If police officers get a warrant, that means that they can come into your residence, even if you tell them you don't want them to. However, they are supposed to attempt to do this in a peaceful manner by following these three steps:
1. Giving you notice that they have arrived.
2. Identifying themselves and telling you that they are police.
3. Telling you that they plan to enter and why they can lawfully do so.
Generally, this means an officer is going to knock, say that he or she is with the police force, and say that the officers are trying to execute a search warrant. The officers will then wait, and they'll usually knock a few times.
If no one answers the door, then officers do have the option to enter forcibly, often just by breaking in the door. They can also break in, lawfully, if you refuse to open the door, even when told that they have a warrant.
There are exceptions to this, such as situations where the police are in danger or where they have a no-knock warrant. Generally speaking, though, these steps have to be followed exactly, or the search can be deemed illegal.
For instance, if the officer knocked on the door, waited for just five seconds -- perhaps while you were walking across the room to open it -- and then broke in, that might be an illegal search. The police need to give you a "reasonable" amount of time to comply with their demands. This is a bit of a gray area since what is "reasonable" can be up for debate, so it's important to know your rights and what you can do to show they were violated.
Source: Romaniuk's Search Warrants Considered, "No Knock / Dynamic Entries," accessed Aug. 17, 2016
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