Warrant For Arrest

Check for arrest warrants and stay out of trouble

Can you imagine what could happen to you if you have an arrest warrant and you choose to ignore the fact? When you get stopped for a police routine auto check or for any other reason, they can and often do check for any warrants you might have out on you. If they find that you are wanted then they will arrest you on the spot. When they have you in custody they may take a DNA sample from you which could land you in serious trouble if they can match it to a crime scene.

Do you have speeding offences or unpaid fines?

You might have arrest warrants that you aren’t aware of for a number of reasons. You might have a speeding offence that you haven’t been notified of yet or you might have forgotten to pay a fine or even forgotten to turn up in court when you should have. Any of these things could trigger a warrant for your arrest being issued.

You might hear nothing about your arrest warrant for a long time depending on how serious the offence was and how motivated the police are in your area. One day they will get around to you and you will get a knock at the door early one day and be dragged off to jain.

Do you even know that you have a warrant?

If you know that you’ve done something wrong or forgot to turn up in court, or you’ve offended in some other way then you can guess that you do have an outstanding arrest warrant. But just think, what if you didn’t ever receive that speeding ticket or you didn’t know about the court appearance. Even worse, you might be a victim of identity theft and someone else has committed a crime for you. In this case you will not have any idea that there is a warrant out for you unless you make a point of checking for yourself.

Are you an identity theft victim?

Identity theft is a booming business for criminals and a horrific nightmare for you if you become a victim. Almost everyone has either had their identity compromised or knows of someone who’s had it stolen. It’s very common that the victims don’t know that someone is using their name for months or even years and then they only find out when they notice money missing out of their bank account or they receive bills for things that they didn’t order.

Now when someone steals your identity and commits a crime in your name it’s called criminal identity theft. When this happens you could end up with arrest warrants for crimes you didn’t commit. You could have multiple warrants in many different states or even different countries.

Don’t wait for the police to come for you – Find your warrants first

Here are some simple ways that you can check for active arrest warrants

1. Ignore the possibility until the police come for you.
2. Ask an officer of the law if you have a warrant.
3. Ask at the courthouse.
4. Search a public records database.

Ignore the possibility of a warrant and wait for the police

This is what most people do I suspect but do you want to be the same as everyone else and risk the possibility of an embarrassing visit from the police one day then spending at least a little time in jail.

Ask an officer of the law if you have a warrant

Asking a police officer is an efficient way of finding out if you have a warrant. Unfortunately it’s an efficient way of getting arrested too. If you do have one the officer will be obliged to arrest you. If you choose to try this then go with your bag packed just in case.

Ask at the courthouse.

If you know where your warrant was issued then asking at the appropriate courthouse is a good way to find your warrants. If you have remembered that you’ve missed a court appearance or have some unpaid fines or something then it shouldn’t be too difficult to find out where the correct records office is located. This can sometimes be a good way to locate your warrants and you are less likely to get arrested this way either.

Search a public records database.

Public records web sites keep massive databases of background information that can be found elsewhere if only you knew where to look for it. The best public records databases have been built over many years and they are being constantly updated from hundreds if not, thousands of different sources. There are billions of records available for you to access and arrest warrants are just one of the many information groups that they specialize in.

Author: Steve Gee

The police don’t mind who you are

Emma Parker Bowles is the niece of Camilla Parker Bowles, Duchess of Cornwall in England. Emma lives in Los Angeles and says that she loves it but she didn’t bargain on getting arrested and left in a cold and dirty jail cell overnight. An indignity that she might have avoided had it happened back in the UK because of who she is. She might have been able to avoid this happening in the US too but not because of her family connections.

So how did this happen? Well it appears that Emma had forgotten to go to court to answer a traffic violation ticket. This had resulted in a bench warrant being issued for her arrest. When she was subsequently stopped while driving her car the police discovered the warrant and arrested her. Letting her off because she had attended the royal wedding was not an option for these officers. It was simply a matter of routine. So handcuffed she was and off to jail they went.

Respect the courts at all times

As I said, back in the UK she might have escaped the indignity of an overnight stay in a police cell simply because she is related to the royal family but that doesn’t excuse the fact that she failed to turn up in court when she should. The fact is that courts on both sides of the Atlantic do not like it when someone disregards their instructions and you can expect them to use the powers that they have available when you do. If this had happened to any normal person in London then I am pretty sure that they would be facing a night in jail too and I suspect that they would be equally critical of the state of the cells in London jails.

There is no royalty in the US

Police in the US do not recognize the rich, famous or royalty. They treat everyone the same way. Some might even say that they enjoy arresting celebrities because it looks like a bigger catch. Arresting you or I would just be part of their normal day but throwing royalty into jail would make their week. It’s best then to always keep a low profile, stay out of trouble and make sure that you go to court when you are told to.

Arrest records are for life

Unfortunately poor Emma now has an arrest record which will follow her forever no matter where she goes. Any future employer, friend or partner will be able to find it whenever they want to by using online background checking tools. It will never go away. If you are a famous pop singer, rich or royal you may not care but if you are normal like most people then you should care because it will matter.

So how could she have avoided this? She could have gone to court when she was instructed to. That would have avoided the warrant being issued and she would not have then been arrested. She would no doubt have dealt with the traffic violation by paying a fine. That would have been the end of it. No warrant, no arrest so no arrest record.

Finding your warrants

One big problem here is that you don’t always know that you have an arrest warrant. Emma certainly didn’t. She had clean forgotten to go to court and had no reason to think that she might be being hunted by the police. It is possible that you never received notification of the court appearance in the first place. These things can happen. The first time most people in this situation realize that they have a warrant is when the police stop you for something unrelated and then they discover the warrant. By then it’s too late of course.

You can check yourself out online to see if there are any warrants listed for you. It’s quick and easy and while it can never be 100% reliable it might just help you to stay out of jail and avoid that arrest record.

The moment that you discover that you have a warrant you should make arrangements to hand yourself in and deal with any offence that you might be wanted for. It’s generally best to get yourself a lawyer to guide you through the correct way of doing this. Check for warrants often and stay out of jail.

Emma has written an amusing article about her experience which you can read here.

Author: Steve Gee

There seems to be a growing culture amongst law enforcement agencies to collect DNA from everyone that they can. This is being made possible in more and more areas by laws which allow DNA to be taken and stored from anyone who gets arrested. If you think that you might have an active arrest warrant somewhere then you would be wise to check and if you have one get it dealt with as soon as you can. If you don’t get arrested then you won’t be forced to donate your DNA.

“Why is this such a big deal?” I hear you ask. Isn’t it a good thing that DNA information is available to the police so that they can identify more suspects in crimes? On the face of it you would be right. Using DNA matching techniques investigators are able to eliminate suspects where the DNA does not match. They can also search the ever growing database of DNA samples to find suspects that would otherwise go undetected even when decades have passed since the crime was committed.

When used responsibly by professional investigators, DNA matching can be a very powerful ally to law enforcement but can you trust this kind of technological power to the people who run our justice systems? A recent case in the UK would suggest that you can not. A man was convicted for a rape 16 years before when the only real evidence presented was a DNA match. While the DNA made the defendant a suspect it certainly did not prove guilt and yet the jury saw fit to convict.

So my advice is to go out of your way to avoid getting yourself arrested. One way to help you do this and keep your DNA to yourself is to regularly check your warrants for arrest and deal with them before the police get around to acting on it.

Find warrants for arrest now

Author: Steve Gee

You can’t outrun an arrest warrant

Did you think that you had gotten away with that warrant for your arrest because it was issued a long time ago? Perhaps it was even in a different state. If you haven’t been arrested already then perhaps the warrant has been forgotten about – Wrong. How long does an arrest warrant last for? – A lot longer than you might imagine.

Arrest warrants are for life

Warrants do not expire and they do not have a time limit. An arrest warrant will remain active until you get arrested or you give yourself up. It’s as simple as that and if you haven’t been arrested yet then it’s just luck. Give it time and it will most likely catch up with you.

If you have a warrant for a serious felony crime then you can expect to be caught quickly unless you are actively avoiding capture. It’s more likely though, that you have a warrant for a misdemeanor offence like failing to attend court or not paying a fine. If this is the case then it’s unlikely that the police will be actively pursuing you.

Warrants don’t go away by themselves

Just because you have a warrant for a minor offence from years ago and you haven’t been arrested yet, it doesn’t mean that you won’t be. Remember a warrant will last forever unless you do something about it. It will not go away by itself.

One day you will get stopped for some routine traffic offence and the police will take the opportunity to check to see if you have any arrest warrants. You are already in front of them so if they can add you to their arrest statistics for the day then they will. They can do a routine warrant check in no time at all with their onboard computers and if they find your warrant, even if it’s from years ago, they will arrest you and take you to jail.

Most police officers are assessed in some part, by how many arrests they carry out so they have a real incentive to find something to arrest you on. You would be an easy target.

Dealing with an arrest warrant

I’m guessing that if you are reading this article then it’s because you either know that you have a warrant for arrest or you think you have one. You are also concerned that you should be doing something about it before your luck runs out and you finally get arrested.

Once you have been arrested you will be thrown into jail to be released only after bail has been set. That’s when it starts to get expensive so if you can, it’s best to avoid the getting arrested part.

You need to get yourself a lawyer to guide you through the right way of handing yourself in and dealing with whatever it was that got you the warrant in the first place.

Find out what the warrant is about

Before you hand yourself in you need to find out what the warrant is for and even whether one exists at all for that matter. You can get details of the warrant from the courthouse where it was issued. Just give them a call and ask. If you can’t remember where it was issued then you can use an online public records database. Arrest warrants are public records so there is a good chance that you will find your’s online.

Forever is how long an arrest warrant lasts.

Author: Steve Gee