Note that this does NOT protect police if they perform the warrantless search and do not find the alleged at-risk evidence.
****Note that this does NOT protect police if they perform the warrantless search and do not find the alleged at-risk evidence.****
Protect them from what, a few weeks paid administrative leave?
What if they find something completely unrelated? They are now free to claim the item not explicitly sought before breaking down the door is what they wanted. Who can challenge that claim? The cops are now free to knock down your door and go on a fishing expedition. They are only at risk if the fishing expedition yields nothing. The 4th amendment was created to prevent exactly that level of intrusion by the government. It was a bad decision.