Post by Logan on Feb 26, 2016 2:19:41 GMT -6
ST. LOUIS COUNTY • A federal lawsuit seeking class-action status alleges that St. Louis County police have been violating the Constitution and doing an “end-run” around judges by arresting and holding people for 24 hours on “wanteds,” rather than seeking arrest warrants.
The suit filed late Wednesday says that officers are essentially issuing statewide “electronic arrest warrant(s) without presenting sworn statements to a judicial officer and without obtaining a lawful arrest warrant.”
“We put this power in the hands of judges, not individual police officers,” said Thomas Harvey, executive director and co-founder of ArchCity Defenders, which filed the suit.
The countywide practice was criticized last year in a Department of Justice report on Ferguson, which quoted “one veteran officer,” apparently from Ferguson, as saying he would issue a wanted “if I do not have enough probable cause to arrest you.”
Read more: www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/federal-suit-says-st-louis-county-police-making-unconstitutional-arrests/article_99c0b915-afb7-5b1c-b3f1-f7788df1e646.html
The suit filed late Wednesday says that officers are essentially issuing statewide “electronic arrest warrant(s) without presenting sworn statements to a judicial officer and without obtaining a lawful arrest warrant.”
“We put this power in the hands of judges, not individual police officers,” said Thomas Harvey, executive director and co-founder of ArchCity Defenders, which filed the suit.
The countywide practice was criticized last year in a Department of Justice report on Ferguson, which quoted “one veteran officer,” apparently from Ferguson, as saying he would issue a wanted “if I do not have enough probable cause to arrest you.”
Read more: www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/federal-suit-says-st-louis-county-police-making-unconstitutional-arrests/article_99c0b915-afb7-5b1c-b3f1-f7788df1e646.html