NSW Will Police Arrest Neighbour Because of a Report?

[anderson johns]

Hi,

Under the police power law, police can arrest without an arrest warrant if "The police officer suspects on reasonable grounds that the person is committing or has committed an offence"

And this is reasonable ground (See: R v Rondo (2001) 126 A Crim R 562.)

"Reasonable suspicion is not arbitrary. Some factual basis for the suspicion must be shown. A suspicion may be based on "hearsay material" or "materials" which may be inadmissible in evidence, But the materials must have some probative value. "

I have a question:

If I report to the police that I saw or heard my next-door selling drug anonymously like via crimestoppers for fun, I think this is kind of "hearsay" which I mentioned above.

Can the police arrest him with a report?

 

[Lance]

Hi,

If the police choose to respond to an anonymous tip off, then they will make an assessment at the time. So it is unlikely the police would base an arrest on the basis of an anonymous tip off.

If the police were tipped off that a neighbour was dealing drugs they will look at other evidence which supports the tip off such as a large number of visitors who only stay for a few minutes and unusual lighting, chemical and smells. As the second part of your research states their suspicion really needs a factual basis.

 

[Gorodetsky]

Hi Anderson Johns,

I'm not a solicitor OK, and I'm not an expert of these details...but..cops sometimes do arrest people without reasonable suspicion.

In Rondo, it was found that the driver putting something in their glovebox was reasonable suspicion, but the judge said it was a borderline case and the appeal judge said "my mind has fluctuated as to whether the appellant’s alleged actions were sufficient to ground the reasonable suspicion alleged"....

The cop just decided to arrest the dude, and the dude had to try to convince the judges it was an illegal search (after the cops found drugs in the glovebox).

So, some cop might decide a tip-off is enough for a search...you'll only get a judge to consider if the search is legal or not after you find yourself in court and if you can afford a solicitor to fight it.

If you haven't got much money, and they find drugs...it doesn't matter if the search was legal, can you afford a long legal fight and appeal?

(besides cops phone in tip-offs to crimestoppers themselves if they think they need more reasonable suspicion.)

Regards,

 

[anderson johns]

Hi,

I have questioned about when the police can make an arrest. Thank you for replying, but I still have a question.

If I report to the police wrong information about my neighbour dealing with drugs anonymously via crimestoppers and the police didn't try to gather some materials which can support my information and just arrested him, only with the wrong information that I gave to the police and a previous conviction record related to drugs.

Do you guys think this is false arrest?

 

[SamanthaJay]

Possibly and if you did it intentionally, once they get to the bottom of it, you could find yourself in a whole lot of trouble.

 

[Tim W]

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