“He looked suspicious so we found it necessary to take action,” stated a Drexel Police Chief after handcuffing, threatening and detaining Michael Gurrieri, an attendee at the Student Liberty Front Retreat Conference on the campus this past weekend. The criminal activity that required four police officers to show up on scene was Gurrieri smoking a hand-rolled cigarette, a new trend amongst the youth who are looking for cheaper and a more natural alternative to the highly taxed and contaminated cigarettes on the market, which the cops mistook for a marijuana joint. After a confrontation including a long lecture involving the reasons why the police deemed Gurrieri a threatening figure and how he should always bow to his masters, he was released.

This case perfectly presents the case of probable cause and how it is one of the most manipulated, corrupted and downright wasteful actions enforced and protected in the current list of encroaching police powers. The term probable cause can be found written directly in the United States Constitution, and like most of the text, is extremely vague and universally uninterpretable. According to the Fourth Amendment, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”  This clause fails to explain just about every aspect of a modern probable cause case, such as the subjectivity of probable cause, whose Oath or affirmation is deemed proper and the general sense of law-protected privacy, allowing the police, in some cases, to even get away with committing crimes themselves.

If following the Constitution as law, certainly the police officers found themselves correct in performing a detainment on Gurrieri. Using their own judgment to determine actions illegitimate, they act, but in the end, they often are wrong in doing so. The police often claim that is best to act in this way, taking advantage of any inkling of possible law breaking, even on private property, and their interest lies in the public good and protection.

In a stateless society, the market would have an intolerance for such probable cause cases, and even using a simple cost-benefit analysis of the situation can determine these actions worthless and a waste of time. Victimless crimes would disappear, and there would be no reason to hunt down any individual for the possibility that they are plaguing society with their actions.  State-sponsored gang members, however, can get away with defying market forces, going against what is actually necessary for a society function, and pick and choose their battles. It is impossible to rid society of opinions and perspectives of its individuals, which makes probable cause exist regardless, but it would be considered irrational and unprofitable to act on these conditions.

Probable cause cases are often hidden behind other terms or in the state of some kind of “national threat.”  The Arizona immigration law, which includes racial profiling, is one of the best examples of probable cause gone wrong. Government has made a person’s appearance to be enough of a reason to ask for their identification and if they refuse to comply, they are made to identify themselves by force or thrown into jail. Now, rather than merely avoiding “suspicious” activity, one has to be conscious of one’s own appearance when performing common tasks such as working, driving or traveling. This law is reminiscent of the Patriot Act, which actually includes all United States citizens, and states that federal agents may conduct surveillance and searches on U.S. citizens without probable cause to suspect criminal activity; the targeted person is not notified and cannot challenge the action.

Other current police stories that include probable cause include the rise in tasing, SWAT raids for drug or arms suspicion, temporary tag suspicion on vehicles, and even for murder.  Probable cause has gone down in the books as being one of the top police excuses with a high success rate for cops to use their encroaching power on the general public.  It opens up the doors to any logically moral individual’s arrest, especially even while following the non-aggression and self ownership principles — or even a non-player or innocent bystander in some cases.

Getting around the threats of the police can be difficult and varies on a case by case basis, but one’s best bet would be to remain vigilant of police were abouts and practice discretion when applicable.  While an individual may know that there are no moral crimes in performing certain actions and can try to explain such beliefs to a police officer, an arrest may occur, which arguably does not benefit the individual or his like-minded community.  Limiting and eventually eliminating the power of the police state will remove the threat of illegitimate probable cause cases, but there is no specific method to achieve this goal.  The efforts made on many different levels — education, activism and building alternative institutions — work towards a less abusive and more free society.