Exigent Circumstances

What It Is

Exigent circumstances are emergency situations where requiring police to get a warrant would be impractical or dangerous. When true exigent circumstances exist, officers can conduct a search or seizure without a warrant and the action is still considered reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.

Recognized Categories

Courts recognize several types of exigent circumstances:

Imminent Danger to Life

Police may enter without a warrant when they reasonably believe someone inside is in immediate danger of serious harm or death. Brigham City v. Stuart, 547 U.S. 398 (2006) — officers who saw a fight through a window could enter without a warrant to prevent serious injury.

Imminent Destruction of Evidence

If police reasonably believe evidence is about to be destroyed, they may act without a warrant. However, police cannot create the exigency themselves. Kentucky v. King, 563 U.S. 452 (2011) held that police knocking on a door and hearing movement inside could justify entry — but only because they didn’t create the emergency through actual or threatened Fourth Amendment violations.

Hot Pursuit

When police are in hot pursuit of a fleeing suspect, they can follow the suspect into a building without a warrant. But the Supreme Court limited this in Lange v. California, 594 U.S. 295 (2021) — pursuit of a misdemeanor suspect does not automatically create exigent circumstances. Courts must evaluate the totality of the circumstances.

Preventing Escape

Officers may act without a warrant if a suspect is about to flee and delay would result in the suspect escaping justice.

The Government Bears the Burden

When police act without a warrant, they must justify the warrantless action. The government has the burden of proving that exigent circumstances actually existed. Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740 (1984).

Police Cannot Create the Emergency

A critical limitation: police cannot manufacture exigent circumstances to avoid the warrant requirement. If officers deliberately create the emergency as a pretext to enter without a warrant, the exception does not apply.

Practical Tips

• Challenge the claimed emergency. Ask: was there really an emergency, or did officers have time to get a warrant?
• Check the timeline. If officers had been investigating for hours or days before acting, it undermines the claim of a sudden emergency.
• Look for police-created exigency. If officers provoked the emergency (e.g., loudly announcing themselves at a drug suspect’s door to trigger evidence destruction), argue they manufactured the exigency.
• The severity of the crime matters. Courts are less likely to find exigent circumstances for minor offenses. Welsh v. Wisconsin.

Key Takeaway

Exigent circumstances allow warrantless police action only in genuine emergencies. The government must prove the emergency was real, and officers cannot create the emergency themselves.