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Suppose police have a warrant to arrest me for a minor offense, like failure to pay fines.

If police come to my residence and I quietly hide they go away.

If they see me at the window or I speak with them through the locked exterior door will they break in if I refuse to open the door?

feetwet
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Aaron Mac
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    I'm not sure about Scotland, but in the US, if they know you are home and you don't let them in, an officer (or two) will wait at your house while they apply for a warrant to enter the property, which they can get in a very short period of time (30 minutes or less depending on the time of day). – Ron Beyer Feb 06 '20 at 19:12
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    @RonBeyer depending on the time of day and the jurisdiction. Bureaucracy does not move at the same speed in every place. – phoog Feb 06 '20 at 19:36
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    @phoog Yes, of course. They probably won't wake up a judge and post officers after normal business hours for a couple of fines. Ignore it long enough though and they'll get a warrant for entry and keep coming back until you are home, or get you at your place of work. – Ron Beyer Feb 06 '20 at 19:44
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    @RonBeyer and again, in some jurisdictions, there will be a judge on call overnight, so there may be no need to wake anyone up. Regardless, pretending not to be home is never going to have better than temporary success. – phoog Feb 06 '20 at 20:14
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    Under traditional English common law, still relevant in many U.S. jurisdictions, there was a distinction between an arrest warrant or search warrant, and a "writ of assistance" which is a separate document authorizing officials to break and enter premises if necessary to carry out another court order. Some modern jurisdictions merge these as different check boxes on the same form, while others keep them distinct. I can't answer as to Scotland in particular. – ohwilleke Feb 06 '20 at 22:48
  • @phoog The judge on call is likely to be asleep. You can get an answer if needed, but it better be important enough to make someone grumpy. – chrylis -cautiouslyoptimistic- Feb 07 '20 at 05:07
  • Is this something that has happened? Or something you think might happen? – Harper - Reinstate Monica Feb 07 '20 at 10:08
  • @chrylis-onstrike- again, that depends on the jurisdiction. As far as I understand it there is a judge actually sitting in a courtroom overnight in my city. – phoog Feb 07 '20 at 14:02
  • @phoog In many jurisdictions, arrest warrants for minor offenses cannot be served at night. – Acccumulation Feb 08 '20 at 01:08
  • @Accumulation Ron Beyer was the one who brought up the prospect of having to wake up a judge. – phoog Feb 08 '20 at 13:13
  • Are you sitting under the window typing this very quietly? – Richard Feb 08 '20 at 20:25
  • @RonBeyer I am not an expert but I thought if both (1) they have an arrest warrant and (2) they know the subject is home then they can break in without further papers; but if they only have an arrest warrant and you do not respond to them then how would they know you are at home. So without using your own voice tell them they are trespassing and order them to leave. Then at your earliest convenience talk to a lawyer because you can not just put this stuff off forever and sooner or later they will get you. – emory Feb 08 '20 at 21:39
  • Why have so many assumed it refers to Scotland? – Tim Feb 09 '20 at 15:25
  • We're talking about a gang that have carte blanche to shoot you if they're bored. Just saying. – Comic Sans Seraphim Feb 09 '20 at 21:50

2 Answers2

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It depends on the type of warrant. Failure to pay a fine is not necessarily an arrestable offence.

The Police Scotland Warrants Standard Operating Procedure (710 kB PDF) states:

5.3 Whilst there is no legislative requirement for Officers to physically possess the warrant to force entry / effect arrest, it would be considered best practice if a forced entry is anticipated. There may be instances where this is not practically possible to obtain the warrant in time or it may be geographically challenging to do so. Possession of a scanned copy of the warrant would be good practice on such occasions, again where the circumstances permit.

and

5.5.1 By virtue of Section 135 Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 an apprehension warrant implies authority, where it is necessary for its execution, to break open shut and lock fast places. Entry into any house or building, therefore, may be affected by any constable in order to execute the warrant in accordance with its terms and only as a last resort.

and

5.6.1 An Extract Conviction/Means Enquiry Warrant (back fine warrant) is issued by the Clerk of Court when an accused person fails to pay the fine imposed within the period allowed for payment. This extract is a sufficient warrant for the apprehension of the accused, but unlike an ordinary warrant of arrest, it does not authorise a constable to break open doors in order to affect arrest.

Sheriff officers are not police - they are closer to what in England and some parts of the USA would be termed bailiffs, used for civil recovery of debts etc.

Owain
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    Weird how they (correctly) use "effect arrest" at the start of the first quote, then (incorrectly) use "affect arrest" at the end of the last quote. – Nat Feb 07 '20 at 03:08
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    @Nat I'm mostly disappointed they didn't use "affect errest". So that thou even in affect errest on the side of caution! – Fax Feb 07 '20 at 15:20
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From https://www.mygov.scot/your-rights-sheriff-officers/

Forcing entry

If a sheriff officer has permission from the court to enter your home or workplace but you don't let them in, they are allowed to use 'necessary reasonable force' to get in.

This means they're allowed to get in by:

  • forcing open a door
  • breaking a lock
  • breaking a window

If you try to stop the officer entering your house or workplace, you could be charged with breach of the peace.

Addendum for clarification: Unless the officers are lazy or otherwise unmotivated, they will break your door and arrest you. It is impossible to answer what they will do, only what they are allowed to do.

Community
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IKnowNothing
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    Does an arrest warrant by itself constitute permission for a sheriff officer to enter the residence? Also, the link suggests that sheriff officers are distinct from police. The question is about police. – phoog Feb 06 '20 at 20:15
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    The same site indeed has separate information about the police arrest procedure: https://www.mygov.scot/arrested-your-rights/ – MSalters Feb 07 '20 at 00:32
  • Not a part of the original question, so perhaps off topic, but how does this match up to the so called stand your ground laws? They can't identify themselves if there is a door between them and the house owner, and the house owner is legally allowed to use any force necessary to stand his ground. How does it resolve? I mean without someone dying. – Stian Feb 07 '20 at 11:42
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    @StianYttervik "stand your ground" appears very much not to be doctrine in Scotland http://salvas.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Self-Defence-Memov1_1.pdf – origimbo Feb 07 '20 at 11:52
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    @StianYttervik Even in countries such as the US which do have "stand your ground" rules, "identifying themselves" with documentation is a courtesy. By calling out "Police!" they have identified themselves. In a less urgent situation they should arrange to prove that identity more robustly, but the house owner certainly isn't entitled to hide behind the door and refuse to look at their identification. It would make a mockery of policing if all that was required to avoid arrest was to close your eyes, put your fingers in your ears, and sing "La-la-la-I-can't-hear-you". ;) – Graham Feb 07 '20 at 13:55
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    Calling out “Police” would be a criminal offence. Sherrif’s officers are not police officers, and impersonating a police officer is a crime. – Mike Scott Feb 07 '20 at 18:28
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    They actually call out "Sheriff's Office!" as they attempt to identify themselves. (Source: tons of "Live PD/Body Cam" video footage. :) ) – Tim S. Feb 07 '20 at 18:48
  • In Scotland they are not from the "Sheriff's Office". The Sheriff is a judge. They are Sheriff Officers, which is (now) a completely separate thing entirely. – Owain Feb 08 '20 at 18:01