Seattle Police Manual

6.280 – Warrant Arrest

Effective Date: 11/15/2007

I. General

A. Only sworn police officers shall serve arrest warrants.

B. When arresting a subject only for outstanding warrants, all warrants must be verified prior to booking.

1. When booking a subject on new charges, it is not necessary to clear warrants.

C. Occasionally, an agency will request that the warrant be located in WACIC before they will send the warrant to the Jail.

1. Call the Data Center at 684-5426.

2. Ask that the warrant be “located”, and that the agency issuing the warrant be called and asked to send a copy of the warrant to the King County Jail.

3. Provide the Data Center with the SPD General Offense Number.

II. Warrant Control

A. The Department is responsible for holding, filing, and control on all Superior Court warrants issued against Seattle Police cases.

1. Felony warrants are located in the Data Center, 5th floor of the Seattle Police Headquarters.

2. Misdemeanor warrant records are maintained by Seattle Municipal Court (SMC).

B. Other Superior and Municipal Court warrants are handled by the King County Sheriff.

III. Warrant Verification

A. Outstanding SMC warrants for an individual may be found in WACIC, but sometimes are found in the Municipal Court Information System Database (MCIS). The following steps should be followed to determine if the suspect has an outstanding warrant for his arrest:

1. If the officer receives warrant information back on the suspect then record the warrant number listed on the warrant hit.

2. The next step is to access the SPD In-Web (on the VMDT click “F7” then “CF3 Web”) and wait for the home page to load).

3. Proceed and click on the “Verify a Misdemeanor Warrant ” link.

4. Enter the warrant number in the box provided and click “search”.

5. The SMC Database will provide you with information for the requested warrant number and also any other warrants that match the suspect’s name and description.

6. Consider the following factors before deciding whether to verify the warrant:

a. Confirm the suspect in front of you matches details on the warrant.

b. Make sure that the charge box lists an actual criminal charge for which a suspect can be arrested.

c. Confirm that the title of the person who issued the warrant is a Seattle Municipal Court Judge, Pro-tem Judge or Magistrate.

d. Verify that the bail amount is greater than $0 Dollars. No-bail warrants will be listed as such. Warrants with a $0 bail amount indicate problem warrants which will not be verified.

7. To review the warrant(s) click on the “View all Warrants” link.

a. If the officer wants to verify a warrant and book the person into jail, click on the “Yes, print all warrants to King County Jail” button.

b. If the officer does not want to verify the warrant then click on the “No, return to Warrant Search results” button.

8. SPD Data Center (#684-5433) is only for use if the VMDT system is not functioning.

a. Verify felony warrants by telephoning the Data Center, 684-5426.

IV. Warrant Service Procedure

A. After a warrant is verified, the suspect may be taken into custody and transported to a police facility or directly to Jail.

B. The arrestee must be advised:

1. They were arrested under the authority of a warrant.

2. The nature of the warrant.

3. The amount of bail, if any.

V. When an Arrestee Indicates They Can Post Bail

A. If at any point prior to being booked into the King County Jail the arrestee indicates that they have the ability to post bail on a bailable warrant or charge, they must be allowed the opportunity to do so.

1. During business hours, persons arrested on SMC misdemeanor warrants can be taken to the payment window on the first floor of the Seattle Municipal Court to post their bail.

2. After business hours, persons arrested on SMC misdemeanor warrants will be taken to the bail window inside the main entrance of the King County Jail. They will not be taken to the pre-book or booking areas.

3. Persons arrested on other agency warrants will be taken to the bail window inside the main entrance of the King County Jail, 24 hours a day.

a. King County will accept bail on all warrants except Enumclaw, Black Diamond, and Kent. When arresting a suspect from one of these 3 agencies, other arrange¬ments must be made, such as a direct transfer to the other agency.

VI. When an Arrestee Cannot Post Bail

A. If the subject cannot post bail on their warrant, they will be booked into the King County Jail.

B. Upon arrival at the Jail, confirm that the Jail has received a copy of the warrant.

1. If the warrant has not arrived at the Jail, call the agency with whom the warrant was verified, advise them that the arrestee is at the King County Jail, and request that they send a copy of the warrant.

VII. Transferring Prisoners Directly to another Agency

A. When an agency requests that an arrestee be transported somewhere other than the King County Jail, the request must be screened and approved by a sergeant or above.

VIII. Directly From another Agency

A. In the interest of fostering a good rapport with other law enforcement agencies, requests to transfer a prisoner with a Seattle Municipal Court (SMC) warrant to Seattle Police custody will be accommodated whenever possible, as long as response time and safety are not adversely impacted.

B. The transfer locations should be within the guidelines listed below. The transfer location can be modified with the approval of a sergeant.

1. North and South Precinct personnel will generally not go outside of King County to the north or south of the Orilla Rd./S. 188th Street exit on I-5.

2 East Precinct personnel will generally not go beyond the east end of the SR-520 bridge or east of Mercer Island on I-90.

C. If the transferring agency takes the arrestee directly to a Seattle Police precinct, the Duty Officer or a patrol officer will process the transfer at the precinct.

D. SPD’s goals when accepting a transfer are to book the arrestee without impairing officer safety, the safety of the arrestee or incurring unnecessary liability. If these objectives cannot be met, then the transfer may be declined. Whenever a decline is made a Watch Lieutenant shall be advised.

1. The type of offense should be taken into account when considering a decline to transfer. Crimes involving violence or other threat to public safety should be accepted for transfer if possible. Some examples are:

a. Assault,

b. Domestic Violence related crimes,

c. Crimes involving weapons.

NOTE: The dollar amount of the warrant may be taken into account when considering the expenditure of Department resources. However, this should not be the sole determining factor in deciding whether to accept or decline a transport.

2. Injured or combative arrestees will generally not be transferred to Seattle Police custody.

a. Medical treatment should not be delayed to accommodate a transfer.

b. For officer safety a combative arrestee should be directly transported to the jail.

3. Arrestees who have a questionable pre-existing health condition (including pregnancy) shall be screened with the King County Jail Nurse (296-1214) before the transfer is agreed to.

a. Under RCW 70.24 information regarding sexually transmitted disease, including HIV/AIDS, may not be discussed with another person without the permission of the person with the infection.

b. Other contagious diseases may be discussed with those persons who have a need to know. Patient confidentiality should always be considered.

c. A pre-existing health condition might require an extended hospital stay with a guard.

E. Dispatcher Responsibilities

1. Obtain the following information:

a. Arrestee’s full name and date of birth,

b. Requested location and time of the transfer,

c. Phone number of the agency or dispatch center requesting transfer.

2. Run the arrestee’s name and determine if the warrant is valid.

3. Advise the nearest patrol sector sergeant of the transfer request.

a. The sergeant will contact the requesting agency and screen the transfer. The patrol sergeant has the final decision on accepting or declining the transfer, the number of units needed and the transfer location.

4. Dispatch units if the transfer is authorized.

a. A minimum of two officers should be dispatched.

F. Sergeant Responsibilities

1. Contact the requesting agency by phone and screen the transfer request in accordance with the criteria in this Section.

a. Ensure the transfer location and time is acceptable.

2. If the transfer is acceptable advise Communications to dispatch officers for the transfer.

3. If the transfer is not acceptable decline the transfer.

a. Advise the Watch Lieutenant and Communications immediately.

G. Officer Responsibilities

1. Promptly respond to the transfer location. Advise Communications if there will be a delay.

2. Check for and ask the arrestee about any injuries, illness, or pre-existing medical conditions (such as pregnancy).

a. See Section VIII D.

b. Contact a sergeant if the arrestee is injured, ill, or has a pre-existing medical condition.

3. Obtain information about the circumstances about the arrest.

a. Time and location of arrest.

b. Reason for stop.

c. Transferring agency’s case number, if any.

4. Document the prisoner’s property on the Superform.

a. Count prisoner’s money with arresting officer.

b. Do not accept any evidence found by the arresting officer.

5. Determine if arrestee can post bail.

a. If the arrestee can post bail refer to Section V.

6. Promptly transport the arrestee to the King County Jail or the precinct.

7. Complete a General Offense Report or Supplemental Report with “Warrarr-Misdemeanor” or “Warrarr-Felony” listed in the Offenses block and follow routine arrest and booking procedures.

IX. Documenting a Warrant Arrest

A. Anytime a person is arrested on a State of Washington warrant, regardless of whether they are allowed to post bail, are booked into the King County Jail, or are turned over to another agency, the arrest shall be documented.

B. In addition to all other arrest procedure requirements, the arresting officer will:

1. For SPD warrants only, complete a Supplemental Report.

2. For SPD warrants with new charges, complete a General Offense Report with the new charges and the warrant information. Link the new report to the original General Offense Report and reference the original General Offense Number in the narrative.

3. For outside agency warrants, complete a General Offense Report.

4. Complete a Superform for arrestees booked into jail, listing all verified outstanding warrants. A Superform is not necessary when an arrestee is allowed to post bail, or is turned over to another agency.

X. Fugitive Warrant Arrests

A. Warrant Verifier Responsibilities

1. Forward the NCIC hit to the Fugitive Warrants Squad handle and the Data Center – All handle via VMAIL.

B. Officer Responsibilities – Out-of-State Felony Warrant Arrest Only

1. Obtain a new General Offense Number and complete a General Offense Report. List “Warrarr-Fugitive” in the Offenses block.

2. Complete a Superform including the statement of probable cause.

a. Include the jurisdiction holding the warrant, date the warrant was issued, warrant number, charges, and bond information (if known).

3. Complete an Officer Statement.

4. Send the General Offense Report to a sergeant for approval and notify the sergeant directly.

5. Place any paper documents in an Alert packet addressed to the Fugitive Warrant Squad and hand deliver it to Data Center, 5th floor of the Seattle Police Headquarters.

C. Officer Responsibilities – Out-of-State Felony Warrant Arrest with Other Arrest

1. Obtain a new General Offense Number for the warrant and complete a General Offense Report. List “Warrarr-Fugitive” in the Offenses block. Reference the General Offense Number associated with the incident/non-warrant arrest in the narrative.

2. Complete a Superform including the statement of probable cause.

a. Include the jurisdiction holding the warrant, date the warrant was issued, warrant number, charges, and bond information (if known).

3. Complete an Officer Statement.

4. Complete a second General Offense Report for the incident/non-warrant arrest, link it to the warrant report, and reference the warrant General Offense Number in the narrative.

5. If you are booking the suspect for additional offenses, complete a Superform including the statement of probable cause for crimes associated with the incident.

6. Complete an Officer Statement.

7. Send the General Offense Report to a sergeant for approval and notify the sergeant directly.

8. Place any paper documents in an Alert packet addressed to the Fugitive Warrant Squad and hand deliver it to Data Center, 5th floor of the Seattle Police Headquarters.

NOTE: If you are not booking the suspect for the other offense(s), a second Superform is not necessary. However, a second General Offense Report is required.

D. Sergeant Responsibilities

1. Immediately review the General Offense Report and, after approval, route it for transcription as normal.

2. Send a VMAIL titled “Alert Packet” to the Fugitive Warrants Squad handle and the Records transcription handle. The VMAIL will contain the General Offense Number.