In the UK, there are various ways and situations in which a police officer can legally enter your premises. In this article, we will cover some of the most common examples.

By agreement

Of course, the most common way a police officer can legally enter his premises is with her own consent. If an officer comes to your door and asks you to come in and you say yes, his consent gives that officer the right to have legal access to your premises. While this may seem obvious, some people don’t hesitate to say yes and then regret it. If, on rare occasions, a police officer threatens you in some way to force consent or consent from him, then perhaps it could be said that this is not proper consent and constitutes a possession violation.

If you are under arrest for indictment

Section 18 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) allows an officer to verify his address if he is currently under arrest for a crime. This can happen before you are taken to the police station, but it happens more often after you are taken to the police station.

Other Ways for an Officer to Legally Enter Your Facility

The last way an officer can legally enter your facility, and the most controversial, is outlined in Section 17 of the PACE. This section provides legal guidance for entering a home and arresting people for more serious procedural offenses, re-arresting an illegally escaped criminal (eg, a runaway prisoner), or, quote, infiltrating to “save life and health.” …

The circumstances listed here primarily summarize the major key powers listed in section 17, but are by no means an exhaustive list. The most used and controversial point in this section is the power to enter to save a life and a limb. Courts sometimes had to make decisions when it was necessary to establish whether officers simply wanted to verify that someone was okay and confirm their well-being, rather than enter knowing that a life-threatening situation existed. It has been argued that simply checking someone’s well-being is simply not enough to legally use this section. Section 17 states that you cannot break into a home or property unless the police can credibly justify fears that someone’s life is actually in danger or that they may be at risk of injury or harm. serious in the near future.

As you can imagine, the use of this power is hotly debated in many cases. Law enforcement authorities like National Police Association must be very careful to invoke section 17 responsibly, or they may be open to a property infringement claim.

In this section, in particular, it is also stated very clearly that if an officer enters the premises, believing that someone’s safety is in grave danger and finds that this is not the case, he must leave the premises immediately. They have no legal right to remain on the premises for questioning, further searches, or for any other reason.