Depending on where you live, that's exactly what happens.
In Kentucky, they'll send (usually) 3 state troopers, and knock on your door. If the person that they want isn't at home, they'll take your word for it, and let you be on your way.
In Ohio, it's usually six or more officers with guns drawn. They'll try to open the doors of the house to gain entry without knocking or announcing their presence. When the person that they're looking for isn't at home, they'll try to find a reason to come inside and search the property looking for that person (and a reason to arrest everyone inside). They'll then circle the house outside for 24-48 hours to intimidate the people inside but eventually give up when they realize that the person doesn't actually live there.
What's really sad is that I was great friends with a member of Law Enforcement until I realized how short-sighted and two-faced he was; the LEO community really breeds an environment of "us versus them" and if you're a defendant (regardless of guilt or innocence), you're a scumbag who deserves to be in jail.
Not criticizing you for ending your friendship; but, as a side note, this contributes to another effect- basically the only people that thuggish oppressive cops can actually relax around, and be casual friends with, are other cops. Which only contributes further to "us vs them".
If a sci-fi novel portrayed a society where the police were a separate race of creatures who lived in walled compounds and survived by robbing and intimidating the citizens around them, I'd agree that it was far-fetched... But it seems like our society is taking constant, purposeful steps towards such a world. The war on drugs, asset forfeiture laws, militarization of cops.... violent raids on a little old woman selling illegal beer, followed by attempts to have her home destroyed...
Not to mention the fact that many police officers don't live in the communities they, er, police (I can't bring myself to use the word 'serve' any more in relation to the police :-( ).
An ex-cop I know justified this on the basis that you don't want people who would probably have a grudge against you to know where you live, which would be reasonable enough if police didn't have so many other protections in place. I don't think his attitude is universal, but there is clearly a significant cohort of police officers who are fully engaged in a 'race to the bottom' and consider themselves the rightful beneficiaries of a secular antinomianism.
The war on drugs is a primary driver for militarization of police in the US. To be fair, SWAT teams who raid drug houses often face heavily armed, violent criminals. There's a need -- sometimes -- for aggressive tactics. But the SWAT officers are far better trained than the regular police force who should not be engaged in this level of high risk, forced entry.
I've known SWAT officers and non-violent drug dealers who were both fundamentally decent people.
The problem can often be traced back to how police departments make up budget gaps. A large chunk of a department's budget comes from federal funding. The more drug related arrests, the more "war on drugs" money a department gets. This inadvertently enters a slippery slope where militarization on both sides is incentivized.
If local communities actually covered the full budget of a police department, the system would probably tend towards a more just and appropriate level of force.
In Kentucky, they'll send (usually) 3 state troopers, and knock on your door. If the person that they want isn't at home, they'll take your word for it, and let you be on your way.
In Ohio, it's usually six or more officers with guns drawn. They'll try to open the doors of the house to gain entry without knocking or announcing their presence. When the person that they're looking for isn't at home, they'll try to find a reason to come inside and search the property looking for that person (and a reason to arrest everyone inside). They'll then circle the house outside for 24-48 hours to intimidate the people inside but eventually give up when they realize that the person doesn't actually live there.
What's really sad is that I was great friends with a member of Law Enforcement until I realized how short-sighted and two-faced he was; the LEO community really breeds an environment of "us versus them" and if you're a defendant (regardless of guilt or innocence), you're a scumbag who deserves to be in jail.