When Springfield police were called to an apartment last week to do a welfare check on two children, they were met by a woman on her front porch, who refused to let officers into her home without a search warrant.

The woman broadcast her interaction with police on Facebook Live for 15 minutes, which has since gone viral locally. On the video, she and two friends tell Sgt. George Crolly and other officers on scene that the officers are breaking the law and do not have the right to enter the apartment.

Police were there after neighbors complained that the woman was dealing drugs out of the apartment, having people frequently in and out of the apartment for apparent drug deals in front of her children and neglecting her children by sometimes leaving them home alone.

Police found no evidence of that, Crolly said Wednesday.

But the woman, Brittany Swartz, still was arrested. She faces charges of interfering with police and resisting arrest and is due to appear in Springfield Municipal Court Feb. 19.

After Swartz was arrested, police did enter the apartment and determined the allegations appeared to be unfounded.

Swartz's video has since been posted widely across social media, including in the Facebook group Lane County Caught on Camera where it has more than 1,200 comments. The majority of the comments state the opinion that police violated Swartz's rights and she was right to refuse police entry.

Do police need a search warrant for wellness check?

So we asked: Do police officers have the right to enter a home for a wellness check without a search warrant?

The answer is yes.

Police officers can enter a residence without a search warrant under Oregon state law 133.033, which states any peace officer is authorized to perform community caretaking functions, which are any lawful acts that are inherent in the duty of the peace officer to serve and protect the public.

Lane County District Attorney Patty Perlow said that in general, the law allows an officer to enter or remain on a property without a warrant to prevent serious harm to any person or property, to render aid to an injured or ill person, or to locate a missing person, except as otherwise prohibited by law. If law enforcement thinks one of those circumstances exists, the statute allows for entry, again unless there is another law expressly prohibiting it. Perlow, who had no knowledge of the Springfield case, did not speak specifically to Swartz's situation.

Community caretaking functions also are a part of Springfield police policy, Crolly said, put into place after the 1997 Jesse Compton case. Compton and Stella Kiser were convicted of the murder and abuse of Tesslynn Elizabeth O'Cull, 3, who was beaten, burned, sexually assaulted, starved and tortured before her murder. Police had been called for welfare checks on O'Cull before her death, Crolly said, but those checks were not as thorough because there was not a policy in place.

Escalating concern by police

Springfield police went to Swartz's home Jan. 14 to conduct the welfare check, Crolly said, after reports the children were neglected. Officers became more concerned, Crolly said, by her behavior on the porch, and believed she may have been under the influence of drugs, escalating their concern for the children's safety.

"I don't want you in my house because it's my (expletive) house and I don't trust cops!" she is heard yelling on video. "You guys walk a thin (expletive) blue line. Badges don't grant you extra rights. You have to come back with a warrant!"

Throughout the video, Swartz talked about being kidnapped by police, "ragdolled" during arrests, and her lack of trust in law enforcement.

On the video, the officers are seen responding calmly without raising their voices. A male friend on the scene who also recorded the incident, was ultimately arrested on a felony warrant, after declining the option to leave because he wanted to continue holding a camera.

Bottom line, Crolly said, officers have an obligation to ensure the children were safe and not neglected or abused.

How often does it happen?

Police conduct welfare checks regularly, on everyone from children to the elderly, to make sure they are being cared for or are able to care for themselves. Crolly said in 2019, Springfield police performed 3,356 welfare checks and took incident reports on 245 of those, a requirement if the case involves a child. Of Swartz's case, he said 98% of welfare checks "don't go this way."

The whole interaction could have lasted five minutes, Crolly said. Had Swartz let them in and showed them the children were being well-cared for, the officers would have been on their way.

What access do police have in this situation?

On welfare checks, like Swartz's, police are looking to make sure that a person is safe, not necessarily to make a criminal case. Police typically need a warrant to search for items, such as drugs, not related to the wellness of the citizen. But absent probable cause, a warrant would be required for a more extensive search for drugs.



In Swartz's situation, police did not search her home for drugs, Crolly said, and the visit assured police the children were OK.

The Department of Human Services was called to take custody of the children while Swartz went to jail, something that could have been avoided, Crolly said.

"Part of our job sometimes is to check on people, and we're not trying to make criminal case," Crolly said. If a criminal case comes out of the check, then "so be it," he added. "But our primary concern was those kids' well being."

When contacted Wednesday, Swartz still disagrees that police were able to enter her apartment under the community caretaking function.

"They can't use community caretaking functions to investigate crimes," she said. "They were there because of an anonymous report that I was doing or dealing drugs out of my van."

She added she would not be letting "how they conducted themselves go," adding that she plans to provide the video and will be filing complaints with the ACLU, the mayor and the governor, as well as the Springfield police chief. She encouraged others to do the same.