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| Patrick Ducharme |
A peace officer must orally identify herself before entering a private residence, unless there are exigent circumstances. A proper announcement is necessary even when the door is open, unless it can be said that the open door, in all the circumstances, represented an express or implied invitation to the peace officer to enter. Otherwise, the peace officer becomes a trespasser.1 A Judge who authorizes a peace officer to enter a dwelling house may also authorize the peace officer to enter the dwelling house without prior announcement if the Judge is satisfied, by information on oath, that there are reasonable grounds to believe the prior announcement of the entry would expose the peace officer or other person to imminent bodily harm or death or result in the imminent loss or imminent destruction of evidence relating to the commission of an indictable offence.2 Section 529.4 provides as follows:
529.4: A Judge or Justice who authorizes a peace officer to enter a dwelling-house under section 529 or 529.1, or any Judge or Justice, may authorize the peace officer to enter the dwelling-house without prior announcement if the Judge or Justice is satisfied by information on oath that there are reasonable grounds to believe that prior announcement of the entry would
(a) expose the peace officer or any other person to imminent bodily harm or death; or
(b) result in the imminent loss or imminent destruction of evidence relating to the commission of an indictable offence.
Section 529.3 is the statutory authorization for an officer making a warrantless entry as a result of exigent circumstances. The section provides:
529.3 (1) Without limiting or restricting any power a peace officer may have to enter a dwelling-house under this or any other Act or law, the peace officer may enter the dwelling-house for the purpose of arresting or apprehending a person, without a warrant referred to in section 529 or 529.1 authorizing the entry, if the peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person is present in the dwelling-house, and the conditions for obtaining a warrant under section 529.1 exist but by reason of exigent circumstances it would be impracticable to obtain a warrant.