Porc 411: SPCA and Police en route to home in Candia NH

[Porcupine_in_MA]

See Also: Kidnapping under Color of Law

Yep.

[lastlady]

If you are not charged with a crime or offense you have been detained not arrested. That is the way I understand it.

[KBCraig]

If you are not charged with a crime or offense you have been detained not arrested. That is the way I understand it.

You're not "charged" with a crime until a judge says you are. Police don't charge people with crimes, they arrest them and make accusations, requesting that they be charged.

Actually, the proper term is "seize", not arrest. A person is "seized" any time they reasonably believe they are not free to leave. A traffic stop is a seizure. Being surrounded by armed, uniformed officers who "just want to talk" is a seizure. Voluntarily entering a police station to make a statement, then being led to believe that you're not free to leave, is a seizure.

An "investigatory stop" is not a seizure, until it passes some arbitrary time limit and becomes "unreasonble delay". Courts have ruled that 15 minutes is not unreasonable, but 2 hours is; in between seems open for debate.

But no matter the time limit, once a person is handcuffed and removed from the immediate scene, they are "seized" for all legal purposes.

[lastlady]

So what is the difference between being detained and being arrested?

[dalebert]

But no matter the time limit, once a person is handcuffed and removed from the immediate scene, they are "seized" for all legal purposes.

So how do they manage to charge people for resisting arrest when they're not being arrested?

Would it actually be resisting a seizure, and if so, can you charge an epileptic with that if they start to have a seizure but manage to snap out of it?

[Russell Kanning]

I prefer dictionary definitions ... a little more voluntary than government ones

[KBCraig]

So what is the difference between being detained and being arrested?

The difference between reasonable articulable suspicion, and probable cause.

Not trying to be coy, but that's the difference.

If an officer has RAS that "crime is afoot", he may detain someone in an "investigatory stop" to ascertain if he's right. The person is "seized" for the duration of that stop. If he has PC, or develops it during the course of the investigation, he may effect a "custodial arrest": handcuffs, mugshot, jail cell, bail hearing.

I agree with Russell: lawyer's definitions give me a headache.

[stanford]

The Candia chief of police told me that his officer arrested Cooper. We have a word for putting someone in shackles and holding them against their will: kidnapping. The government has a different word for the same thing: arrest.

Cooper was not booked or charged, but he was certainly held against his will. I believe detainment is when you can't walk away. Arrest is when they take you away and hold you.

[Lloyd Danforth]

John B. explained it too me.  When you are stopped, you have been arrested.  When you are charged, you're charged.  We just use 'arrested' as synonymous with being charged.

[Josh]

The Candia chief of police told me that his officer arrested Cooper. We have a word for putting someone in shackles and holding them against their will: kidnapping. The government has a different word for the same thing: arrest.

Cooper was not booked or charged, but he was certainly held against his will. I believe detainment is when you can't walk away. Arrest is when they take you away and hold you.

Any plans of filing a criminal complaint with the D.A. ?

[stanford]

We're looking into our options. A case of this type has a six-year statute of limitations, so we're not in any hurry. There are some things happening behind the scenes. I'll report when there's something to report.

[Dan]

Kat, you continue to bring clarity out of chaos. 

I don't know if it can be said Steve waved the handgun around.  He did toss it into the passenger seat, as I've heard it.

[Kat Kanning]

OK, I was hoping someone who was there would look the article over, but it's too late now

[Mike Barskey]

OK, I was hoping someone who was there would look the article over, but it's too late now

Oops. This article? I didn't comment because it sounded good, correct, and accurate to me (judging by the video I saw - I wasn't there in person). I figured if there was a stylistic, grammatical, or factual change, I'd speak up - but I see now it would have been good to say "good article, Kat."

[grasshopper]

  I believe Cooper was arrested because he scared the Police officer.  Cops don't like armed men or anybody, it makes them nervous. You can't intiminate somebody that has quick access to a firearm on their own property, you have to dissarm them first, like the NAZI did to Cooper.
   In Iraq or Afganistan, the commanders told their troops they had to bring in somebody if they sent out a responce to a complaint or suspected the people of being armed or hostle.  I guess the Cop just went to the training he probably had in the military.  If this is so, this concerns me greatly. I mean, what do you do if there is a tense situation and the cop thinks he's in a combat situation and you are just shopping, walking around minding your own business or defending yourseld when the cop is around.  Jeesshh!  Cooper, you did the rite thing by staying calm, you took the violence out of the cop, good job.