There Is Only an Opportunity for Justice

Police and Commissioners

Jame Crawford Jr

The Investigation Begins

 Criminal investigations and charges originate several ways in Maryland. One of the most common is when a citizen files a complaint directly with a police officer. For example, if two people get into a fight at a bar, the police are called, and one of the people may wish to charge the other with assault.  In domestic assaults where family members get into an argument at home, police respond to a call and enter the house. This entry is justified not with a warrant but with “exigent circumstances”, meaning the police have probable cause to look into a disturbance and see if everyone is okay. The police then interview the people involved and determine whether criminal charges will be filed. If the police decline to charge, then it is up to the people involved to charge via a commissioner. Police often decline to charge for any “on scene” incident and simply advise going to the commissioner at the local District Court.

 Police and Commissioners

 Commissioners are judicial officers appointed to initiate criminal charges and issue declarations, such as protective orders and peace orders. If a person declines to press charges against another, that does not mean the police will not make an arrest and charge an individual. In a domestic violence situation, the person making the allegations often does not want the other person arrested once the anger subsides. But the police often do, based on the theory that if a crime has been committed, it’s their duty to make an arrest and file a criminal charge.

The law indicates that if a police officer sees a misdemeanor or felony occurring, they are absolutely obligated to make an arrest and begin the criminal process. If a police officer has reasonable suspicion or probable cause that a misdemeanor or felony occurred in the past, then they also have an obligation to file criminal charges or make an arrest. Usually, past-felony investigations are reserved for detectives and administrative investigators.  When a person wants to file criminal charges against someone, they go to see a commissioner who will determine whether probable cause exists for that charge to be filed. For example, if an aggrieved victim goes to a commissioner and claims that an aggressor committed a crime against her, that commissioner must make an assessment to determine if, based on the circumstances presented, that a crime may have occurred.  It’s not the commissioner’s job to show that a crime actually occurred beyond a reasonable doubt. She is a not a judge nor a jury, but merely a scribe in some ways. A commissioner looks at the facts, assessing the person’s credibility and determining whether or not the elements of a crime have been met. If so, the commissioner may issue a summons, a warrant, or a charging document in the District Court.  A complainant or victim must write out a statement of facts about the alleged crime and how it occurred. The commissioner will make her determination based on those written facts. Those written facts represent what has alleged to have occurred, and they become evidence to be used later by a criminal defendant’s attorney. In the United States, it is very easy for anyone to go to a commissioner or the police and make up an allegation. It really isn’t the commissioner or the police officer’s duty to make absolutely sure that the charges are true or false. They are not there to judge as to whether or not the crime actually occurred. They are there to push the allegation into the process of the criminal judicial system. People who get charged are often upset and angry because they feel as if someone has accused them falsely, and they don’t understand the process. They say, “How the hell could this happen? How could someone simply make up something about me and obtain criminal charges?” But while it is easy for someone to make up facts and try to procure a criminal charge, it is very difficult for a person to make the allegations stick if they are false. There are many ways to prove the crime didn’t occur.