The Fundamentals of Arrest Warrants

What are arrest warrants?

When the law requires that you need to be put in detention, law enforcement agencies can do so by issuing arrest warrants. Only with an arrest warrant is the arrest of an individual legitimate. However, when found in the act of crime, the police might arrest the offender without the warrant. The police are given the warrant by a judge in a court of law on behalf of the state.

Warrant contains the name of the person to be detained, the crime of which this particular individual has been charged and the name of the court of law that has issued the arrest order.

Why are arrest warrants issued?

Arrest warrants are issued against lawbreakers and law offenders for crimes committed against the state. The court decides that an individual is a suspected of a particular crime and issues an arrest warrant to either a constable or a police officer who uses it to incarcerate the suspect.

How are they issued?

A judge must be convinced (base on evidence) that a probable cause for arresting an individual exists. Only then will he agree to issue an order of arrest.

Once released,  warrants continue to be valid indefinitely. A suspect can then be detained anywhere and everywhere he is, even in another state if his crime was severe enough.

Further reading

Click on this link to see how a warrant looks like