The police want me to give them permission to search my house, car, computer, camera, etc. Should I give it to them?
Whitney S. Boan Protecting Your Right
Video Transcript
Oftentimes when people are faced with the police requesting to get inside a car, a house, a cellphone, a camera, they feel like if the police are asking me, I’m going to look guilty if I don’t cooperate, or they feel like they don’t have a choice but to give that consent. In and of itself that defeats it being consensual. If you feel like you have to consent, then that makes it not consensual. You need to speak with a lawyer however before you give consent to let the police do anything where they don’t have a warrant that they have lawfully obtained to get inside your house, your car, your cellphone, or your camera. You have no obligation because the police ask you to do something even if you feel like they’re pressuring you to do it, unless they have a warrant. You should definitely talk with a lawyer to figure out whether or not you should have complied with that, or whether or not you have any rights or defenses based upon the police’s failure to get your consent or to do it in a manner in which it would be determined legally by a court.