believe that there is a current , ongoing crisis for which it is reasonable to act now . … The officers do not need to show that the harm has already occurred or is mere moments away , because knowing that will often be difficult if not impossible in cases involving , for example , a person who is currently suicidal or an elderly person who has been out of contact and may have fallen . If someone is at risk of serious harm and it is reasonable for officers to intervene now , that is enough for the officers to enter . Id . at 1604 ( citations omitted ).
Conclusion Caniglia may be best understood as a rejection of a legally flawed rationale , and not as a curtailment of a police officer ’ s existing discretion to address a truly urgent need . Nothing in Caniglia disturbed the Court ’ s “ longstanding precedents that allow warrantless entries into a home in certain circumstances .” Sanders v . United States , No . 20-6400 , 2021 WL 2194857 , at * 2 ( U . S . June 1 , 2021 ) ( Kavanaugh , J .) ( concurring in decision to grant certiorari , vacate , and remand in light of Caniglia ). The avenues of consent and exigent circumstances remain available to address a variety of circumstances which might call for an officer to enter a home without a warrant . Although the Court did not grant officers carte blanche permission to enter homes based only on their helpful intentions , the Court is clearly willing to accept an intrusion that is needed to address a compelling and urgent need .
Richard “ Dick ” Carothers is the General Counsel for the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police . A graduate of Emory University School of Law , he has practiced local government law in Georgia for 40 years . He served as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Atlanta , as County Attorney for Gwinnett County , and has been City Attorney for a number of cities over the years . He is a member of the Georgia and Ohio Bar Associations .
Dick also serves as insurance defense counsel for cities and counties including their officers and employees throughout Georgia in state and federal courts . His firm is currently defending cases representing numerous law enforcement officers and first responders . He is admitted to practice in all Georgia appellate courts , the Northern and Middle District federal courts , the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals , and in the United States Supreme Court . Dick has represented a Georgia city in a case and argued before the Supreme Court .
Dick is the Past President of the Local Government Section of the State Bar of Georgia and serves as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the Georgia Department of Transportation . His firm , Carothers & Mitchell , is located in Buford , Georgia .
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