What Is A Probable Cause?

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Police Officials and law enforcement officers are the eyes and the ears of we the people. A police officers role in a community is to keep the streets safe from crime and to punish those who do commit crimes. Often times they are referenced to “Civil Patrol Units.” What this means is that their duty is to keep the communities civil. If the event were to ever arise to where a shortened demand of officers came about, there would or could be potentially higher crime rates. One example would be that someone was breaking into someone’s home. The home may have an alarm system, it would take longer for an officer to arrive which provides the burglar enough time to vacate the home with the belongings the criminal wishes to steal. Another scenario might be that the officers could become distressed with their job and it would cause a community rage.…show more content…
Police officers must establish probable cause in order to lawfully make an arrest, obtain a warrant for an arrest, conduct a search of someone's person, or search and seize someone's property. Similarly, a prosecutor must convince a grand jury that there is probable cause to bring a case to trial. According to the U.S. Court of Appeals, the test for establishing probable cause is showing that "facts and circumstances within the officer's knowledge are sufficient to warrant a prudent person to believe that a suspect has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime." Examine each key phrase in the test to determine exactly what elements are needed to establish probable

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