An Exploratory Analysis of Time Lapses in Serving Arrest Warrants

• Author: Charles F. Klahm,Harrison G. Maddox,Richard R. Johnson
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016815596043
• Published date: 01 December 2015
• Date: 01 December 2015
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

An Exploratory Analysis

of Time Lapses in Serving

Arrest Warrants: A Focal

Concerns and Disproportionate

Contact Approach

Richard R. Johnson

1

, Charles F. Klahm

2

, and Harrison G. Maddox

3

Abstract

The seizure of persons through the authority of an arrest warrant issued by a magistrate is the only

method of arrest specifically enumerated in the U.S. Constitution, yet scant research exists on the

processing and serving of arrest warrants. This study investigated the correlates of how long it took

a sample of arrest warrants to be served by law enforcement officials. Using focal concerns and

disproportionate police contact underpinnings, the findings revealed the characteristics predictive of

rapid service of warrants in this jurisdiction were weakly associated with the focal concerns per-

spective and generally unrelated to the disproportionate contact perspective. The findings highlight

the need for more detailed study of, and the development of, better theoretical foundations for this

issue.

Keywords

arrest warrant, sheriff, police, focal concerns, disproportionate contact

The only method of arrest described in the U.S. Constitution, enumerated in the Fourth Amendment,

is an arrest with a warrant, based upon probable cause, and supported by an oath or affirmation. It is

therefore interesting that scant empirical research exists on the issuing, processing, and serving of

arrest warrants in the United States. This dearth of research is regretful and has even attracted the

attention of the U.S. Senate, which held hearings in 2001 on the national backlog of arrest warrants

(U.S. Senate, Subcommittee on Criminal Justice Oversight, 2001). At that time, the Subcommittee

on Criminal Justice Oversight issued a statement that the nation faces an extreme backlog of

unserved arrest warrants, with fugitives on the loose, continuing to commit new crimes (U.S. Senate,

Subcommittee on Criminal Justice Oversight, 2001, p. 1).

1

Criminal Justice Program, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA

2

Department of Criminal Justice, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

3

Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Richard R. Johnson, Criminal Justice Program, University of Toledo, 2801 W. Bancroft St, MS 119, Toledo, OH 43606, USA.

Email: richard.johnson4@utoledo.edu

Criminal Justice Review

2015, Vol. 40(4) 470-487

ª2015 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/0734016815596043

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It was estimated that the unserved arrest warrants in the United States at any point in time

exceeded 3 million in the early 2000s (Officer of the Inspector General of Audit, 2000; U.S. General

Accounting Office, 2001). The enormity of unserved arrest warrants poses serious problems for the

justice system and society, as the courts cannot operate efficiently or effectively if criminal defen-

dants cannot be made to appear. When the application of sanctions by the court is indefinitely

delayed, the criminal justice process lacks any hope of deterrence. Moreover, there is no justice for

victims when defendants avoid court, and because some arrest warrants stem from probation and

parole violations, the warrant backlog interferes with the efficient operation of correctional agencies.

This reveals a need to investigate why some fugitives are apprehended quickly while others are

not and what case characteristics are associated with how quickly a warrant is served. As a matter of

justice, it is important to examine whether fugitive demographic characteristics, such as age, sex,

and race, explain the rapidity of serving arrest warrants. It would be more appropriate if practical

public safety concerns, such as seriousness of offense and the seriousness of the fugitives past crim-

inal history, explained the rapidity with which arrest warrants were served. The present study

involved an initial examination of the correlates to the time taken to serve arrest warrants.

Borrowing from the conflict and focal concerns theoretical perspectives, the present study exam-

ines correlates of the length of time taken to serve a sample of 428 arrest warrants issued by one

county court. Relying on a focal concerns perspective, case characteristics associated with blame-

worthiness, public safety, and practical constraints were examined as predictors of length of time

taken to serve the warrant. Exercising a disproportionate police contact perspective, fugitive char-

acteristics associated with age, race, and gender were also explored as predictors. Correlates were

examined to determine whether one or both of these perspectives helped explain how quickly war-

rants were served.

Literature Review

Our empirical knowledge about arrest warrants is extremely limited. Scant research exists on how

arrest warrants are issued, processed, or served. This fact was lamented in 2001 by the Subcommittee

on Criminal Justice Oversight of the U.S. Senate, which called for further social scientific research

into the prevalence and processing of arrest warrants. Unfortunately, not much research has occurred

in this area since this call was made. In May 2013, literature searches were conducted through the

Social Science Index, Criminal Justice Abstracts, Google Scholar, and National Criminal Justice

Reference Service Abstracts databases to locate any social scientific studies regarding the issuance,

processing, and serving of arrest warrants. Several articles from police trade journals were located

that involved anecdotal discussions of fugitive apprehension units, but only a small handful of

empirical works were located. Most of these empirical works were published as governmental

reports, simply presenting descriptive statistics on the prevalence and nature of arrest warrants, and

failed to include any multivariate analyses. These descriptive studies suggest that the number of

arrest warrants issued annually in the nation, and the backlog of unserved warrants, is enormous.

Arrest Warrant Prevalence

Although it is difficult to know the exact number of outstanding arrest warrants that exist across the

United States (Flannery & Kretschmar, 2012), estimates suggest that the number is large and grow-

ing. For example, a report by the U.S. General Accounting Office (2001) indicated that in August

2001, there were over 825,000 active outstanding arrest warrants in the National Crime Information

Center (NCIC) database. While a very large number, it is only a fraction of the unserved arrest war-

rants across the nation. Being a federal database, the warrants in NCIC are primarily from federal

cases, and the most serious cases are from state and local courts. For example, another audit found

Johnson et al. 471