Why doesn't anybody get notified about warrants for their arrest?

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Fyrnyx@kbin.melroy.org⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

Aside from criminals and oblivious people who carelessly disregard the things they do that would later have warrants issued for their arrest. Why isn't there any system in place that notifies people whether or not they have warrants?

The only way to find out, least in the US, is to call police departments or certain county offices. But almost nobody would want to do that, so why isn't there a way to like send a text or an e-mail or even a letter in the mail saying "hey, something happened involving you and a warrant has been issued, might want to do something about it".

I mean sure, if anyone got that notification, there could be chances that they'd run. But, that's all the more reason to add another charge once they are caught.

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zxqwas@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
So that they don’t run, hide or destroy evidence.

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viking@infosec.pub ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

if anyone got that notification, there could be chances that they’d run

That right there. People who forgot to update their address and got unpaid traffic fines and stuff will settle them when they are eventually found, but the flight risk for serious criminals weighs much more.

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SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Because it’s important for the American oligarchy to keep the serfs in a state of constant fear

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yesman@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
The police will often inform you of warrants and arrange a time for you to surrender. These perks and more, come bundled with the Founders tier of American Justice.

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ilinamorato@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I think the big reason is…if they could find you, they’d just come and get you.

Smartphones make it a little bit more possible to actually be unfindable while still technically contact-able, but I believe police departments can still trace you through them. So if you’re in a situation where they can send you a message, they can just come and slap the cuffs on.

Also, you’d have to actually enroll in whatever notification system they set up, and what are the odds that anyone (who’s actually likely to ever be notified) is going to sign up?

And then you get into the problems of privacy (what if someone else enrolls their phone number under your name?) and consistency (What if you change phones or move? What if you get banned from your email provider?)—a lot of crime (well, the kind of crime that the police actually pursue) is committed by people without a steady address; in fact, that’s part of why they’re committing crime. Besides, the reality is that a lot of jurisdictions keep very little information about you on file: your name and address, maybe a phone number, and that’s it. Sure, they could find out more, but there are a lot of governmental entities that consider the postal service the only valid means of communication with citizens.

All of that is a big bundle of trouble with no real upside. If you did something wrong, you probably know to expect a knock at your door.

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- AA5B@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  if they could find you, they’d just come and get you
  
  I’m skeptical. I always believed they just have no incentive to try when it’s something’s small. And their supervisor has no incentive to spend anyone’s time for something’s small So they just file it away and they’ll grab you the next time you’re pulled over.
  
  Given laziness and capitalism, it’s plausible they don’t try
  
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  - ilinamorato@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Potentially true, but that just makes the idea of a notification less likely.
    
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cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Because if there’s a warrant out for your arrest, you’ve deliberately done something, so you know you’re being looked into. It’s not a lottery. They don’t just issue warrants to random people who have no idea whatsoever that a warrant could be issued for their arrest. A warrant is just a court order to bring you in to face charges. Those charges are based on criminal law. You don’t get warrants for speeding or blowing a red light or a stop sign or, since we’re on the computer, downloading music or movies. You do get notified via the mail (or email) for those kinds of things.

Anyway, a warrant has to be served, and you can’t be charged for evading arrest if they can’t find you. It’s once the warrant has been served — which legally has to be done in person — that if you flee, you are guilty of another crime. Once you are notified, you would typically be arrested right then and there. Depending on the nature of the crime, they may not even restrain you, if you’re willing to get in the back of the car and come quietly. The violent arrests you see are either because of the violent nature of the crime or the criminal (yes, or the cop). But they aren’t the norm.
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- prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  You don’t need to knowingly do something in order to be charged with a crime.
  
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  - SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    This is correct. Story time!
    
    A friend of mine was arrested due to a warrant from an unpaid traffic violation ticket for driving without proof of insurance. It wasn’t paid because the ticket was dismissed after they later showed they did have insurance, but this was not recorded in the proper system.
    
    Five years later, they were arrested after being pulled over for a burned out brake light. They spent most of a day in jail. Luckily, they kept proof of the dismissal, otherwise they’d have been held accountable for the government’s mistake. No compensation was provided for their time in jail and missed work. Murica!
    
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  - cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    In a vacuum, that is a fact; however, for most of the things people get warrants out on them for, they know what they did. If they don’t know it was wrong/a crime, I would say that’s more on them than on the system.
    
    You can get warrants for unpaid moving violations. For stuff like that, I think notification by mail would be more efficient. Like “you haven’t paid this so now there is a warrant out for your arrest,” just to inform the person. Yes, going against the reason for not notifying, they may still commit several more moving violations (like speeding) before being caught, but tons of people do this, sometimes right in front of cops, and a lot of cops look the other way. Now if someone has done something violent, left a victim, no, you wouldn’t want to notify them because of the chance that they’d either go do more harm to the victim (and now the police/the system is liable) or they will do more crime that will result in more victims, and again, liability.
    
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Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

chances that they’d run. But, that’s all the more reason to add another charge

What charge?

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