St. Louis County operates a “Wanteds System” under which an officer who has probable cause to arrest a suspect may issue an electronic Wanteds notice which authorizes any other officer to arrest the person; there is no judicial authorization for the Wanteds notice and it is not an arrest warrant; the court rejects the police argument that the system is justified by the collective knowledge doctrine, because that doctrine requires officers to be involved together in an investigation and requires some degree of communication among the officers; nonetheless, the court declines to hold the system unconstitutional on its face because arrests under it might be valid in some instances, such as an arrest immediately after an officer has entered a Wanted, exigent circumstances, evanescent evidence, and a fleeing felon; court awards qualified immunity to officers who made unconstitutional arrests based on Wanteds, declines to impose municipal liability.
Citation
Actionable Conduct Edition