For police detention to be considered lawful when the matter is presented in court, peace officers have to arrest an individual through the use of a warrant, unless he she is caught while committing the felon or is found with suspicious items on his/her person.
Because a case can easily be dismissed if it can be argued in court that the person in question was detained illegally, the police are meticulous about following the prescribed procedure when taking a person into custody.
Usually, the process starts with submitting a writ in the local criminal court requesting an arrest order. The sworn statement filed includes details on the incident and why the police consider it a crime. The reasons that led the investigating officers to suspect the involvement of the person in question.
A signed arrest order issued by the Cowlitz County, WA criminal court is called an active arrest warrant. In contrast, all pending arrest orders that remain un-executed are stored in the national criminal system under the category of outstanding arrest warrants.
The Sheriff’s Department of Cowlitz County can offer accurate information on warrants issued by the local criminal court and details on arrest orders from anywhere in the country. Contact them in person by visiting their office at 312 SW 1st Ave, Kelso, Washington 98626.
Although arrest records are not divulged over the phone, you can speak to the records clerk and inquire about how to conduct a warrant search on a person you know. If you are the subject of the inquiry, a visit to the Sheriff’s office will without a doubt end in an arrest, so it would be prudent to look for information online by filling the form above.
How do you get information on Cowlitz County active warrants and arrests over the phone? (2021- Update)
- For information on arrests, call the non-emergency dispatch phone number (360) 577-3098
- For inmate records and inmate search, call the Cowlitz County Jail at 360-577-3094
- For arrest records, incident and accident reports, contact the Records Division at 360-577-3095
- For information on arrest warrants and for requesting incident/accident report or arrest records, call the Records Manager of the Sheriff’s Office at 360-577-3016.
- For details pertaining to a case search and/or accessing judicial records, call the Clerk of the Superior Court at 360-577-3016 or the District Court at 360-577-3073.
Crime Statistics of Cowlitz County, Washington
The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Department filed roughly 350 criminal reports in 2019. More than 280 of these were property crimes, while 65 were crimes against people. The majority of property crime cases involved larceny-theft (150 cases) and burglary (85 cases). In the category of violent crimes, 37 complaints were filed as a result of aggravated assaults while 23 were filed against rape.
Approximately 50,000 crimes took place in Cowlitz, WA, between 1999 and 2008, so the annual crime rate comes out at around 5000 incidents. Theft and robbery-related cases were at the top of the county’s list of crime figures, with nearly 37,000 reported incidents.
Cases of rape and homicide were considerably uncommon, with just about 500 and 30 occurrences reported over the ten years. The crime rate grew by almost 25% during this decade, reflected in the burgeoning daily crime figures that stand at 14 incidents per day.