Does an Anonymous Tip Give Police Probable Cause?
Under the Fourth Amendment, police officers must have probable cause before they can arrest you. This means that police officers must have a reasonable suspicion that you committed a crime before you can be legally arrested for that crime.
Generally, probable cause is established when an officer sees you commit the crime or has direct or circumstantial evidence, such as you running from the crime scene. Probable cause is also sometimes established when someone else sees you commit a crime. Informants can give police information that helps law enforcement develop probable cause, depending on the quality of the information and the credibility of the informant.
It is usually more difficult to develop probable cause from an anonymous informer because there is no basis for credibility hence, no reason to trust the quality of the information. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that anonymous tips can substantiate probable cause. 1
Supreme Court Rules on Anonymous Tips and Probable Cause
Recently, in a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court held that law enforcement officers can stop you based entirely on an anonymous 911 call. In the case of Navarette v. California, someone called 911 saying she had been run off the road by a pickup truck. The anonymous caller gave the 911 operator the make, model and license plate number of the pickup truck as well as the location of where she was allegedly ran off the road. Police stopped the driver of the truck, smelled marijuana and discovered 30 pounds of marijuana. Navarette was arrested but argued the police had no probable cause for the initial stop as they had no way of establishing the identity or reliably of the anonymous caller. 2
The majority of the Supreme Court did not agree, holding that police can stop someone if the information obtained from an anonymous informant provides enough detail to create reasonable suspicion of a crime. In Justice Thomas’ majority opinion, he concluded that the caller was an eyewitness who was forced off the road leading police to believe the pickup truck driver was drunk. Thomas also felt it was reasonable to rely on the information given by anonymous 911 callers because the calls are recorded and the service can track and identify callers. 3
In the dissent, Justice Scalia called the majority opinion a “freedom-destroying cocktail” that puts everyone on the road at risk of false reports called in by malevolent tipsters.
Share Your Feedback With Us
The Supreme Court ruled that an anonymous 911 call or a tip to police can be enough to establish probable cause. We would like to hear your thoughts on this ruling.
Do you agree with the Supreme Court ruling regarding anonymous informants and probable cause? What are some of the issues that the Supreme Court ruling may cause? Do you agree with Justice Thomas and the majority vote, or do you agree with Justice Scalia that the ruling puts us all at risk? Please feel free to leave your comments below.
1. [https://verdict.justia.com/2013/10/16/u-s-supreme-court-considers-anonymous-tips]↩
2. [http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/navarette-v-california/]↩
3. [http://www.npr.org/2014/04/22/305993180/court-gives-police-new-power-to-rely-on-anonymous-tips]↩
Anonymous tips should be permitted. Identity of the request is not an issue. For example, a woman yells “He stole my purse”. Her identity is not known and may not be known till after the purse snatcher is apprehended and the purse (evidence) examined for identity card. The woman remains anonymous until AFTER the evidence is seized. If identity were required, for probable cause, then the discovery identity after the evidence was ceased would cause problems.
I believe that anonymous tips are sufficient, even without ever knowing the identity or source of the tip. It just needs to be DOCUMENTED that it DID occur. However, true probable cause is in what the officer observes after the fact.
Furthermore, the practice seems to be well established for the policing staff within the state, but probable cause does not seem to enter into other aspects such as social work. Consider the case of Child Protective Services (also an agent of the state) who rely upon a weaker definition of the fourth amendment.
Bottom line — I am for anonymous tips, and believe that it falls under the “reasonable” clause of 4th amendment.
I suppose there are some logistics, for example how do you prove an anonymous tip did not originate from a state official or agent thereof? Because if a person (unknown to the recipient) contacted a cop via anonymous-voice call and said “I think Bob is driving drunk” when he did not observe it (it would be unfair and could be harassment). And if the caller was in fact a police officer, it would be worse.
I suppose all of these what ifs are what you lawyers are for. Personally, I am an engineer — and like to see thing 95% correct. The other 5% is an acceptable error level that can be decided on a case by case basis.
Can an anonymous call be listened to by the criminal or the public? It was announced to the police in advance that the call was anonymous.
Hi Amirah,
911 calls are recorded and often used as evidence. They are generally public record, but identifying information could be left out of public record.
Thanks
I don’t see any protection against Justice Scalia’s “malevolent tipsters.” I’m reading this post by Atty Klarich because I am pretty sure I’ve been malevolently tipped against; and it doesn’t make me feel too happy about the way things stand.
Hi Richard,
If you are facing criminal charges in California, you should contact an attorney immediately. Call us at (877) 466-5245 so we can review your case.
We look forward to your call!
Really??!! So the police should waste tax payers money daily by acting on annonomous tips made by malevolent people .. Id like to see how you felt after you were to tipped on and pulled over, searched and your car torn apart by the police who believe that you have committed a crime because someone said you had evidence of a murder hidden inside.. Or how about if you were home nestled in bed when all of a sudden you get abruptly awoken by 20 masked officers who have guns pointed at your head and your kids dragged out of bed traumatized because of a tip by some crazy girlfriend lets say you just broke up with who wants revenge and tells police you have women chained in your basement.. Go thru a senereo like that and tell us then that you are all for annonomous tips. There are people out there who are malicious and would love to keep cops busy hunting down false tips and information all day to make it more easy for them to break the law.. If we allowed it to be ok for cops to chase tips.. My god what kind of crime will be overseen .. Come on now.. Theres got to be a bit more ground to go on before cops can seek out bad tips and info. By most likely criminals who are trying to get away with crimes..
Anonymous tips are done all the time — in the work place, child protection, etc. Sometimes the tip is malicious, sometimes not. There is no way of telling, except that it is a hint. I really don’t have a cause, but my opinions have been shaped by someone whose voice can no longer be heard simply because nobody bothered to pick up the phone. Quite frankly, none of them had to be anonymous. Still I wish someone had said something.
I believe a anonymous tip is insufficient as a claim of this sort can be a unwarranted detention and questioning violating the civil rights of a individual to move about freely unmolested , in order for a tip to hold enough validity to detain anyone the person making the claim must be held under penalty of perjury to prevent claims that discriminate against someone strictly based on appearance or other imaginative claims that could be made by a anonymous caller without consequence ,causing a innocent party to be harassed while leaving the person making the false report free to continue to falsely accuse repeatedly .
The police should ask if you want to press false reporting charges against the anonymous reporter because it has been found in a particular court case that the police actually made the call (in Texas) and the attorney ordered voice prints of all the officers and caught the police agency doing it; moreover, when anonymous tips are made and there is no sort of evidence to substantiate it the police enter your home and make an arrest anyway based on nothing and claim obstruction charges against the person.
As far as I’m concerned, your 6th amendment right is, you have the right to face your accuser, in the court of law. An anonymous tip is a piece of evidence, which all evidence should be presented, at the trial, in order to prove, that the facts are not fabricated.
I feel that the annonymous reporting of an alleged crime shouldn’t justify any type of search. In this articles case, i feel that it may have given justification of a traffic investigation where a patrol car locates & follows a suspected reckless or impaired driver in order to verify the claims made. Cases like this one give cause for a logical person to say, ‘ hmmm…either he has some lowdown, snitches for enemies that know too much of his illegal doings or he’s a freakin idiot for cutting people off with that much pot in his possession’! Either way it sucks to be him!