People v. Slaughter

In this case, we are called upon to determine whether the community caretaking exception to the Fourth Amendment’s requirement that a warrant be obtained before a residence can be entered applies to a first-response firefighter answering a 911 call and, if so, whether the firefighter’s entry into defendant’s residence was reasonable in the instant case. We conclude that the community caretaking exception applies to firefighters no less than to police officers when they are responding to emergency situations that threaten fife or property. We also conclude that the firefighter’s actions in…