{"id":89836,"date":"2024-11-07T15:31:51","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T23:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/portal.bluetogold.com\/?p=89836"},"modified":"2026-09-16T07:05:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T14:05:47","slug":"homeowner-tells-cops-to-leave-during-knock-and-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/portal.bluetogold.com\/?p=89836","title":{"rendered":"Being Told to Leave During a Knock and Talk"},"content":{"rendered":"

If a citizen tells a cop to leave during a knock and talk<\/a>, does the cop have to leave?<\/p>\n

This question actually comes from a citizen, a non-police officer.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s great that non-police officers are also reaching out to see if I can help them with their constitutional questions.\u00a0 I want to help everybody understand the law.<\/p>\n

A homeowner can ask a UPS driver to get off his porch or to leave the package, right?\u00a0 Can a homeowner tell an officer the same thing, \u201cHey, get off my porch!\u201d (during a knock and talk)? What happens if the officer has no probable cause and doesn’t leave?\u00a0 Can the homeowner make a citizen’s arrest of the officer for criminal trespass?<\/p>\n

Let’s go through this, my friends, let’s give you the law.<\/p>\n

Does a knock and talk give police extra authority?<\/h2>\n

The law is that a knock and talk must comply with social graces.\u00a0 What I mean by that is that when police do knock and talks, they don’t get any extra power beyond what the Girl Scouts would get.\u00a0 That kind of throws cops off a little bit, because they’ll be there for a legitimate purpose, trying to investigate crime, and a person will say, \u201cLeave,\u201d and they feel like they don’t have to leave.<\/p>\n

Do you have to leave when the homeowner says leave?<\/h2>\n

Well, let me tell you what the rule is.\u00a0 If you are there for a knock and talk and you have nothing pressing, you have no exigency, you have no emergency, and the person is making it very clear to you that they want you gone, they want you off the property, what are you supposed to do?\u00a0 Well, I’m going to tell you.\u00a0 You must leave.\u00a0 That is the rule.<\/p>\n

It may not feel feel good.\u00a0 It may frustrate you, that you’re out there trying to do the Lord’s work, and I understand you.\u00a0 My heart is with you, but the law is pretty clear on this issue. You\u2019ve got to leave.<\/p>\n

Have officers been sued for refusing to leave?<\/h2>\n

There is a case where cops have actually gotten successfully sued because they violated this guy’s knock and talk rights by continuing to try to continue a knock and talk despite the fact that they knew he did not want to talk.\u00a0 That’s French versus Merrill, and the cops did not get qualified immunity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Does probable cause let you stay on the porch?<\/h2>\n

Let me address another issue.\u00a0 What about probable cause<\/a>?\u00a0 Well, even if the officers have probable cause, but no exigency, they have to leave.\u00a0 It’s just the way it is. This person is basically saying to you, \u201cInstead of trying to handle this the warrantless way, instead of trying to work this out with you and explain my side of the story, you go get a warrant.\u201d\u00a0 That’s what they’re basically telling you to do, \u201cCome back with judicial approval to be back on my property.\u00a0 Go get some paper signed by a judge, and come back with your friends and make a forced entry if needed.\u201d\u00a0 That’s what this guy is basically telling you to do.<\/p>\n

Can a homeowner citizen arrest an officer for trespass?<\/h2>\n

The other issue, though, which I have to answer is; can the homeowner make a citizen’s arrest of the officer for criminal trespass?\u00a0 Absolutely not!\u00a0 No way. There’s no way in any state that the court is going to allow you to put hands on an officer to arrest them for criminal trespass.\u00a0 The courts won’t allow that as a public policy concern.\u00a0 You can read the statute books and say, \u201cWell, it doesn’t say that I can’t arrest an officer.\u201d\u00a0 Well, the courts are going to do a public policy judgment.\u00a0 They’re going to say, \u201cDue to public policy concerns, we are not going to uphold a citizen’s arrest of an on-duty police officer for something like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

When can a citizen lawfully resist an officer?<\/h2>\n

The only exception where courts allow citizens to go against the police is when the cop is using some kind of unauthorized force, usually deadly force.\u00a0 If you sincerely believe that you’re being suffocated, asphyxiated, and so forth, that a cop is putting a knee on your neck or something like that, clearly, you have a right to defend yourself.\u00a0 And if that means pushing on the officer and using some kind of force, you’re allowed to do that, but you\u2019d better be right.<\/p>\n

If a person believes that they’re being unlawfully arrested, and they use force to try to not go into custody because the cop is being unlawful, or aggressive, the court will say, \u201cEven if the arrest was unlawful, your option here is to take it to court.\u201d That’s what we have a civil rights lawsuit for.<\/p>\n

So going back to this, if the homeowner believes that his rights are being violated, the solution is not to try to arrest the police officer. The solution is to go get a lawyer and sue that police officer, and we go from there. That’s what the courts want you to do.<\/p>\n

I actually think it’s a very good question, because I think a lot of cops also wonder this too. Do we have to leave if we’re told to leave? The answer is \u201cyes,\u201d unless you have exigency or a warrant.\u00a0 Pass this along to other officers and citizens.\u00a0 I’m trying to educate as many people as possible about what the law says. Hopefully this is helpful and answers the questions.<\/p>\n

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Related from Blue to Gold<\/h2>\n