SAY WHEN

Few circumstances permit police entry without warrant

The slaying of Pedro Oregon Navarro in a botched police drug investigation
last July raised a number of fears and questions in the minds of
Houstonians. One of the most pressing questions deserves an answer that is
as clear as the law and Houston's chief law enforcement officials can
provide: When can the police barge into a person's residence without a
search warrant and open fire?

The short answer must be, "Very seldom."

This week a former Houston police officer was acquitted of charges of
criminal trespass in the case. During the trial, he testified that it was
permissible for police officers to approach a house without a warrant and,
if they see through an open door a resident suspiciously hurrying to
another room, then officers can legally enter the house with guns drawn and
open fire if they feel threatened.

Mayor Lee P. Brown (once Houston's police chief), Houston Police Chief C.O.
Bradford and District Attorney John B. Holmes Jr. should loudly disabuse
officers of this notion. If police can so easily intrude on citizens when
they have insufficient evidence to secure a search warrant, then the Fourth
Amendment provides Americans in their homes little protection against
unreasonable search and seizure.

Police officers can lawfully enter a citizen's home if the citizen
consents, if officers have a warrant, if they see a crime being committed
in plain view or if they are responding to a cry for help or similar
emergency. Rapid retreat of a citizen in his home, however suspicious, is
not enough to justify police entry without a warrant. Regular review of
these principles by Houston police officers and their supervisors might
prove useful in avoiding needless and tragic violence inflicted in the name
of law enforcement.

HPD officials offer this sound advice to citizens: Don't break the law.
However, if police officers come to a private residence, citizens should
always ask to see a picture identification card before opening the door. If
officers have no warrant, they say, citizens can cooperate or exercise
without fear their right to tell the officers to depart the premises.