Unit 17 Arrest

An arrest means that a person suspected of a crime is taken into custody. A person can be taken into custody in one of two ways: by an arrest warrant or by a warrantless arrest based on probable cause. A person, once taken into custody and not free to leave, is considered to be under arrest, whether told that or not.

An arrest warrant is a court order commanding that the person named in it be taken into custody. A warrant is obtained by filing a complaint before a judge or magistrate. The person filing the complaint is generally a police officer but may also be a victim or a witness. The person making the complaint must set out and swear to the facts and circumstances of the alleged crime. If, on the basic of the information provided, the judge finds probable cause to believe that an offense has been committed and that the accused committed it, a warrant will be issued.

On many occasions, police don’t have time to get a warrant. In felony and certain misdemeanor cases, they may make a warrantless arrest based on probable cause. Probable cause is defined as a reasonable belief that a person has committed a crime. This reasonable belief may be based on much less evidence than is necessary to prove a person guilty at trial. For example, suppose the police receive a radio report of a bank robbery. An officer sees a man matching the description of the bank robber waving a gun and running away from the bank. The officer would have probable cause to stop and arrest the man.

There is no exact formula for determining probable cause. When arresting without a warrant, police must use their own judgment as to what is reasonable under the circumstances of each case. In all cases, probable cause requires more than mere suspicion or a hunch. Some facts must be present that indicate that the person arrested has committed a crime.

Police may establish probable cause from information provided by citizens in the community. Information from victims or witnesses can be used to obtain an arrest warrant. Police also receive information from informants. Police may use informants’ tips to establish probable cause, so long as they can convince a judge that the information is reliable. In determining the reliability of an informant’s tip, a judge will consider all the circumstances. These include whether the informant has provided accurate information in the past, how the informant obtained the information, and whether the police can corroborate the informants tip with other information.

Recognition Vocabulary

nouns	verbs	adjectives
custody - содержание под стражей warrant - ордер ( на арест) hunch - догадка tip - совет	command - требовать file - подавать (иск) set out - установить issue - выдавать (документ) match - подходить, соответствовать obtain (=receive) - получать corroborate - подтверждать convince - убедить	allerged - подозреваемый, инкриминированный probable - возможный reliable - надежный accurate - точный