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hot pursuit

The hot pursuit doctrine provides that police may pursue a fleeing suspect into a home without a warrant  when they have probable cause to make an arrest and when that arrest was already in motion in a public place within their jurisdiction . See: United States v. Santana, 427 U.S. 38 (1976) . Hot pursuit is an exception to the Fourth Amendment ’s search warrant requirement which provides that police officers need an arrest warrant before they can enter a home to make an arrest. If a felony has just occurred and an officer has chased a suspect to a private residence, the officer can forcefully enter the residence to prevent imminent injury , the destruction of evidence , or the suspect’s escape. Courts generally apply this on a case-by-case basis, after a review of the totality of the circumstances facing the officer at the time.

[Last reviewed in March of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team
]

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