What is the difference between an arrest warrant and a search warrant?

An Arrest Warrant is a Court Order instructing any peace officer to take the named individual into custody. It gives information about the suspect such as: identifying information, states the alleged offense, and orders the police to arrest the suspect.

A Search Warrant is a Court Order instructing the police to conduct a search of a particular property, item or location. Search Warrants can be broad, such as in the case of a search of a farm, covering all buildings etc. Or they can be very narrow, covering just the search of a particular building, or item.

An arrest warrant is an order by the court to arrest a person. It generally also allows the police to search to one extent or another. During an arrest the police can conduct a search of the property under the control of the suspect.

A search warrant is a warrant that allows the police to conduct a search.

The extent of the search conducted would be controlled by state law and the warrant issued.

Yes, they have the right to wake up sleeping people.

An arrest warrant gives police the right to haul you in to jail, charge you, arraign you and then your freedom depends upon the judge and your bail. At the time of arrest, your rights should be read to you. If they are not, inform your lawyer, for you will have to hire a lawyer or, if you are indigent, a lawyer will be assigned to you. Being in or out of any house does not matter if they have an arrest warrant. They have a right to enter and arrest you. A search warrant, on the other hand, is simply a paper signed by a judge giving police the right to search the premises for items they have "probable cause" to believe are pertinent to a crime. Sometimes a search warrant will accompany a warrant for arrest. At other times, it is served separately, as the police gather information concerning a crime. Remember, though, that if a crime has been committed and the police are reasonably sure that you are the perpetrator, they can arrest without first obtaining a warrant. At this time, your rights should also be read to you.

an arrest warrant covers more than a search warrant because the police have the right to invade whomevers home they believe that person is in, and once they are in the home they have the right to look in anything they want to, without any legal reprocushion, although most "decent" officers will not do this, they will simply check rooms, closets, etc. to see if a person is there and leave it at that. But they do have the right (hiding behind the whole "reasonable suspicion" clause) to search your home, whether they have a warrant or not, if you invite them in, so don't ever do this!(eventhough unwarranted searches are harder for the officers to prove, it has been done many times)

A search warrant, however, is only valid for the property stated in the warrant, so if they ever serve one to you, read it VERY carefully and watch to see if they are looking somewhere they are not supposed to, many cases have been thrown out because of simple technicalities like an officer found a piece of evidence in a place not named in the search warrant.

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This answer is applicable to England and Wales.

An arrest warrant is issued for the arrest of a named individual and can be executed at any time, but only once.

A search warrant is issued for specified article(s) at a specified address or in a specified vehicle and is restricted to looking in parts of the property or vehicle that could contain the article(s). It would not allow a search of a drawer or under a bed if looking for a television for example.

If the item could be concealed on a person (for example, drugs, or a credit card) then any persons on the premises or in the vehicle when the warrant is executed can also be searched.

A search warrant can be executed at any time but only for a restricted period after issue and can only be executed once. However, a drugs warrant can be used more than once within six months of issue.

An Arrest warrant only allows Police to search in possible areas where the person with the warrant could hide, highly doubt the person could fit in a drawer. A search warrant allows officers to search every inch of your house. Yes, they have the right to wake sleeping people, they usually put them all in one room so they can safely secure and search the area.

An arrest warrant is when they have a warrant to arrest an individual. A search warrant is when they have a warrant to search the premises or properties of the individual. I believe when there is an arrest warrant they can do some searching but it is beyond their control that they wake up "sleeping people."

If the police have an arrest warrant, I think they can go through your stuff...but, if they have an arrest warrant, that means they have proof you did something, so, they would have probably used a search warrant to go through the persons home, and if they find anything illegal or say the weapon used in a crime, they can arrest that person.

An arrest warrant only allows the officers to look in places where the person named could be. Obviously, not in a desk drawer.