If Publisher's Clearing House knocked on your door with a check in hand, you'd gladly invite them in.
A swat team that's there only with your best interests in mind? OMG CIVIL RIGHTS BEING VIOLATED!
These people are there to save your life. I'm glad I'm not doing their job.
Someone else said that you're assuming the SWAT team is there with your best interests in mind, and that may be true, but I think the more important point is this: our rights to privacy in our homes against unreasonable searches and seizures exist regardless of the intent of those who may be violating them, and should be vehemently defended regardless of their intent. Why? For the same reason that even the actually guilty should be given a fair trial and a chance to defend themselves: we protect more than we would need to if we had perfect knowledge, because we don't have perfect knowledge, and that which we are protecting (our freedom from unreasonable government intrusion into our private lives on the one hand; the life or liberty of the actually innocent accused on the other) is of great value to us.
That said, and though I largely agree with those who have expressed unease at what the police did in Boston, I'm less certain than some that what was done violated the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches. While a search will generally need a warrant supported by probable cause to be reasonable, there are certain exceptions, which some people have noted. Here's why I remain uneasy, even given those exceptions: although it's true that the police knew (or thought they knew) that the suspect was in the general area of the homes searched, they didn't have any particular reason to believe he was in any particular house. Given that people can search their own houses for the suspect (such that the police could be somewhat assured that the suspect was not in any occupied house unbeknownst to the occupants), there are two basic scenarios where the police would nevertheless need to search the house: (a) if the occupants were knowingly harboring the suspect, or (b) if the suspect had taken the occupants hostage. I think it should be clear that the police should be required to have a warrant in the case of (a), since the occupant would be suspected of a crime, and the police would be trying to confirm their suspicion by searching the home. As for (b), the police had no reason to believe that this suspect would take anyone hostage--there had been no hostage situations thus far. Thus, a search predicated on fear of (b) would seem to be unfounded, and therefore unreasonable. (Note that none of this applies if the occupants voluntarily permitted the search.)
All that said, this was a very difficult situation, and the police didn't have much precedent to look to, and so it's hard to fault them. At the very least, they didn't go on a shooting spree like the LA police did when chasing Dorner.
What bothers me most about this case is that it may become precedent for future police forces confronted with similar situations, in light of what precedent it sets for terrorist organizations. Think about 9/11--pulling off another would be expensive and difficult, given the changes in security procedures instituted following those attacks. But here, we're dealing with what seem to me to be fairly simple explosives (though I'm no expert on bombs). So, anyone wishing to do harm could take a look at what happened in Boston and treat it as a template--especially in large cities. But think of what would have happened last night if, while all the police were fervently searching one suburb for suspects, another group of terrorists--perhaps unknown to the police until that time--begins bombing another suburb, or downtown. And think of all the wild goose chases these police could send police on: trip a motion-sensor here, rob a gas station there, place backpacks all around. Boston
cannot become the template for future law enforcement actions when confronted with similar circumstances, because it leaves too much room for error, and so too much room for additional attacks. I assume the Boston police department had to improvise a strategy this time, and that's why I'm willing to cut them some slack with regards to their chosen approach, but police departments around the nation need to figure out a better way to deal with situations like this, because I think the events of the last 24 hours have revealed a severe weakness.