2006-08-04 05:46:01 · 40 answers · asked by You M 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
If they have a warrant to search the house, that means anything and everything in the house
2006-08-04 05:48:52 · answer #1 · answered by Velociraptor 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They will usually have a warrant in the UK, under Sec 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 for drugs or Sec 26 of the Theft Act 1968 for stolen property or a Sec 8 PACE 1984 (Police and Criminal Evidence Act) for evidence of a indictable offence. There are lots of other search powers but these are the main ones and the warrant will specify what premises can be searched. They can search the entire premises
There is however a restriction in that they cannot searchin places where the things they are looking for could not possibly be so you need to check the details of the warrant which is in triplicate and which the prisoner / occupier gets a copy
The warrant will say what they can search for, if they are looking for stolen TVs then may also search be able to search for the controls too, or paperwork relating to the stolen TVs if stolen by means of deception etc...so whilst you could not hide nicked TVs in the safe you could have the handsets, the nicked credit cards they were bough with or correspondance relating to the TVs.
You have to read the warrant
In addition though they do not need a warrant to search your address and the safe if you or anyone who they have resonable grounds to suspect occupies or controlls the acddress has been arrested. Then the police will have a power under Sec18(1) or 18(5) of PACE which will be authorised by an officer of the rank of Inspector.
So if they have a warrant for stolen fridges and come round and then arrest you / a resident for that and possession of say a bit of drugs then they can search everywhere because more drugs could be anywhere.
There is a funny bit to this though.
PACE came into effect in 1984.
1984 is the title of the George Orwell Novel about the Big Brother state
In London the Met use a booklet number 101 on which the rights and entitlements and authorities for all searches are written and handed to the occupier / prisoner.
Room 101 is the room in 1984 where Winston Smith the "hero" of 1984 is taken to face his worst nightmares and tortured.
The police give you a Booklet form 101 when they search your place,
Surely some George Orwell fan was having a laugh when they picked the number for that form.
2006-08-04 06:19:01 · answer #2 · answered by Fram464 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on what the warrant that they have says they are looking for.... If they are looking for drugs then yes they can go in that safe if the safe is the size that drugs would fit into. But if the warrant says they are looking for a person and the safe is small and a person would not fit in the safe then no they can not go in the safe.
Now if you have let them in your house and told them they could look around with no warrant then yes they can go in the safe. They can not cause damage to your property and have to stop when you say they have to get out.
2006-08-04 09:48:30 · answer #3 · answered by shadow7262035 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a security safe is part of your home, it is included in any warrant issued to the Police.
Therefore, they do not need a separate warrant to search a safe.
Kind Regards,
Free Legal Advice UK
2006-08-07 16:01:36 · answer #4 · answered by Free Legal Advice UK 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Theyd have to blow the safe open, or confiscate it and have a technical Demo team crack it open. They are not supposed to open personal property without a warrant. Your house would require a warrant. But a safe would require a seperate warrant. Because they need the House warrant to get in and look around. It is your personal right to put something under lock and key.
And dont toss drugs down drains, they will check the pipes if they suspect you enough.
2006-08-04 05:50:37 · answer #5 · answered by sbravosystems 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
when cops decide to raid a specific house, then get a warrant from court to state that they are entitled to search everything in the house (i.e. in search for: weapons,drugs,evidence,suspects...etc). now it depends on what the warrant states. if it states a complete and full search of the house, it means even the security safe is required for searching. if it stated to arrest suspects, then they raid the place and look for the suspects to arrest.
2006-08-04 06:56:42 · answer #6 · answered by Amreeki 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They have the full right to search anything and everything in your house. If the warrant says 'house search' thats everything including the outside property too.
If they could do that, every gangster would have all his stuff in a safe and the police couldn't do a thing about it.
2006-08-04 06:22:42 · answer #7 · answered by TK 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There has to be a warrant to raid a house. warrants tend to be very specific. If it says "all premises" or something to that affect, yes. Chances are the warrant covers all of the property and everything in/on it.
2006-08-04 05:51:40 · answer #8 · answered by Robb 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
With a general search warrant, they can search the safe along with the rest of the house and grounds.
2006-08-04 05:50:20 · answer #9 · answered by Stuart 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on what and where the warrant was issued for. If it's for the house itself, then yes because the safe is in the house. The only exception to this rule is your computer. In order to boot that up and see what they can find can only be done if it's specifically stated in the warrant, and/or to confiscate it too.
2006-08-04 05:50:43 · answer #10 · answered by curious 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋