TIME System Data and Probable Cause

A TIME System hit may not be probable cause to arrest. A hit is one fact which must be added to other facts by the officer in arriving in sufficient legal grounds for probable cause to arrest.

In some circumstances the hit confirmed with the originating agency may be the major fact and in deed, may be the only fact necessary; e.g., when a hit on a stolen car or other stolen property is made in a time frame very close to the time of actual theft or when a hit indicates that the car was recently used in a bank robbery or is in possession of fugitives. As the time period increases, the significance of the hit decreases. Thus a hit on a record a year or two years after the car had been stolen may in itself be inadequate for probable cause for an arrest since it would be possible or even probable that the vehicle was then in possession of an innocent purchaser, rather than the thief.

To make an arrest under the latter circumstances would require that the officer not only have the fact of the hit but additional facts as well adding up to probable cause. A hit confirmed with the originating agency may be adequate grounds to recover stolen property.