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The steps required to get a valid search warrant !And how the Police get a search warrant !

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Whenever a crime occurs and evidence of that crime is believed to  be within suspects private residence, law enforcement officials must  obtain a search warrant before entering the property.  Otherwise, the  homeowner is protected against any unreasonable search and seizure by  the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The search warrant  must be specific about the time, place, and items that investigators are  searching and must be obtained on the basis of probable cause, which is  a hard reason approved by a judge.  Only law enforcement officials have  the ability to obtain a search warrant.  Lawyers, private  investigators, and private individuals can not.

The steps required to get a valid search warrant are as follows:

1. Preparing the affidavit:   This affidavit describes the place to be searched, the items to be  searched, and the reasons why the officer expects the items will be  found at the location (probable cause).

2. Preparing the warrant:   This step results in the official document be signed by a judge  permitting law enforcement to enter the premises for the search to take  place.

3. Getting the warrant signed:  Law enforcement  officials present the warrant and affidavit to the judge.  If the judge  believes there is probable cause for a search to take place, he signs  the warrant to make it official.

Sometimes, getting a search  warrant to find evidence of a crime can be difficult, and it is not  always cut and dry like you see on the CSI TV shows.  Probable  cause can be one of the first issues to prevent a warrant from being  official.  The law enforcement official must have a strong reason for  believing that the items he is searching are at the specified location.   A hunch or a suspicion on his part simply is not enough.

Another  problem that arises when making a warrant official is that the warrant  must describe exactly what police are looking for.  For this reason,  police tend to add any and all items they believe may be present.  If  police happen to discover other evidence while they are conducting a  legitimate search for the items listed in the warrant, then that  evidence CAN be taken into their custody.

Finally, another  difficulty that arises when getting a search warrant is that the area to  be searched must be explicitly defined.  For example, if a search  warrant identifies a house, but does not specifically mention that the  storage shack or garage can be searched, then those places not spelled  out in the warrant cannot be searched.  If a warrant describes a garage  to be searched but not the car parked within, then the garage can be  searched but not the car.


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