We have almost 9 acres in Texas. One afternoon (about a year ago) I allowed my teenagers to target practice. (A perfectly legal activity here. I was supervising; albeit, from a distance.)
A neighbor called in a complaint (again). The police took the sweet time responding.
Not knowing that the cops had been called, I told the kids to clean up, then took them out to get something to eat. We were gone about an hour.
When we got back I discovered a cop car in my driveway and my door standing open. The cop had just wandered into my house when we didn’t answer the door! He looked about as guilty as a person could be when I busted him.
I didn’t pursue anything (mainly because I can’t afford a lawyer and I hate to make a fuss over things that aren’t life and limb), but it still bothers the heck out of me. I know for a fact that they can’t enter unless they think someone is in trouble without a warrant.
But what’s a citizen to do?
In that case the cop actually had a right to enter your home. Someone heard shots fired. You and your family could have been lying inside the house wounded or dead. He did what’s called a welfare check. I’m sure he was embarrassed to find that you weren’t even home!
“But what’s a citizen to do?”
Think.
It’s a lose-lose. If you err on the side of going in, you get hammered by one side. If you don’t go in and there was a crime in process, you get hammered by the other side. Which side carries the most risk?
When I worked in EMS (pre-caller id days), we would sometimes come to a house where no one answered the door after supposedly calling for an ambulance. What to do?
At least a letter of complaint--and insisting on a written delineation of their egregious breach of your rights... with apology!
Their assumptions and actions are based on OUR lack of assertive response--- during or after the fact!
Just my humble... no flames intended