Aside from criminals and oblivious people who carelessly disregard the things they do that would later have warrants issued for their arrest. Why isn’t there any system in place that notifies people whether or not they have warrants?
The only way to find out, least in the US, is to call police departments or certain county offices. But almost nobody would want to do that, so why isn’t there a way to like send a text or an e-mail or even a letter in the mail saying “hey, something happened involving you and a warrant has been issued, might want to do something about it”.
I mean sure, if anyone got that notification, there could be chances that they’d run. But, that’s all the more reason to add another charge once they are caught.
Anyway, a warrant has to be served, and you can’t be charged for evading arrest if they can’t find you. It’s once the warrant has been served — which legally has to be done in person — that if you flee, you are guilty of another crime. Once you are notified, you would typically be arrested right then and there. Depending on the nature of the crime, they may not even restrain you, if you’re willing to get in the back of the car and come quietly. The violent arrests you see are either because of the violent nature of the crime or the criminal (yes, or the cop). But they aren’t the norm.
You don’t need to knowingly do something in order to be charged with a crime.
This is correct. Story time!
A friend of mine was arrested due to a warrant from an unpaid traffic violation ticket for driving without proof of insurance. It wasn’t paid because the ticket was dismissed after they later showed they did have insurance, but this was not recorded in the proper system.
Five years later, they were arrested after being pulled over for a burned out brake light. They spent most of a day in jail. Luckily, they kept proof of the dismissal, otherwise they’d have been held accountable for the government’s mistake. No compensation was provided for their time in jail and missed work. Murica!