Can Police legally search inside apartment residences for a suspect without a warrant and without consent?
<p>A <a href="https://youtu.be/8_Ar5JldLBU?t=281" rel="nofollow noreferrer">video</a> of the incident. Timestamped to when they begin surrounding the apartment for brevity.</p>
<p>Jan 4th 2022 The Miami Police department was searching for 2 suspects involved with grand theft auto and credit card theft. They find one and believed they chased the other into a small apartment complex. Police surround the complex and proceed to knock on doors, ordering the residents out of their apartments to search for the suspect. They later find the suspect walking around outside.</p>
<p>Can Police lawfully order all the residents out of their apartments in search of the remaining suspect or would anyone resistant to these orders be in their legal right to deny the order?</p>

<p>The Supreme Court has ruled that warrentless searches may be made under certain defined <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exigent_circumstance" rel="nofollow noreferrer">exigent circumstances</a> which include imminent danger to the public, imminent destruction of evidence, immense escape of a suspect, or in the case of rendering emergency aid.  These do not violate the 4th amendment protections under the Constitution, because the probable cause for a warrant clearly exists, however the warrant process will significantly delay the appropriate response.  In such circumstances, any evidence in plain view can be seized and they would not be permitted to search areas where no reasonable person would think to look for them (so if they came in looking for a fleeing suspect, they could not search your closed sock drawer).</p>
<p>While OP did say the complex was small, they didn't specify how many units were accessed in this way, but I would gather that they visually checked only the ones they beleived that the suspect could have entered.  This would qualify as exigent circumstances at the time, as the suspect could potentially be armed, forcing residents to let him in under threats of violence, or lawfully reside in the complex, which presents an imminent threat to public safety AND is a suspect who police are actively pursuing.</p>
<p>The fact that the police were wrong does not change the math because this is based on facts available at the time.  On could even argue that the suspect became aware of the door to door search, at which point, he fled his hiding spot in the complex, which lead to his arrest.</p>

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