I have a feeling that I might have a warrant out for my arrest. I was wondering if someone had a warrant out for their arrest how does the police go about executing an arrest warrant? Do they go by the defendants house every now and then and try and pick them up or do they do nothing unless the person is the subject of a traffic stop and the police arrest them after they run the warrant check? I was also wondering if a private citizen can run a warrant check on themselves. My second question is about executing a search warrant. My brother was arrested for a drug offense while a search warrant was carried out and I feel that some of my things were stolen from my bed room. I left the police officer in charge a nasty voice message and during the message I cursed him out. That why I feel I might have a warrant out for my arrest for telephone harassment. The police officer in charge called back and denied anything was stolen. I was wondering what steps do the police take to ensure that nothing is stolen during an execution of a search warrant. I was at work and not at the house during the execution of the search warrant however I did talk to my relatives about what happened. They did say that no recording devices ( cameras and tape recorders ) where brought in by the police officers and they were not regular police officers. The police officers had black shirts on with the police department name on it so clearly they were narcotics officers or some other special police officer. One of my relatives had to call 911 to confirm it was the police. My relatives also said that guns were drawn and they were told to get down on the floor and then they were hand cuffed during the search. The police also asked my relatives who owns the house. I looked for my missing things all over the house and I found only one of my missing things and it was in a different room of my house. I did e mail the lawyers that handled my brothers prior cases and they said that I could file a claim within one year of the loss however that I should wait until the criminal case is done first.
Thanks
John
John,
When there is a warrant for someone's arrest, there are several ways in which the warrant may be served. Police officers or Sheriff's Deputies may stop at the person's residence or workplace and attempt to locate the person. For minor offenses, the warrant could be in the computer and active for some time before service is attempted. However, as you mention, if the person is stopped or has police contact for another reason, the warrant will show up on the computer, and by law must be served at that time. A Warrant is issued by a Judge and basically commands any peace officer to serve it at the earliest opportunity. The Police officer who asked for the warrant can often be the one who serves it. Sheriff's Deputies also sometimes have warrant sweeps and attempt to serve many warrants at a time. The County Sheriff's Office routinely serves warrants issued by the county court system.
I am not aware of any provision for private citizens to run a warrant check on themselves, other than to go to a local police station and request that it be done. Most Police departments will do so upon request, however keep in mind that if there is a warrant, they are obligated by the court to serve it at that time and place you under arrest. If it is a minor offense, you may want to be ready with some bond money prior to doing this so that you can post bond and receive a court date for the alleged offense.
Addressing your last question, when a search warrant is executed, police may sometimes videotape the event for evidence. It appears from what you said that this wasn't done in your brother's case. However, a Police department or task force should make a detailed listing of every item they seize or take during a search warrant. At least in the case of Illinois State Police searches, a person at the scene will be presented with, and sign the listing, and be provided a copy of this property record receipt. I'm sorry to hear about your missing items. I believe you are going about it the right way, however, I would think that your brother's lawyer should be able to get a list of any property seized as part of his normal discovery process, and you could check and see if the missing items are listed on there. That way you would at least know where the things are. As long as they are not illegal (prohibited) items, or material evidence, you should be able to ask for them back. You may have to wait until the case is concluded, depending on the circumstances.
Just the type of inishgt we need to fire up the debate.