Study: Arrests Down in California: The Public Policy Institute of California has released a report indicating that 2016 arrests in the state had reached an historic low, but that minorities were still disproportionately arrested. The report released yesterday also found that arrest rates were higher in rural counties than in large urban counties. This is extraordinary news for those who have no idea what's going on. Having converted the most commonly committed felonies to misdemeanors, California has wiped out more than half the criminals that police can arrest. Drug users, all but the biggest dealers, thieves, fraudsters, cannot be arrested unless an officer catches them in the act. A car break-in, the theft of a bicycle, television or gun valued at less than $950 isn't even worth reporting, so the next PPIC report will undoubtedly be that crime is down. The legislature and the Governor may be celebrating, but the public, as reported in a recent Cal Chamber survey, understand that crime is increasing. It is most certainly going to get worse.
Jail Escapee Shot During Break-In: A repeat felon who escaped from a South Carolina jail was shot and killed by a woman whose house he had broken into. Nicole Darrah of Fox News reports that inmate Bruce McLaughlin, Jr. and another inmate escaped from jail early Tuesday, after beating up two guards and stealing their keys. At around 3:00 am McLaughlin kicked in back door of a nearby house, picked up a knife sharpening tool in the kitchen and headed for the bedroom. A woman, in the house alone, shot him in the head as he entered the bedroom. "This was a big guy. If she hadn't had a weapon there's no telling what would have happened," said the local sheriff. McLaughlin had been in and out of jail roughly a dozen times for drug and theft related crimes. Based upon his record, if McLaughlin had been in California he would qualify as a low level, low risk offender who deserved a brief "flash incarceration" and release to a rehabilitation program. The other escapee, a sex offender, was rearrested.
Am I wrong in understanding that police in California can still arrest "drug users, all but the biggest dealers, thieves, fraudsters" as long as they secure a warrant for their arrest under California Penal Code § 836(a)(1)?
I appreciate that getting a warrant to arrest someone on just a misdemeanor may be thought by police and others not worth the time/energy. But I want to confirm my reading of California law that arrests for misdemeanors are still possible in all those cases if and whenever police comply with the warrant requirements set forth in the Fourth Amendment.
Jail Escapee Shot During Break-In
~ Benefit of the 2nd Amendment. She only had seconds. He had a weapon. Police couldn't get there in time. She had a gun.
Yes, it would have been more technically correct to say that police officers cannot arrest the under-$950 thieves without a warrant. In practice, though, it amounts to the same thing. They aren't going to be getting warrants in response to shoplifting calls.
Some might say that if the government cannot be bothered to comply with traditional constitutional requirements, maybe it should not be acting at all.
The requirement that a misdemeanor must have been committed in the officer's presence for a warrantless arrest is not a constitutional requirement, traditional or otherwise. It is purely statutory.
Apologies if I was legally sloppy with my snark, as I was just thinking about SCOTUS dicta like: "To provide the necessary security against unreasonable intrusions upon the private lives of individuals, the framers of the Fourth Amendment required adherence to judicial processes wherever possible. And subsequent history has confirmed the wisdom of that requirement." Trupiano v. United States, 334 U.S. 699, 705 (1948)
I was recently at a Walgreen’s for my mom. Noticed a confrontation between the manager and an angry couple. Later asked the mgr what was going on. She explained that the couple routinely stole items because they knew nothing would happen. She told me it was only getting worse. We are reducing crime by essentially legalizing looting (same approach we are taking to drug laws!) How this helps any supposed inequities in the system is beyond me. More worrisome, when we fail to nip these small crimes in the bud, when we tolerate the broken windows- we regress as a culture and as a civilized society.