Warrant paper

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Warrant
The investigators had enough evidence to request a search warrant. The laws protect people’s privacy by limiting law enforcement officers from illegally searching them and seizing their property (Solove 1511). To search and seize someone’s property, the police officers need to get a warrant first, even though there are exemptions to this rule. The Fourth Amendment provides that for officers to get a warrant, they need to have a probable cause that makes them believe that the person they intend to search has committed a crime and with a warrant, it is possible to get evidence proving the same. Probable cause refers to a feeling of suspicion harbored by law enforcement officials that a person is engaging or has engaged in a crime. A police officer can have a probable cause, enough to get a warrant due to his or her assessment of the behavior of a person from observation, after a tip by a private citizen, or information by a police informant.
In the said scenario, the investigators have enough evidence to request for a search warrant, because of the information by the private citizen (Aaron Greene), which shows that the suspect (Jo) is engaging in illegal behavior of exploiting kitties. Apart from the information by the private citizen, the investigator’s own assessment shows that there is probable cause that searching the suspect’s property can provide more evidence that they can present in court. Since the probable cause requirement is fulfilled in the scenario, it is advisable that the police officers get a search warrant as soon as possible to avoid delays that may lead to loss of evidence.

If they delay the suspect might decide to delete the information on the thumb drive, and this would make it harder for the police officers to charge them.

Works Cited
Solove, Daniel J. “Fourth amendment pragmatism.” BCL Rev. 51 (2010): 1511.