Under the premise expressed by Law Enforcement of “exigent circumstances” the U.S. Constitution’s 4th amendment deserves a revisit.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.  [Fourth Amendment – U.S. Constitution] 

The Fourth Amendment (Amendment IV) to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. It was adopted as a response to the abuse of the writ of assistance, which is a type of general search warrant, in the American Revolution. Search and seizure (including arrest) should be limited in scope according to specific information supplied to the issuing court, usually by a law enforcement officer, who has sworn by it. The Fourth Amendment applies to the states by way of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

BOSTON – A startling home-made video now shows the terrifying moments where Watertown residents were forced out of their homes at gunpoint as SWAT teams performed door-to-door searches as they hunted the second marathon bomber.

While millions of Bostonians waited in their houses on Friday during the city-wide lockdown, the people of Watertown were faced with SWAT officers yelling at them to get out of the buildings immediately.

At the time, the Boston police department and federal agents were barely criticized, but now many are concerned about the dangerous precedent that could lead to more police searches using the rationale of ‘exigent circumstances’ as an excuse.

The video, shot by an unidentified Watertown resident, shows a team of SWAT officers wielding semi-automatic guns bang on his neighbor’s front door and scream for them to get out of the house’.

The residents are whisked away- hands in the air, one by one- to a nearby group of officers as the SWAT team searches the house for the second shooter, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Early reports, made by journalists who were kept out of Watertown by a police barricade, said that the searches were voluntary.  (read more)