Have you been arrested?

[A.A.K]

4 times. I've also received 4 cautions. How did they treat me? Lazily. You're supposed to be locked up after the 3rd. Nope, gave me a fourth.
All of them for street fighting.
Because I was the winner...oh uhm...'survivor', because no-one totally wins a fight, and I was either outmatched or outnumbered all four times, the cops just went "Please don't do this shit again."

 

[rednose1]

Oh yes.
Once and only once, and has been the sole reason for my hatred to police ever since.

I had just gotten out of the navy, and moved to a new state for a new job. Trying to be social, I hit the bar with a co worker. After having a fun night, I decide to head home. The bar is less than a mile from my new apartment, so I head off walking back.I cross the highway right next to the bar, and get stopped by a police car as I come to the other side. Cop asks if I'd been drinking, and being honest, I say yes, that's why I'm walking home. Guess my surprise when I get a drunk in public. I tried to point out that I was carrying on a conversation with him without teetering/slurring, He watched me check that no cars were coming, and crossed right at the red light. I even said I'd go back to the bar and sober up/get a ride back if he wanted. No dice.

Best part of all this, going to make my phone call, I wasn't allowed my cell phone to look up anyone's number. The only number I could remember (new job and a new state) was to work. I thought I was fired when my boss came to bail me out.
(fun fact! If you work at a nuke plant and get arrested, NRC rules state they have to pull your access to the site. Going through security to regain access is a fun and extremely quick process, honest!)

So yea, I don't have any love for police. At all. Those donut munching pigs can all do a swan dive off a cliff as far as I'm concerned. They have the ability to ruin your life/public record, and they do so with no hesitation at all. I decide to walk home instead of chancing it at the wheel, and my reward is the honor of being the first one in my family to be arrested. Not a honor I thought I'd ever have.

(and yes, I am still bitter about it.)

 

[Elfgore]

I've only had to deal with a cop once, when I hit a lady's car, on private property, going 5mph after I hit a patch of black ice. She had to get a police report on it though, cause a two inch scratch on your 10 year old car might make it look like a piece of crap. Cop was pissed of at the lady, but nice to me so... all was well.

But no I've never been arrested. That's about as close as I've been, and it is still pretty far.

 

[Muspelheim]

Sorry to break it to you but you weren't arrested, you were just detained by the police. Had you been arrested they would have booked you and there would be a record of the arrest.

Funny, because it's called 'arrested' in my country. It's what they always say. I'm sure there's some legal definition that differs it, but it's always been called 'arrested' when I have asked.
Heck, I've been in custody for more than eight hours several times (because I was drunk and I needed to sleep it off) and they sure did make a record of it.
Difference is that I have never been sentenced, no.

I think the definition they're technically, air-quotes, supposed to use is "gripen" (siezed, basically, for the benefit of our readers that don't speak IKEA), if they're detaining you for something they think they could charge you for. If it leads to prosecution depends if the suspicion against you fly or not. They can only hold you for a while without charging you, and if they can't, you're out. I think they do book that you've been in custody, but it's not like a proper criminal charge. If the case against you does fly, you're jailed (Häktad, I believe it is) and the court procedure and all that loveliness starts up. Then, they can hold you as long as they need to, or as long as they wish, depending on the coppers in question.
If they're just putting you in a drunk tank, it's detainment ("Omhändertagen", a term I find appealingly affectionate, meaning "taken care of"), with no "real", bad boy criminal records and a reasonably swift release, once they think you're good to go. Or when they have to, when the bad cops are on duty.

But I imagine they've seen all the American cop-films as well, firing off an "You're under arrest!" probably livens up the day up a bit. I certainly would, and go "No lollygaggin'" ad nauseum.

Bad cops tend to make sure the shit they want you pinned for fly, though. One of their favourite tricks is withholding toilet visits until you pretty much pleads guilty to the suspicion they've cooked up. They're the nasty ones, and it's a good idea to make sure you've done your business in case you end up in their delighted company. But they've got to let you go eventually, so it's mainly a question of holding out until they're forced to let you go, or date you up with a prosecutor.

a friend of mine got arrested once for fighting in the streets, but wasn't charged for anything and the cops let him go the next day.

turns out, the officer that arrested him recognised the guy my friend was fighting with, and he hangs out with a pretty vile crowd, so he got my friend off the street so they couldn't shiv him later.
Heard those guys were arrested for armed robbery too last week, fuckin' idiots thinking they're "gangsta", didn't that fad die out like ten years ago?

No, it seems that the whole gangsta-cyst just won't shrivel and die... Hoodies, caps and those huge, bulging Aladdin-trousers as far as the eye can see. I just hope that their kids will rebel against that once they hit their teens and dress sensibly.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

Well, I was fined for 150$ for not having bus ticket... So yeah, YOLO.

 

[an annoyed writer]

4 times. I've also received 4 cautions. How did they treat me? Lazily. You're supposed to be locked up after the 3rd. Nope, gave me a fourth.
All of them for street fighting.
Because I was the winner...oh uhm...'survivor', because no-one totally wins a fight, and I was either outmatched or outnumbered all four times, the cops just went "Please don't do this shit again."

And I suppose the rules say that you're not supposed to talk about it either, I take it?


OP: I haven't gotten arrested since I generally know how to behave myself, but I have had my run-ins with the cops, most of them mainly being either traffic-related or airsoft LARP-related.

 

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

Nope, never. I've had one citation for speeding but that is it. The officer was actually really nice. I admitted to my speed, he gave me the ticket for a clearly reduced speed (I was going way faster right by him) for only about $200 and wished me a good day.

No hard feelings. Broke the law, got smacked for it. No worries =^_^=

 

[major_chaos]

Myself and my associates were frequently accused by the police of running a "criminal training centre"

Are they entirely wrong? Hell, out of all the people I have talked to, the one with the most detailed and in depth understanding of his rights was literally a drug dealer.

One day I was told I was a "person of interest" in a case they were working and was brought in for questioning.
I sat in their interview room for a couple hours, told every person who came in that I wasn't saying a word without a lawyer, and was free to go shortly afterwards.

That's right, waste everyone's time and resources by being petulant! stick'n it to the man, man.

OT: Arrested? No. Pulled over for highly suspect reasons that I suspect were just a cover for the fact that they saw my buddy who is white with dreadlocks driving and assumed they could bust him for some kind of substance violation? Twice.

 

[ShipofFools]

My first run in with the police was when a bicyclist slammed into my stationary car. Traffic laws being what they are here in the Netherlands, I had to pay for all damages. But of course the poor thing had some gravel in her hand, so I could expect a hospital bill as well.
The police helped me, kind of. I still had to pay, but they made sure the "victim" came down her high horse and stop blaming me. (I TOOK THE KEY OUT OF THE IGNITION! HOW THE HELL DO YOU CRASH INTO ME?)

The second time was when I was at a bar, there were these two guys having an argument, and suddenly one of them pulls a knife.
So the other guy, and I swear to this day that this is all real, grabbed the knife by the blade, blood streaming from his hand, took it from the guy, and then stabbed him in his knee.
That was the most hard core thing I ever saw... and then the popo came, and they arrested both guys, but mistakenly arrested me, my mate and a random tourist as well. You see, we tried to help both guys with their wounds, so there was blood on us too, so we had to be guilty of SOMETHING.
When they realised their mistake, we were free to go... 4 miles from where they picked us up, with no means of transportation.
So that was the night when three bloodied guys wandered through the country side, trying to get home.

I still love talking about that story.

 

[chuckman1]

Fuck the police no justice no peace. I've never been arrested but I've seen my father arrested.
Out walking a few times I've been stopped questioned searched but i had nothing so they made me go home.
I guess i would've had a lot more harassment if i wasn't white but police still don't like seeing me walking especially in the middle class neighborhoods.
Ps Arizona cops are racist to non white people.

 

[Devil's Due]

Myself and my associates were frequently accused by the police of running a "criminal training centre"

Are they entirely wrong? Hell, out of all the people I have talked to, the one with the most detailed and in depth understanding of his rights was literally a drug dealer.

One day I was told I was a "person of interest" in a case they were working and was brought in for questioning.
I sat in their interview room for a couple hours, told every person who came in that I wasn't saying a word without a lawyer, and was free to go shortly afterwards.

That's right, waste everyone's time and resources by being petulant! stick'n it to the man, man.

If you truly believe that, then I feel sorry for you. S/he was exercising their constitutional right. The police do NOT have the right to question you without a lawyer.

I love how you seem to think this person must be a criminal. Hell, you must think my entire family must be criminals too since they refuse to talk to the police and so do I. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that my family has:

- Police Officers
- Military Police
- Correctional Officers
- Lawyers
- A Superior Court Judge for an entire state.

And yet, every single one will tell you not to talk to the police without a lawyer. I'm sure that all those people in my family, including the judge, are totally criminals because you said so. Heck, I even took a driving course with police officers and they told me the same thing: Shut up and get a lawyer. I have police officer friends: Shut up and get a lawyer. I took Advanced Placement American Government and Politics class: Shut up and get a lawyer.

You exercise your rights because that is how the country was founded. Police either get their evidence or they send you home. End of story. We believe in the United States that it's better to let 10 guilty people go free than to let 1 innocent person be sent to prison and/or executed.

This is how the legal system works.

As for the thread: Nope. Never been arrested, fined, cited, anything. Because I know the laws and I know my rights. I have no intention to break a law because most of them seem pretty damn simple to me and make sense so I follow them. Should I ever break one, I'd admit it on the spot because that's what Integrity is for. If I didn't do anything and they're questioning me, I'm going to lawyer up and exercise my rights and prove my innocence.

 

[Mikkel421427]

Not gotten arrested per se, but I did have a rather interesting encounter with the police once... One dark and stormful night... Except, it wasn't stormful at all and hardly dark. Clear skies and a nice large moon. Great for riding home on your bicycle!

Or so I thought... Until... The police asked me to stop. Now, at the time, it was winter, bloody cold and it was well below freezing when I was heading home. I was wearing my skigoggles (I wanted something that could shield my eyes in general and also from the sun and I think I look an absolute twat in sunglasses), my necktube/neckpipe/long-tube-of-stretchy-woolen cloth-to-keep-your-neck-warm-thing over the lower part of my face, a beanie, the hood of my jacket, black pants, black leather gloves and my boots... Which are also black. I can't really blame them for thinking I looked like one sketchy mofo. Well, after they more or less flashed me in the face with the big freaking lamp they got on their car, I pull over, they direct me to go back a bit so they can park their car in a spot that doesn't impair traffic, get out and asked me who I was and what I was up to. "Going home, officer... Why?" "Please, remove your mask" And I did... And they stared weirdly and asked "Are you one of the roleplayers?" "Yes, I am" "Oh, sorry about that, then, but do try and keep your face somewhat visible".

How did they guess I was a roleplayer? Easy. I had just come from a LARP, my face still full of green paint from being an orc. The police knows us and know that while we can look freaking dangerous (We can field at least 2 guys in plate armor if we want and about seven other people in anything from mail to leather armor), that we are essentially harmless.

 

[King of Asgaard]

Nope. Never leave the house and if I did I doubt I'd break any laws so I'm clear.

Same here, I rarely leave home, and when I do, I make damned sure I don't step out of line.

 

[Doclector]

Never. Never even had to be spoken to by the police, I've had zero contact with them. If I ever break the law it'll be for damn good reason.

 

[Astoria]

Nope never been arrested or in trouble with the cops. I haven't even had a speeding ticket. I'm a total goody two shoes.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Once I went down a motorway I didn't want to be on accidentally. They don't have roundabouts in the fucking things, so there's no way to turn around. Turned out it was a tollway as well, so I get to the first exit, see I have to pay, and say to myself "fuck that, I'm not paying to go somewhere I don't even want to go". So I put my hazard lights on, do a three-point turn, and come back up the shoulder. In a 100kmph zone. It was 3am in my defence. Thankfully it's almost lane-sized itself, so I didn't crash headlong into anyone. So I get to the intersection I turned into it from, on the wrong side of the road, wait for the light to turn green and turn across into the road I was on, on the proper side. Then a few cops start flashing their sirens and I pull over. It took about an hour for them to convince themselves I wasn't on drugs, and of course seeing as I'm a P-plater no alcohol either. I was just fucking tired. Then they asked if I was right to drive and let me drive home. They said they'd send a fine in the mail, but they didn't. What swell chaps.

tl;dr: no.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

Never arrested, but I have been in trouble for breaking into a camp site and riding a moped drunk, and a seperate occasion where me and 2 mates, whilst at a pre-airshow part on an airfield, climbed a hanger to drink a bottle of Port as the sun came up. Unfortunately this was a high security hanger and alarms went off, which called the police out. That one took a bit of explaining, trying to prove that we were invited to the base, and that we do drink port out of choice... it wasn't stolen!

 

[DanielBrown]

A couple of times when I was a teenage rebel. Doesn't really qualify as arrested, but it's what I got.
Once because I got caught stealing beer from a store. A friend and I had been using that place for all our drinking purposes for the past year(and we drank at least three-four times/week ._o). Eventually they got fed up and stopped us.
The security guards who were with us until the police came were shitheads, but the policement were actually nice. They had our parents come pick us up. My friends mom lived right across the street, so she came right away, but my mom was at work quite far away. Eventually the police had to leave, so they escorted me outside of the store(I felt like such a badass) and was allowed to go to my friends place while I waited.

Another time was during "valborg", a Swedish holiday were we light huge bonfires and get drunk, when I was with lots of friends in a huge park. We made a small fire on the grass(yeah, we were retards). After a while we all got blinded by some car lights. Turned out to be the police coming with a huge van.
They searched us, and checked what we were drinking. After that they put out the fire and told us we could stay as long as we didn't light another fire. That decision baffles me a bit since we were 14 at the time.
Anyways, didn't take long after they left before some skinheads started up another fire. This time close to the culture protected buildings in the area. The police came by again and this time they were really fucking furious. They dragged me up from the ground, took me behind their van and started beating me up. Nothing too aggressive, I guess, but they slammed me into the van over and over while screaming at me. After that they tossed me and a friend into the car(he got a ***** slap when he asked what the hell they were doing) and drove us off.
They dropped me a few kilometers from the nearest subway in a town I had never heard of and my friend they dropped in the middle of the highway.

They next day I heard from the people left behind that the police had also poured beer in my stereo, stomped on my CDs and forced them to carry the half put out wood down to the water with their hands(was quite a way down there).

So that wasn't as pleasant...

Got a few other run ins with the police, but nothing as serious. Usually it's about having had alcohol while being under age.
Haven't had any problems with them since I turned 18 and could drink legally.

 

[Saulkar]

Under peer-pressure I tried shoplifting a 2 dollar cap-gun when I was 10. I was arrested but not charged with anything but my parents did not let me play any videogames for 6 months... then promptly realised that they had lost every single one and a working N64 plus 4 controllers and an expansion card. Never did find them and 11 years latter they do not even remotely remember any of it.