violation of the Fourth Amendment? Excellent question. And here's your answer. Do you have agency? Right? Do you have actions the agency just to get you into people's backyards? Now? I need to know more facts. Right? I didn't know more facts, why do you believe that? That there's no time to go get additional pre-approval to be in these neighbor's backyard. By the time you get that approval? Whatever, something bad could happen. I need to know what I know. Now, first of all, we're pretty close there logically because this cop is telling me that they got SWAT deployed, you know, on this house, right? In 2021, we're not dusting off Swat, unless it's pretty serious is my impression out there because of the liability that comes with SWAT operations. So we're getting our operators out. And we're gearing up. It's, it's for a serious situation, right? People have guns, and so forth. That could be, you know, a menace and so forth. So I want to know that though. So I guess that goes along with what the operation is about? If this is a, I mean, Wahby does not SWAT for a child porn investigation? I don't know. You're gonna have to sell me on it. But you get my point. So the answer is Look, do you have exigency? Do you have some kind of public safety issue that if you are not in that backyard, this guy could escape and hurt other people? Right? Is this is his this neighbor's house, the only yard that you could have put is the only yard that you could actually potentially have a container like contain this person, there's no alley, there's, there's a huge retaining wall. On the other side. In other words, this neighbor, like it or not, has the best place for us to to be in case this guy comes out. So stuff like that will help. But as a matter if we go into that backyard, and we go to court, and we get sued, now, these, these neighbors are already denying entry. So you know what's going to happen. If the cops go back there anyway, they're likely to get sued, right?..

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