Arrest Warrants: When and How the Police Obtain Them

To begin with, let us define what exactly an arrest warrant is and what it is used for. As most of you may already be aware, an arrest warrant is an official document or authorization which is duly approved and signed by a judge or magistrate and this document essentially gives the law enforcement the green light to go ahead and arrest the suspect/s mentioned in the arrest warrant itself. These warrants are issued in many cases including DUI hit and runs.

The search warrant that Det. Alonzo Harris had in the movie Training Day was not a search warrant – it was a flyer to some sort of local event. That was illegal what he did but since his life was on the line, he did not care. Though considering the home he was robbing was a drug house and the money he stole was drug money, he may have stolen from the right person but nonetheless, that was not a warrant and it was not the only law that Alonzo broke that day. He was a greedy thug!

If you go by the words of criminal defense lawyers, arrest warrants must be as specific and detailed as possible otherwise the judge or magistrate may very well refuse to sign it. Therefore, the arrest warrant should include all details of the suspected crime, the evidence in hand, the suspect’s current whereabouts, the arrest plan, etc. Furthermore, the arrest warrant may also in some cases restrict the way a suspect is arrested.

Det. Alonzo Harris does not care about any of this. He was a dirty police officer!  

For instance and moreover, an arrest warrant can stipulate that a certain suspect can only be arrested between the times of 6 am and 6 pm. Some arrest warrants also specify the bail amount or bond that will need to be posted by the suspect after the arrest to regain their freedom as they wait for their trial. However, in cases where the suspect previously failed to show up to their court date, the arrest warrant will mention that no bail or bond is being offered to the suspect at all.

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How Law Enforcement Acquires an Arrest Warrant

To get the ball rolling, when a law enforcement officer suspects someone of a crime and wants to place them under arrest, he or she will need to file an affidavit to a judge or magistrate accordingly. The affidavit will be filed and submitted under oath and it should contain within it enough facts pointing towards the suspect and establishing probable cause for arrest.

The warrant should clearly mention the suspect and the suspected crime very specifically and broad descriptions which may apply to numerous people will not be encouraged by the judge or magistrate and criminal defense attorneys know this to be true.

For example, an arrest warrant which claims suspect Mr. X needs to be arrested on the basis that he is a 6 foot, African American male, and matches the description of the suspect in a crime will simply not be approved as this description can be suitable for hundreds of men.  

On the other hand, if the affidavit asks to arrest Mr. X because a witness in the robbery identified a photo of Mr. X as being the robber, then an arrest warrant will be approved and issued. Det. Alonzo Harris knows all about this since his knowledge of the job is immense but his heart turned twisted at one point and he led some gullible other detectives astray. The rest of his detectives would all probably go down in flames soon enough or not soon enough. Det. Alonzo Harris was not Vic Mackey who genuinely cared about society and took a little extra when he had the chance since he deserved it.

The arrest warrant will be approved if it is accurate and everything makes sense. Hopefully it is approved! 

What to do if you are wrongfully charged with a crime?

Law enforcement officers are human too and are hence prone to mistakes. Sometimes, innocent people are wrongly suspected, arrested, and charged with a crime that they did not commit in any manner or form. If you happen to find yourself in such an unfortunate situation, the best way to get out of this situation unscathed would be to speak with a criminal defense lawyer to represent you effectively and soundly. You need someone on the outside working for you, someone with the legal knowledge to know how to work the system on your behalf.  

Obtain a criminal defense lawyer ASAP! You will have the motivation to do so.