What Legal Rights Does One Have if the Police Come to the Door of a Party

My question involves criminal law for the state of: Pennsylvania.


My question follows like this: suppose a party is being thrown at a house with somebody sober at the door at all times to talk to police. If they walk up to the door for some reason (whether it be a noise complaint or routine patrol or something), what are the legal rights of the person at the door of the home (assuming he is NOT the owner or on the lease of the house).

1. If the officer requests to speak to the home owner, is he required to go inside and retrieve him? If not, what is a polite way to decline this request?
2. Assuming that the officer can see nothing inside the house through the windows or door (and can only hear music coming from inside), does he have probable cause to enter?
3. Is there anything else, generally or specifically, that the person answering the door should do or say?

Thanks.

Let's suppose this hypothetical situation occurs in a town with noise laws, and that the noise coming from the house is illegally loud for the circumstances.

I'll start by changing the hypothetical situation: no one is at the door or outside.

OK, so the police get a complaint. They walk up to the door and knock. They hear loud music coming from inside the house that is obviously illegal for the circumstances. They walk around the outside of the house, peering in, and do not see anything else illegal.

In such a situation, although the police have probable cause that a crime is being commited, they are nevertheless not allowed to enter the home. The tenant is not required to answer the door. The police may go away and get a search warrant, however.

Considering that hypothetical situation, you can see that having someone answer the door can only make the situation worse for the partygoers. The police may claim that the doorman gave consent to enter.

It might be clearer to post a notice on the door such as, "This is a private party. We will not answer the door. If you have any concerns, please telephone Bob at 555-1234." And if the police do phone Bob, Bob might want to audiorecord his end of the conversation.

It would also be good to research noise laws and other laws, and make sure the party is conducted legally. Keep in mind that if you host a legal, annoying party, that would invite confrontation, so you should be ready for such a confrontation, with the idea of legally preserving a recording of the encounter.

It might be simpler to just rent a hall someplace where parties are normally held.

Thanks for the reply. So nobody is even required to answer the door? Wow, I didn't know that. We usually have a sober person there regardless to regulate the inflow/outflow of guests throughout the course of the night.

I have checked the city noise ordinances which says that music should not be heard more than 40ft from its source so we try to keep that under control to the best of our ability.

Also, if the police do contact someone at the door, what's a good answer to a question like "Is there a party going on in there?" I should mention that these are college parties in a college town so something like renting a hall is a little beyond our budget :)

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Quoting asdf1865

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I have checked the city noise ordinances which says that music should not be heard more than 40ft from its source

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That sounds like an unconstitutional restraint of "free speech". My mother can hear a quiet whisper that far away. Still, challenging that can be a time-consuming hassle. It might help if you could link the actual ordinance.

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if the police do contact someone at the door, what's a good answer to a question like "Is there a party going on in there?"

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I considered all the things that could go wrong, and how to prepare for them, and concluded having someone talk to them is just asking for trouble. For example, the police could order, "Get the homeowner." I believe the door"man" would be entitled to not answer and not do anything, but the police might respond with some kind of arrest for obstructing an officer. And if the person does go to get the homeowner, police have been known to (illegally) follow the doorman into the house, and might be able to persuade a judge that the doorman gave consent to enter.

If I were handling the situation, I would tape a document to the front door starting, "To the police..." and giving a phone number to call, and stating the occupants have a Fourth and Fifth Amendment right to not answer the door, even if the police demand it. It should state that the police do not have permission to enter the home.

The document might cite the noise ordinance and point out that it is an unconstitutional restraint on free speech, preferably giving a cite.

The document might also list the exigent circumstances that allow police to enter without a search warrant (with the point that they had better not break in with some other excuse), such as:

• hot pursuit of a felon who knows he is being chased
• probable cause that someone inside is in physical danger
• probable cause of great property damage (e.g. fire)
• probable cause that evidence of a felony is in imminent danger of being destroyed
• probable cause to believe the subject of an arrest warrant is present in that home

Note: Wikipedia has a horrible article on exigent circumstances. It is too vague, and its assertions are not supported by its cites. FourthAmendment.com is an excellent source of authoritative cases concerning exigent circumstances, though not in a summary form.

The document might also document situations that are not exigent circumstances, such as:

• refusal for someone to answer the door
• probable cause to believe the subject of an arrest warrant might be present in that home
• probable cause that a crime is being committed inside
• probable cause that a felon is inside who does not know the police are after him
• probable cause that a person who has committed a misdemeanor is inside and knows the police are after "him"
• probable cause that evidence of a felony is inside and people inside are not aware that the police are coming to seize that evidence

Note that all but the first two points immediately above are good reasons for the police to go away, get a search warrant, and come back. If police knock and announce they have a search warrant, you should open the door, as otherwise they will legally break it down.

Even better would be footnotes containing cites of supporting cases. You could undoubtedly find such cites at FourthAmendment.com. Although that would be time-consuming, it would also be very educational.

An advantage of such a document is that it makes it very clear exactly what the "confrontation" consisted of.


With such a document taped to the front door, the job of the doorman would be to keep a sharp eye out for the police, and when they start to approach, to slip inside, shut the door, lock it and immediately turn down the music. If the police say they have a search warrant, open the door. Much simpler and easier to reliably recreate the encounter.

Yes, all of this may seem like overkill. It sounds like you would rather find some magic words the doorman could say to the police that would cause them to go away. Good luck with that. But it sounds like you are planning to provoke a confrontation with the police. Please realize that some officers do not react kindly or legally to people "not cooperating" during confrontations. It would be good to just behave completely legally, but that unconstitutional ordinance makes that difficult. So be prepared for difficulties.

Oh, and realize that the police may come back with a warrant (such as to search for evidence of the crime of making too much noise). So I suggest you try to have everyone inside behave legally. If you serve alcohol, I would suggest not allowing any underage persons inside.

Seriously dude? The letter would have be as long as the door! If properly worded, noise ordinances may withstand most challenges.

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Quoting free9man

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Seriously dude? The letter would have be as long as the door!

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The door would have to be about a foot high!

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If properly worded, noise ordinances may withstand most challenges.

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Maybe. It would be good to see the actual ordinance.

The worst that can happen is the cop's break down the door .. no crime in not answering it unless they want to charge "interfering with police ..."

Thanks again for all of the information. This is how the ordinance is worded:

"717.01 UNNECESSARY NOISE A NUISANCE

(a) The making of unnecessary noise, while residing or occupying or present in or around a dwelling, building or other structure in the City by a person, animal, musical instrument, amplifying systems or otherwise, is declared to be a public nuisance. Prohibited conduct shall include, but not be limited to the following:

(1) No person shall operate or allow to be operated a radio, stereo, boom box, tape and/or CD player or any other type of sound reproduction device in any area within the City at a sound level which is audible at a distance of greater than forty (40) feet from the location of any such sound reproduction device."

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Quoting asdf1865

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... The making of unnecessary noise

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You have a First Amendment right to make "unnecessary" speech or music or other forms of communication. The government may impose reasonable restrictions on the time, place, or manner of protected speech, provided the restrictions "are justified without reference to the content of the regulated speech, that they are narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental interest, and that they leave open ample alternative channels for communication of the information." (Ward v. Rock Against Racism, Supreme Court 1989)

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(1) No person shall operate or allow to be operated a radio, stereo, boom box, tape and/or CD player or any other type of sound reproduction device in any area within the City at a sound level which is audible at a distance of greater than forty (40) feet from the location of any such sound reproduction device."

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That ordinance outlaws music louder than a whisper, from a device. I cannot imagine any significant governmental interest that serves, especially considering that ordinary speech carries at least 40 feet. Nor do I see any "ample alternative channels for communication of the information" in the music.

That ordinance is clearly unconstitutional on its face.

However, your friendly local police officer will not care, and may well seek to punish you for violating that ordinance.

While I appreciate the First Amendment analysis on offer here, am I the only one who thinks DavidForthoffer is completely missing the point?

Exactly who is going to the trouble to appeal a 50 dollar noise violation on First Amendment grounds?

I've been to a few parties in my day, and I've seen the cops respond to noise a number of times and only once have I ever seen them do anything other than ask to turn the music down, and that was only to scare us as kids, not to start making arrests.

If your party is otherwise legal (if you're violating noise ordinances and housing drugs or drunk minors the legal advice would be to stop.), then be polite and tell the guy you'll keep it down and then do so. For one thing, the officer's pissed that he's got to come down there on something so trivial as a noise complaint -- it won't make him feel any better if he has to do it again, and for another noise levels at odd hours of the night are of legitimate public interest, indulging your neighbors in this regard hardly seems to much to ask.

Leaving petulant and rather pretentious notices on your door isn't likely to have the desired effect, irrespective of how accurate the law contained in them might be.