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| Arrest Report |
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| & The Statement of Probable Cause |
When you become a police officer, all of the
arrests you make will be either by your
execution of an arrest warrant or by
warrantless arrest based on your
observations or information received which
provides probable cause for you to make the
warrantless arrest.
When you arrest a person on a previously
issued arrest warrant, your arrest report will
usually be pretty simple. Your department
may require you to submit a follow-up report
under the original case number listing the
arrest information such as date, time,
location, etc. Or, your department may have
a separately formatted report specifically for
the service of arrest warrants. Either way,
there will be a reporting procedure in place to
connect the arrest with the original reporting
of the offense for which you arrested the
suspect.
When you make an arrest on a warrant
issued from another jurisdiction, you'll most
likely prepare a miscellaneous incident
report listing the other jurisdiction's case
number. Again, if your department has a
separate arrest report, it will have fields
(boxes) to list all required information
regarding out of jurisdiction warrants.
Either way, all reports have narratives.
When you make observations or receive
additional information regarding the offense
for which the warrant was issued, you must
list those observations or information. For
instance, a suspect you're arresting on an
attempted murder warrant may make a
spontaneous, incriminating statement to you,
"I was just defending myself, officer...he shot
at me first!" This statement has just made
you a state's witness to the crime charged in
the warrant, and it is your responsibility to
arrests you make will be either by your
execution of an arrest warrant or by
warrantless arrest based on your
observations or information received which
provides probable cause for you to make the
warrantless arrest.
When you arrest a person on a previously
issued arrest warrant, your arrest report will
usually be pretty simple. Your department
may require you to submit a follow-up report
under the original case number listing the
arrest information such as date, time,
location, etc. Or, your department may have
a separately formatted report specifically for
the service of arrest warrants. Either way,
there will be a reporting procedure in place to
connect the arrest with the original reporting
of the offense for which you arrested the
suspect.
When you make an arrest on a warrant
issued from another jurisdiction, you'll most
likely prepare a miscellaneous incident
report listing the other jurisdiction's case
number. Again, if your department has a
separate arrest report, it will have fields
(boxes) to list all required information
regarding out of jurisdiction warrants.
Either way, all reports have narratives.
When you make observations or receive
additional information regarding the offense
for which the warrant was issued, you must
list those observations or information. For
instance, a suspect you're arresting on an
attempted murder warrant may make a
spontaneous, incriminating statement to you,
"I was just defending myself, officer...he shot
at me first!" This statement has just made
you a state's witness to the crime charged in
the warrant, and it is your responsibility to
document that pertinent information to make it a permanent part of the
original investigation.
I talk a lot about probable cause on this site and in my book, because it is such
an important part of your job. You're going to arrest a lot of people for a lot of
things, and how you articulate probable cause will determine how much justice
you're going to achieve.
original investigation.
I talk a lot about probable cause on this site and in my book, because it is such
an important part of your job. You're going to arrest a lot of people for a lot of
things, and how you articulate probable cause will determine how much justice
you're going to achieve.
| Probable Cause |
One of the first things you'll
learn about probable cause
is that probable cause is a
standard that requires
enough evidence to make an
arrest while that evidence
need not be sufficient to
convict the person of the
crime for which you
arrested that person.
During your academy
training, you'll probably be
told to keep everything you
write simple and to the
point. That's fine as long as
you address everything that
learn about probable cause
is that probable cause is a
standard that requires
enough evidence to make an
arrest while that evidence
need not be sufficient to
convict the person of the
crime for which you
arrested that person.
During your academy
training, you'll probably be
told to keep everything you
write simple and to the
point. That's fine as long as
you address everything that
needs to be addressed. Simple and to the point should never be construed as
meaning short and lacking any pertinent information that is available to you.
Here's the thing...a probable cause statement could be contained within just a
few sentences, or it could run into pages. The length and content on your
probable cause statements depends solely on your commitment to accuracy and
thoroughness.
When you apply for an arrest warrant, search warrant, or you make a
warrantless arrest, you'll prepare and submit a statement of probable cause as
a court document. While your police report will also contain the elements of
probable cause, the court document part is the part that really
counts...particularly in the short term.
I know you've heard the stories where suspects are released on low bails, no
bails, or...they're released without charges due to lack of probable cause.
During your academy training, you may well be told to keep your statement of
probable cause short with only information sufficient to establish probable
cause. Here's the problem with "just enough" probable cause. If ten different
people review a statement of probable cause, you'll have ten different opinions
as to the weight and legitimacy of the probable cause. You'll be amazed when
you see a judge require overwhelming proof of guilt to establish probable cause.
Of course, if you watch that same judge over time, you'll find that the judge's
definition of probable cause varies with the type of crime charged.
Many police officers, and academy instructors, believe that when a reviewing
court official needs additional information beyond what's recorded within your
statement of probable cause, he or she can obtain a copy of the police report.
Let's take a short pause here for...laughter. Whenever a judge, magistrate,
state's attorney, or some other designated court official reviews your probable
cause to determine the existence of probable cause and the following bail status
of your defendant, that official bears no obligation to go searching for additional
information.
Since probable cause -- which really isn't a hard thing to establish and
understand -- has different standards for different people, how can you be
certain that you've provided sufficient information to establish probable cause
within your statement of probable cause? It's easy...put everything you have
into your statement of probable cause.
Whenever I arrested a person without a warrant, the narrative of my police
report was simply a copy of the statement of probable cause. I didn't have the
benefit of word processing and the simple procedure of cut and paste. My
method required a lot of writing, but I never had a problem with anyone
questioning my statements of probable cause. There's a good possibility that
you'll have the benefit of being able to cut and paste across different reports if
your department's reporting system is fully computerized.
Most of the warrantless arrests you make will be completed during the arrest
and reporting procedures. In other words, most will not require follow-up
reporting, and all of the information required for prosecution will already be
available. When all the information is in the statement of probable cause, the
prosecutor's job becomes a lot simpler. For that matter, everybody's job
becomes a lot simpler.
meaning short and lacking any pertinent information that is available to you.
Here's the thing...a probable cause statement could be contained within just a
few sentences, or it could run into pages. The length and content on your
probable cause statements depends solely on your commitment to accuracy and
thoroughness.
When you apply for an arrest warrant, search warrant, or you make a
warrantless arrest, you'll prepare and submit a statement of probable cause as
a court document. While your police report will also contain the elements of
probable cause, the court document part is the part that really
counts...particularly in the short term.
I know you've heard the stories where suspects are released on low bails, no
bails, or...they're released without charges due to lack of probable cause.
During your academy training, you may well be told to keep your statement of
probable cause short with only information sufficient to establish probable
cause. Here's the problem with "just enough" probable cause. If ten different
people review a statement of probable cause, you'll have ten different opinions
as to the weight and legitimacy of the probable cause. You'll be amazed when
you see a judge require overwhelming proof of guilt to establish probable cause.
Of course, if you watch that same judge over time, you'll find that the judge's
definition of probable cause varies with the type of crime charged.
Many police officers, and academy instructors, believe that when a reviewing
court official needs additional information beyond what's recorded within your
statement of probable cause, he or she can obtain a copy of the police report.
Let's take a short pause here for...laughter. Whenever a judge, magistrate,
state's attorney, or some other designated court official reviews your probable
cause to determine the existence of probable cause and the following bail status
of your defendant, that official bears no obligation to go searching for additional
information.
Since probable cause -- which really isn't a hard thing to establish and
understand -- has different standards for different people, how can you be
certain that you've provided sufficient information to establish probable cause
within your statement of probable cause? It's easy...put everything you have
into your statement of probable cause.
Whenever I arrested a person without a warrant, the narrative of my police
report was simply a copy of the statement of probable cause. I didn't have the
benefit of word processing and the simple procedure of cut and paste. My
method required a lot of writing, but I never had a problem with anyone
questioning my statements of probable cause. There's a good possibility that
you'll have the benefit of being able to cut and paste across different reports if
your department's reporting system is fully computerized.
Most of the warrantless arrests you make will be completed during the arrest
and reporting procedures. In other words, most will not require follow-up
reporting, and all of the information required for prosecution will already be
available. When all the information is in the statement of probable cause, the
prosecutor's job becomes a lot simpler. For that matter, everybody's job
becomes a lot simpler.
| Statement of Probable Cause |
The Elements of Style
Amazon.com
Composition teachers throughout the English-speaking world have been pushing this
book on their students since it was first published in 1957. Co-author White later
revised it, and it remains the most compact and lucid handbook we have for matters
of basic principles of composition, grammar, word usage and misusage, and writing
style.
Amazon.com
Composition teachers throughout the English-speaking world have been pushing this
book on their students since it was first published in 1957. Co-author White later
revised it, and it remains the most compact and lucid handbook we have for matters
of basic principles of composition, grammar, word usage and misusage, and writing
style.