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 perteinent evidence if given warning of police presence.

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 possessed of a 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 compound of the Branch Davidians near Waco, Texas in 1993. The force employed there can, however, hardly be considered to be in any way typical.