How are search warrants carried out?
CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — There’s a lot that takes place before a warrant is served on a suspect. Authorities research the target of the warrant and make plans accordingly.
“Being able to touch people swiftly from across the country, across the world, that’s one of the cooler things that we do,” says an unnamed Deputy U.S. Marshal.
He was talking about the positive parts of his duty on a North Carolina Fugitive Task Force, but officers have to prepare for the worst before they go after a wanted suspect.
“The more they know about a person’s propensity for violence, the more they want to prepare themselves as it relates to trying to apprehend an individual,” says attorney and former Charlotte Mecklenburg Police officer Walter Bowers Jr.
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He says it takes extensive planning to serve a warrant. He says authorities in some states can request the issuance of a no-knock warrant.
Teams determine the best way to get a suspect in custody if they’re known to carry guns or have a history of violence.
“They would usually look at all of the tactics as it relates to whether it’s going to be safer to arrest them in their home or even if they’re going to try to make a vehicle stop. Because there is an outstanding warrant, but when it’s somebody is known to be violent, usually they will put an operation in place, and then they’ll proceed accordingly,” Bowers said.
Bowers says teams plan down to what gear will be worn during the execution of the warrant. Investigators also research past arrests to determine how many officers are needed for their raid.
“Not only are you trying to apprehend the suspect, you’re trying to keep everyone in the home, including the suspect, safe. And then also you want to make sure that, in the process of apprehending that one suspect, you don’t have other individuals who may have empathy towards the individual that’s being arrested interfering,” Bowers said.
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This year, 55 officers nationally have been killed in the line of duty — 20 in shootings, including the four officers killed in the Shannon Park incident.
Last year, shootings killed 48 officers.
“That’s why it was so shocking to the country because it just isn’t something that happens. It can happen, it’s dangerous, but it just is not something that happens all the time. I think statistically, domestic violence calls are still probably the most deadly cause, in comparison to a person that just has an arrest warrant,” Bowers said.
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