The sun., 1906-02-20
POWERS or THE POLICE,
The Too Oftsn Disregarticd Limitation
OF Their Right to Arrest

Judge A. T. Cicorma'cr bctorc he Nvr Dc,
AssocmiDu.
AZ has repeatedly been pointed ul' In m,
decisions of the courts. polr" oN.,rg, N,,,
not the tyrauniCal power OF arrest arTbI,.d
to them They have no power 20 urro-t for
u criminal offence without Il warrant vlu,L
every citizen does not possess. fur ,I,. .,n,,
obscure citizen has. and always In. Nd, and
Ii expressly given by statute, the i,glr and
the power to arrest and taho bcfpr" a ma,l,
tratc without warrant Il person v no oo,qnI,,
any criminal offence. whether m ,lcmcanor
or felony, in his view. and II felony ha.
fact been committed, although uo' 90 h..y.ew
he may in like manner arrest W.lho., nar.
rant the person who committed u
While all citizens have this right, II s nv
no means their duty to make urrost. nor
have they the time TO do SO ! iIrrr,ore ,bo
laws provide for tho appoiu'm"u' by ,La
representatives Of the people, and for tho
payment out OF the tax levy. OF a body q,
citizens. to wit. the polio" or peao" oH'cor,
" whose duty 1t Ia to do this worS, hl, tho
laws have carefully guarded IN" r.tI, "r
power of arrest without a warrant WlSh
every, citizen does not possess tor 4 an I'M.
lawful arrest without warrlnt be o.. ida hy
either citHen or r"ilGe oH,,"r il = made
at his peril
The roice, are not tie mast"rs Of 'ho pco.
pie. but only their servants. o,,Upyi'y A
Their power is clcarlS defined and ln.Itodi Nv by
law. The only power with when polSs
officer without warrant is !!,l which /.
not possessed by every oItlIrn .- ytore a
felony has in fact been committed gi,Ao1,a
| not in his view polio" OFFICER or any ntg',.
tra,e may Wit hort warrant arrr-' ny person
| he has reasonable ground for h"i"yin: 10 be
| the one who committed II. where's pr.ya,e
| absolute certainty at the hazard og He,Hs
prosecuted for false imprisonm",.' { he crf
and ad, arrest TIE wrong p"rs2o lI' ,ho law
| that any one may be eS'td by o poca
oiiiccr for an alleged criminal oN"noe Of ,he
grade Of misdemeanor eEccpt on q ~arra0,
| upon sworn compl9int ul.,NS ID" osrrca
was committed in the officer. immediate
| view.
.. If a police of1cer knows ra,'s which show
| that n criminal offence Of the grad ot On {.
demeanor has been copmtt"d b., which
| he did not see committed, thea he only laWi,l
! course Tor hlm, 40 pursue + 10 Z" p"'ore
! magistrate and make a wri''o compliant
under oath Of s',ch facts md oh'1u d war.
| rant and make h arrest undcr tie warrant
! If the officer does not know The facts but
| some. person who Processes 10 know them
tells him Of them. the officer cannot himself
| without one on such h"arsay. II dHy i to
/ send the person having kno"lr!, -" ~ m"
facts fac 10 a. masssrate or If th" re..an VIII
Now, this is the laN Of tla llui which re.
in the country We did not or lina;o tNcsa
provisions OF law in America bp Inherited
them from the common law OF htrltnd and
law, but the statute ID" Of every srr'e N tho
| Union. They mark he difference be'vreu 3.
free soSSTnem4 gnd GA dd%7F2, , @ ao. -
all localities except m great ,citles whore a.
has been said the ghs and iibertic, Of tho
people have so long been trampled lrop b.
been put in rule, ship Us police officers that
the citizens Of those cities have forgo'ton'tejr
rights. and having forgotten no Longer INSIST
The adjudicated cases show 'hr' 81 far ho,
this disresard Of law gome that in a." H'ra'e>,
have, arrested and locked up over nts',' sew
era hundred men and women gathered nj
public tan, arainst whom ther", vas NO ure;;
they also show that the police Gsve with
clubs driven the delegates OF a tollt%7l con.
vent ion GU, of g Gonveniion hall tot"liE N''n,
unlawfullv cd The hnmblcSt man or
on Mosm SoT5n p1oes s'Gs% iGH Wod dPb he n2 ,S
| ieCt of most vigorous condemnation IN tha
House of Commons 'he ,ncXt day, end Tie
officer who was rcsponsiblc for II would sum
marily be removed from Office.
Both the Constitutio ion Of the United states
and the BIZ Of Rights Of the State OF New
York contain this provision
The right OF the peonlc to be secure In their pct
sous. houses, papers and effects against unreason
abe searches and seizures shan no, De yola'el
suppor,rd by oath or affirmation, and ,paricularlI
describing the place to be searched and the pcrsOr
OF thing TO be scizcd.
This far reaching consl litutional provision
IS prcdIcated upon that benotcent and w'a
case: The house of every one is to hun ls
his castle, and the fortress as well for hi'
his repose, and forcefully expressed bv
that eminent iurist in that great mine Of con-.
mon law learning the Third Inst itute. and was
derived by him from the fourth title Of the
second book Of the Pandccts of Justinia'