• MyNameIsRichard@lemmy.ml
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    2 months ago

    Well, I guess if someone calls and says you have kidnapped a little girl and that they have seen you with a gun, the police can’t take a chance that it’s hoax. All phone numbers that call the police should be logged and if it turns out to be a hoax, traced, so people who make hoax calls can be arrested and prosecuted.

    • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      If they enter his home, and there is no evidence of a crime, then what is the basis for the arrest?
      One thing is to investigate the truth of a call, another is to act on it as if it’s verbatim truth.

      • Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Was he arrested? I don’t see follow up. It only says he was handcuffed which would be standard until they know what’s going on.

        • orcrist@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          In the US, the cops need RAS to handcuff you. The standard was never and is not “until they know what’s going on”. And RAS depends on the current cop knowledge. Even if they had legal grounds to break into your place, what they see in the next ten seconds is still relevant. For example, if someone said you attacked them with a knife, when the cops see no victim, knife, or blood, their legal authority ceases.

          Of course it’s all highly dependent on specific details.

          (On traffic stops, often they already have RAS. That’s why they pulled you over. So don’t be fooled by other comments about that topic.)

        • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          OK, here it’s the other way around, you don’t normally handcuff somebody unless they are arrested.

          • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
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            2 months ago

            You get handcuffed as a precaution. You do not have to be arrested. You can het handcuffed on a traffic stop if the officer decides they have cause to search your car. Etc.

            • Nurgus@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              Just because handcuffung is normal in the USA, that doesnt make it normal or sensible. No one gets cuffed in a normal traffic stop or house visit in the UK for example.

      • freewheel@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        It’s not technically an arrest. In a high-stakes call, the police will typically detain everybody until they can figure out what’s going on. That means potential victims as well as potential attackers. It’s a safety measure.

        • orcrist@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          In the US, the 4th Amendment says that’s unconstitutional. Fortunately. Too many dirty pigs out there.

    • Bitrot@lemmy.sdf.org
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      2 months ago

      They are logged, but swatting people get around it. They are suspicious “looking” calls, but so are bomb threats.

      Swatting is pretty much always a blocked number to a non-emergency line. If they are traced it is typically one of those free online voip services. It takes work and access to really get from A to B, which is why it only happens when there are awful results.

      In the US at least, 911 gets special access and calling it will always get you to your local dispatch (unless you have voip with the wrong account address). Non-emergency is just a normal phone number. If someone wants to call from out of the area or hide their number, non-emergency is how they have to do it. This is suspicious because in a real situation like “I just shot my dad” or whatever they say, nobody is taking time to look up non-emergency.