{mosimage}Dynamic entry is a police tactic used when the target of a raid is considered likely to be either armed and dangerous or likely to destroy pertinent evidence if given warning of police presence.

It is also used by military units such as the SAS when carrying out forceful resolution of a terrorist situation.

It contrasts with the normal procedure, which is for the police to knock on the door, identify themselves as police and announce that they are in possession of a search or arrest warrant allowing them to enter the premises, and offer to show said warrant to the occupant(s). Such procedures are far more respectful of the rights of the occupants, but have been ruled as being unnecessary if probable cause exists to suggest that the occupants are armed and dangerous or likely to engage in the destruction of evidence.

In contrast, in dynamic entry the door is generally knocked down or otherwise opened forcibly from the outside and the police enter with weapons drawn. If the door is thought to be reinforced or otherwise unopenable, entry may be effected by making an opening in a wall.

One of the best-known instances of "dynamic entry" was that of the former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms at the Branch Davidian's Mount Carmel Center near Waco, Texas in 1993.

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