What is the standard practice for search warrants?

A search warrant allows a police officer to legally search a specified location or premises. Because the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protects citizens from unreasonable searches, police seeking a warrant must justify the need to a judge or magistrate, who is required to determine whether probable cause exists before approving the warrant. Completed warrants typically have three parts: an affidavit, which is a written statement signed under oath by police requesting the search; the warrant, which is signed by a judicial official and authorizes the search; and the return, which lists any evidence recovered from the search. The judges who sign the warrants are typically not required to scrutinize the returns. Some judges say it is not their responsibility to review whether police located the contraband they said they would find.

What differentiates a no-knock search warrant?

With a standard search warrant, police are supposed to knock and announce themselves. Then, if there is no response, police can force entry into the premises. But with a no-knock search warrant, police are not required to announce themselves and can force their way into a home or business without warning. In some cases, this meant showing up in the middle of the night and using a battering ram to break into a residence. Explore the affidavit from a 2017 raid in St. Louis.

Why are no-knock warrants used?

Police use no-knock warrants to give officers the element of surprise. No-knock warrants are intended for use in circumstances in which knocking and announcing would possibly lead to the destruction of evidence or jeopardize the safety of officers and other individuals. These warrants have become a common tactic for some police squads that are investigating drug-related crimes. Police say that without the element of surprise, drugs could be flushed down toilets or otherwise destroyed.

How long have no-knock warrants been used?

It’s unclear exactly when police started using no-knock warrants to force their way into people’s homes without warning. But the growth in the use of no-knock raids can be traced to the early 1970s and President Richard M. Nixon’s push for more aggressive policing to wage a war on drugs. Over the last few decades, the Supreme Court has issued opinions on no-knock raids and how they are allowed in certain circumstances. A 1997 Supreme Court ruling helped set the standards under which police officers are legally allowed to obtain no-knock warrants.

How easy is it to obtain a no-knock warrant?

Judges are expected to scrutinize police requests for all search warrants because of the constitutional protection for citizens from unreasonable search and seizure. For no-knock warrants, there are additional legal conditions that have to be met. “In reality, there’s a whole lot of assessment that goes into determining whether a no-knock warrant is going to be executed,” Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, told The Post. But there are no national standards for how judges should review the requests for the warrants. And experts say that judges often fail to question the merits of the requests, which are sworn affidavits and frequently based on information from unnamed informants. Police can generally request that warrant be reviewed by any available judge or magistrate in their jurisdiction, meaning in some cases those with little training or experience with felony cases may handle the requests. And software adopted by hundreds of law enforcement agencies allows judges to remotely approve requests electronically, bypassing the normal face-to-face process that usually involves an officer meeting with a judge in person.

Are there limits on the use of no-knock warrants?

Across the country, 29 states and 21 cities have approved legislation or ordinances restricting the use of no-knocks, according to Campaign Zero, a police reform group. At least 13 other states and nine other cities have recently considered proposals for such restrictions, the group said. Four states — Florida, Oregon, Tennessee and Virginia — have banned police from obtaining no-knock warrants, and others like Kentucky limit their use. In May, President Biden issued an executive order that authorizes the use of federal grants to encourage local police to restrict the use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants. The order directs federal agents to intervene when they see law enforcement using excessive force and echoes a recent update to the Justice Department’s use-of-force policy . Attorney General Merrick Garland encouraged federal law enforcement agencies to emphasize de-escalating confrontations. Introducing “Broken Doors”: A new investigative podcast, hosted by Jenn Abelson and Nicole Dungca , about how no-knock warrants are deployed in the American justice system. What happens when this aggressive police tactic becomes the rule, rather than the exception? Listen now .

Investigations

What to know about no-knock warrants

By Courtney Kan

Nicole Dungca

and

Jenn Abelson

Updated May 27, 2022 at 10:21 a.m. EDT|Published April 6, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

No-knock raids, considered one of the most dangerous and intrusive policing tactics, have been at the center of a debate in recent years over police use of force.

Criminal justice experts estimate that police carry out tens of thousands of no-knock raids every year in the United States. Those who defend the tactic say that the majority of the raids do not lead to injuries and likely prevent violence and preserve evidence that otherwise would have been destroyed. But critics say that the risks outweigh the benefits and are often not worth the amount of drugs recovered.

Generally, state agencies do not monitor the use of no-knock warrants, and federal agencies do not track the number of people killed or wounded in the raids.

But, according to a Washington Post investigation, at least 22 people have been killed since 2015, including Amir Locke and Breonna Taylor, while police carried out no-knock search warrants. Minneapolis police were looking for others implicated in a homicide investigation and carrying out a no-knock search warrant when they killed Amir Locke in February. Louisville police killed Breonna Taylor in 2020 during a drug investigation involving her ex-boyfriend. Officers later claimed they knocked and announced themselves.

Broken Doors: A six-part investigative podcast about how no-knock warrants are deployed in the American justice system

The Post obtained evidence logs and other documents for 13 of the fatal raids: In 12, officers recovered less than three pounds of illegal drugs combined — including marijuana, heroin and mushrooms.