How does it work if the police have a warrant for your arrest or to search your vehicle?
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It’s like a police hallway pass handed out by a judge to search your house/property. I’m not a lawyer
Cops can’t just do whatever they want. If they want to search an area, such as a house or a car, they need one of three things:
* Consent from the owner
* Reasonable suspicion that evidence of criminal activity exists within it. Reasonable suspicion is more than a hunch and must be substantiated after the fact.
* or a warrant. A warrant is a paper signed by a judge saying “The police may search this area because xyz”. The police may only search the area described in the warrant.
Varies wildly depending on country. Are you curious about one in particular?
Warrants and specific probable cause are foundational to a democracy. They are “grass roots” for individual liberty. Without these bumpers being constantly fought for in the justice system the word “freedom” would be meaningless.
Also note there’s such thing as administrative warrants that aren’t criminal in nature. I’ve had to obtain warrants before and I’m not a cop.
A warrant is when the judge grants permission to the police to search a certain area or do something else because criminal activity is suspected.
When a search warrant is issued, you may have been under surveillance, or a credible informant has given the police information that you have committed certain crimes. Based on the surveillance, or the informant info, they think they’ll be evidence in your vehicle (or house) which will lead to an arrest for certain crimes.
A simple example would be if your neighbour reports that 15-20 cars per day park in your driveway and leave with a paper bag within 5 mins of arriving. The police would probably surveil your house and watch this for themselves. They might even pull over 3 of the cars and once they find drugs, they would talk to the prosecutor. The prosecutor has to convince a judge that if they violated your rights by entering your home, that the police would find a lot of illegal drugs and make an arrest. Also, that they would disrupt a criminal enterprise and stop illegal drugs from being sold. That’s how a search warrant is generated. It’s usually to collect evidence that will lead to an arrest.
An arrest warrant is usually issued after the fact, or after you’ve been identified. If in the above example, you weren’t home, but they found your IDs in your house, after they collected the drugs, they would issue a warrant for your arrest. Most likely for: trafficking narcotics, possession of illegal drugs etc. Remember initially they only had a warrant for the property or car and it was to search it.
Another way an arrest warrant is generated, is if you’re suspected of committing a crime. Like if you shot someone. After reviewing camera footage, several ppl identify your face. Then the cops find out you haven’t been home since the shooting. Then they convince a judge to issue an arrest warrant based on those facts: you were identified shooting someone on camera, and have been “on the run”.
If you’re charged with a crime, the prosecution has to provide you with copies of the warrants, and the information used to obtain those warrants. If a confidential informant is used, a lot of information will be redacted (blacked out). For example if one of your drug clients was an informant, their name will never appear.
Good luck!
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