Kingkeoni, I understand, but it's not an entirely different situation. I never said police heard the screams. Same as the gunshot situation, someone calls to report a situation and police respond. They knock on the door and the homeowner answers the door. Police tell him they heard screams coming from his residence. He tells them he wants to talk to a lawyer before he says anything. Police see blood on his hand. What do the police do? Just leave?
Entirely different situation.
Probable cause means the officer has to PERSONALLY see, hear or smell something that leads him to believe that something has occurred.
If I call the police on you and say that I heard a gunshot come from your house, the officer doesn't have the right to kick down your door to see.
If I call the police on you and say that I hear a woman's screams coming from your house, the officer arrives and PERSONALLY
sees blood on your handsThat gives him probable cause.
He has to personally see hear or smell something in order to act.
You can't just go around arresting people because some yahoo over reacted and called the police.
What if you were watching your new 5000 watt surround sound system and the officer arrests you.
The lucky guy who gets arrested will sue the stuffing out of HPD.