# Police Harassment **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 25, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-harassment/619903 "2012-04-25T13:46:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-harassment/619903/21 "2012-04-25T20:54:57Z")
> [@rpstitz](#): > > What if a cop has a grudge and knows that you moved out of the county…then tells your old neighbors that if they see you return to call him. Then when he misses you, he calls the next county and tells them that you were seen at a known drug dealer’s house and the local cops come to your house and claim to be able to search it without warrant because they got a report from another law agency? > And is it true that they don’t need a warrant if another law agency reports you? > > They said that they don’t need a warrant so if he didn’t open the door they would break it down and have to take his kids away. Absent exigent or emergency circumstances, a Warrant is needed to enter a home, whether it is an arrest warrant or a search warrant, and in some cases, both are needed. The SC has stated “physical entry of the home is the chief evil against which the wording of the Fourth Amendment is directed”. One exigent circumstance is the destruction of evidence before a warrant can be obtained, as in Kentucky v. King last year. This however, was a contemporaneous entry with the chase of King ending at the home. The 4th AM forbids an a warrantless entry as you describe, IMO. If the locals had info of drugs on the property, they could have applied for a Search Warrant. A reliable tip is just that, whether a confidential informant or another agency, however, this does not negate the warrant requirement. He can outline the facts to his attorney. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-harassment/619903/22 "2012-04-25T20:58:14Z")
Of course. Please continue on with the ‘My doper brother is being harassed by the cops!’ line. I’m sure Boss Hogg and Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane are now set up in Butler county to harass them Stitz boys. ---
**Author:** ![rpstitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@rpstitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rpstitz)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-harassment/619903/23 "2012-04-25T23:41:46Z")
He got a call back from a very good lawyer that wants to meet with him tomorrow, so hopefully he will take the case. No, he isn’t on probation and hasn’t been for several years. The reason I’m thinking it really did involve the trip to Butler county is that they knew he was in that county earlier that day, and they told him several times to just stay out of Butler county. If it was just a local informant, why would they have even mentioned Butler? But I know for certain that the marijuana didn’t come from Butler county. I really don’t think they could have been watching because the trip is about 20 miles and the truck doesn’t have any plates…giving them the perfect excuse to stop us legitimately. Instead, they wait nearly 12 hours and claim it was Butler county that called it in, hence them telling us that if another law enforcement agency calls them then they don’t need a warrant. Anyway, thanks for the advice and maybe this will be enough of an eye opener to keep him clean. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-harassment/619903.md?page=1)