When can police enter?

When police (or sheriff's deputies) are called about a loud party, loud music or some non-violent issue at a nearby residence, under what circumstances can they enter the residence?

Let's say the neighbors are upset by a loud party in the neighborhood. Perhaps it's during spring break, and there are 40-50-60 kids at a house nearby. Some of them are of legal age (18 in Illinois), and some of them are younger. Now let's say that alcohol is present - inside the house.

The neighbors get mad in the middle of the night and call the appropriate law enforcement agency. The troops respond.

Now, let's say that all the kids are inside the house. The cops (speaking generally here, of course, and using "cops" in its generic sense) knock on the door, expecting someone to answer. No one answers. The cops knock again and announce themselves. No one answers.

The cops know the house is full of kids. Can they open the door and go in?

No one is screaming for help. They cannot see anyone being harmed. No shots have been fired. (Well, maybe a few well-aimed shots from the bottle of booze in the kitchen...) Anyway, no gunfire.

Can the cops go in?

Absent exigent circumstances, my opinion is that the cops cannot open the door and go in. And, if they do, they have entered the house illegally and any arrests that follow, and charges filed, are quite likely to get thrown out.

Now, does something like this happen in McHenry County? In any of the municipalities in McHenry County? In the County itself?

This morning's Northwest Herald carries an article about 34 arrests at a house in Bull Valley, following a loud party early yesterday morning. McHenry County Sheriff's deputies responded, after neighbors called to complain. According to the article, some of the 60 kids were outside and some were inside.

Could a visitor admit the officers, or must the resident admit the officers? The paper didn't identify the owner, but it reported that one of the kids arrested was the "son of the homeowner." The paper said that "The homeowner, whom police didn't identify, was unaware of the party." Does that mean he or she was home and holed up in a sound-proof room, or was the homeowner not home? If not, did he or she know the son was going to host a party of 60 kids? If so, wouldn't the homeowner be home???

It should be interesting to learn whether the deputies entered the house lawfully.

Twenty-six (26) of the partygoers were issued citations for Unlawful Consumption of an Alcoholic Beverage by a Minor and ordered to appear in court on Friday, April 27, 2012, at 8:30AM. A total of 34 citations were issued, according to a press release by the Sheriff's Department.

The homeowner's son is to appear in court on Thursday, April 26, at 8:30AM. A 21-year-old man was charged with Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and is to appear in court on April 26 at 8:30AM.

The press release on the Sheriff's Department website bears no signature. Not the Sheriff's signature; not the Undersheriff's name of signature. Does anyone else wonder who the mysterious person is at the Sheriff's Department who writes and issues a press release over the sheriff's name? Whatever happened to accountability?