Originally Posted by VideoPaul
Something like this would wind up with several attorneys beating the crap out of each other to try to get to you first for the suit against hte jurisdiction responsible, unless they had probable cause at that time and were ready to charge you.
I learned fairly early on not to make threats that I couldn't back up. If I started what was likely to be an adversarial conversation with someone, I almost always had something that I could charge them with. It might have been what would be called a "chickens***" charge, but it was a valid one, nevertheless. I was never even accused of making a false arrest.
Originally Posted by VideoPaul
You need to understand that cops HATE paperwork and the amount of paperwork after an arrest is really abusive. They are not going to arrest you unless they feel pretty strongly about it, and there had better have been a crime committed. This is why you remail respectful and avoid sarcasm, profamity or any other verbal abusiveness.
Having been a cop for fifteen years, I have some insight into the paperwork issue. Arrests are only one way of resolving a problem, and they're frequently not the most desirable way. But people who insist on resisting authority on principle often do themselves a disservice.
War story: I was called to a bar where a bachelor party was in progress. The party had gotten out of hand, and the management wanted the partiers to vacate the premises. All were visibly intoxicated. I had concerns that they would either get into their cars or wander outside and start more trouble, so I called a couple of cabs and offered them this choice: get in the cabs and go to the home of their choosing, or ride in our drunk wagon to jail, where they would spend the night. All but one saw the wisdom of Option #1, and got into the cabs. This individual insisted that I could not force him to take a cab, and that he would not go. His buddies attempted to persuade him otherwise, but he was adamant. Instead of riding in a bright yellow cab, he got to ride in a dingy black and white police car.
A couple of hours later, I got a call from one of our reserve (volunteer) officers. The detainee (he was not charged criminally, but was detained under what amounted to a "drunk in public" statute) was her husband. She asked me if I could get him released into her custody. I couldn't - once he was in the tank, it was up to the county sheriff. He spent the night on the rubber floor of a large, open cell reserved for inebriates. I spent a few hours there while I was in the academy (it was part of our training), and I didn't look back on the experience fondly.
By the way, the paperwork on this type of detention was to fill out a form that was about four lines long. I would have been just as happy to have waved bye-bye to him and his friends as the cab pulled out, but he had to be a hammerhead. Think about this when and if you are trying to decide whether to answer some innocuous questions, and whether your resolve to stick it to the man is really worth going to jail.