Probable Cause & Intimate Knowledge
- In a nutshell, "probable cause" is a reasonable belief that a person has committed a crime. There are four main categories of probable cause: observation (patterns of criminal activity or unusual behaviors), expertise (for example, familiarity with gang signs), information (statements made by victims, witnesses or other informants) and circumstantial evidence (indirect suggestion).
- Intimate knowledge is information and familiarity with all aspects of a person, community or other subject. Combined with a crime scene or other evidence that a crime has, in fact, taken place, intimate knowledge can be probable cause for search or arrest.
- Probable cause of any type must be sufficient for a prudent or reasonable observer to deduce criminal activity. The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States (made applicable to the states' law enforcement officers by the Fourteenth Amendment) prohibits arrests or searches without probable cause.
