After someone dies, how much would the police get involved in their belongings?

[Triangle]

For instance would they somehow unlock my laptop/phone and look through them or is that impossible? Do they bother searching through my things or would they just say "oh, it was a suicide" and move on? I'm not involved with drugs or whatever I just value my privacy.

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

They're going to investigate to rule out homicide. They have the ability to unlock electronic devices. Anything at the scene they deem relevant to the investigation, they will go through and/or take. With law enforcement, once you're dead, you have no privacy.

 

[Triangle]

They're going to investigate to rule out homicide. They have the ability to unlock electronic devices. Anything at the scene they deem relevant to the investigation, they will go through and/or take. With law enforcement, once you're dead, you have no privacy.

That's disappointing. This occurs even if I die somewhere away from my devices and leave a suicide note?

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

That's disappointing. This occurs even if I die somewhere away from my devices and leave a suicide note?

It's possible. The more obvious that it's a suicide, the less likely. They would have to get a warrant to enter a different location, and they'd have to be motivated to do so. They might want to see samples of your writing for comparison, or they might want to go through your things to investigate further.

What is your method? Will you be at a hotel? If yes, they'll probably check video and talk to employees to see if anyone else was with you to rule out homicide.

 

[Triangle]

It's possible. The more obvious that it's a suicide, the less likely. They would have to get a warrant to enter a different location, and they'd have to be motivated to do so. They might want to see samples of your writing for comparison, or they might want to go through your things to investigate further.

What is your method? Will you be at a hotel? If yes, they'll probably check video and talk to employees to see if anyone else was with you to rule out homicide.

I don't currently have a method because firearms and SN are restricted in my country, and I can't easily access high places. So I would most likely do some sort of hanging, but I haven't a suitable location to do it. This was mainly asked out of curiosity.

If I wiped the data on my laptop/phone by doing factory resets, would this prevent them from investigating my things? I don't know if they are able or willing to access information if I have reset the devices.

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

If I wiped the data on my laptop/phone by doing factory resets, would this prevent them from investigating my things? I don't know if they are able or willing to access information if I have reset the devices.

No it would not prevent them. At least not on a computer. I don't know about a phone, but it has an operating system just as a computer does, so I would err on the side of assuming they could.

 

[Triangle]

No it would not prevent them. At least not on a computer. I don't know about a phone, but it has an operating system just as a computer does, so I would err on the side of assuming they could.

Got it, thanks

 

[InTheAirTonight]

You will have to destroy the hard drive completely to be safe. But that will likely raise more questions and an even deeper investigation will be conducted on you

Or at least wipe all the bits on the disk to 1 using a tool

 

[NotGonnaLast]

It depends on the circumstances of the death. If you make it known that you're suicidal it could make them less likely to look at your things too closely. Or if there is a history of depression/suicidal thoughts. Push come to shove? Get rid of anything you don't want them to look through.