Thread by @AwakenedOf

More on the police post from yesterday in response to this comment

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Granting police entry to your home without a warrant or legal compulsion, such as under Section 17 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), fundamentally shifts the legal and practical

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https://twitter.com/sergeantdixie/status/1949979483768807706

dynamics of the interaction

When you voluntarily allow police into your home, you are deemed to have given consent to their entry. Under UK law, this is not a trivial act—consent removes the requirement for police to justify entry based on statutory powers or a warrant

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This is important, as without a warrant or statutory powers applying, police entry is typically constrained by the need to prove necessity & proportionality. By consenting, you waive these protections, meaning police can enter, search, & potentially seize items without the

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same level of judicial oversight. Problems can then arise

If they spot evidence of other "crimes" (e.g., illegal substances or items they believe are stolen), they can seize them under PACE, provided the items relevant to an offence

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EG officers seize a laptop they reasonably believe may be stolen, during a consent-based entry, leading to a separate fraud investigation that would not have happened if entry had been denied

Also, the police may ask you questions. While you’re not obligated to answer -

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right to silence under PACE - any statements made can be used in evidence

Misunderstandings here are common—Citizens Advice data shows 30% of people unknowingly incriminate themselves during "informal" chats

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If "evidence" of a crime emerges after you let police in voluntarily, they can arrest you on the spot, provided there’s reasonable grounds. This shifts the encounter from informal visit to formal detention for something that the initial visit may not have been about

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As a point of note, the rise in police visits over social media posts is up 40% since 2020 according to Home Office data, reflecting heightened scrutiny of online behavior, often triggered by algorithmic flagging

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In summary, granting police entry without a warrant or statutory cause transforms a protected space into a permissive one, exposing you to searches, seizures, & potential charges based on evidence found. The legal shift is subtle but significant

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So the moral of the story is do not let police into your home if they have not got a warrant or statutory cause, and as I said yesterday, you are not obliged to open the door nor talk to them if the visit is "informal"

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