Act 218 took effect in 2023, requiring all law enforcement agencies to adopt and implement a set of minimum standards. The law allows departments to establish additional standards that are more restrictive.
The Municipal Association’s Risk Management Services drafted model policies for each of the standards, available for use by all cities and towns at www.masc.sc (keyword: law enforcement model policies). Departments that are not SC Municipal Insurance Trust or SC Municipal Insurance and Risk Financing Fund members should reach out to the SC Criminal Justice Academy for policy questions.
The seventh set of model policies address search warrants, including “no-knock” warrants, as well as the steps that officers must use to obtain warrants.
No-Knock Warrants
The policies note that when executing a warrant on a home through forced entry, there are a few cases where officers are allowed to forgo knocking before entering. These include cases where the officer’s purpose is already known to the occupant, when safety would be jeopardized by announcing, when the delay of knocking may enable the suspect to escape, or cause evidence to be destroyed, or when prisoners have escaped and retreated into their home.
When officers pursue no-knock warrants, the policies require them to explain the need for it in the application and affidavit for the warrant. In cases where the officers intend to execute the warrant at night, they must give justification for this. Also, the policies require the chief of police to review and approve any no-knock warrant that officers execute.
Find more information about all law enforcement policies online.