[elishah]

> If a civilian is allowed to do it, so is a police officer.

That is often not the way it works, most especially when it comes to obtaining evidence.

If some random person breaks into your house, goes through your files until they find documentation of some crime, and then hands that over to the police, it would generally be admissible in court as evidence against you.

Whereas if the cops broke into your house and went through your files without a warrant that specifically permitted that, any evidence they acquired that way would be poisoned and inadmissible.

[bandyaboot]

That’s a bit beyond the scope of what I was referring to, but I also don’t think that really is a counter factual to what I said. A private person is not allowed to break into a house in search of evidence and neither is a police officer. The fact that evidence from the former case may be admissible in a trial doesn’t really change that.