Arrest-Proof Yourself Read Free Page B

fair to ask why they get arrested in the first place.
    In almost all states, police, in lieu of arrest, can issue a notice to appear, also known as a penal citation. This also requires the offenders to show up in front of a judge and get what’s coming to them (fines, anger management therapy, drug rehab, restitution, etc.) without getting busted and receiving a permanent arrest record and a lifetime sentence on the electronic plantation. To get a clueless weed smoker in front of a judge, do we really need to use jailers, bail bondsmen, prosecutors, and public defenders? In many cases, a citation will do just as well.
    Even when the bail is lowered, say to $3,000, the bond, which will be 10 percent of the bail, or $300, can be disastrous to clueless offenders living on the edge. For someone working for $10 an hour, $300 is one week’s take-home pay. When this goes to the bondsman, the electricity and water get turned off, the rent goes unpaid, and child support payments get missed. Of course, before the offender can even get the bond lowered, he has to have a private attorney, and in my state this costs two grand and up .
     
    THREAT TO THE COMMUNITY. This is the most important criterion judges use in setting bail or allowing release on recognizance. Petty offenders, however, are generally only a danger to themselves. Once released, what a petty offender is most likely to do is go out and get stoned or drunk to forget all about it. This is stupid but hardly a threat. By arresting clueless petty offenders instead of citing them, police lump them together, in the minds of judges and the public, with career criminals and violent offenders. This justifies arresting them rather than issuing citations.
     
    THEY NEED TO BE “IN THE SYSTEM.” By this people mean that police should have records and keep tabs on petty offenders, who sometimes go on to commit serious crimes. I agree, but note that this can be accomplished without arresting and jailing clueless offenders and consigning them to the electronic plantation for life. Notice-to-appear citations and police field interrogation (FI) reports place the offender in the local database quite effectively.
     
    CONDIGN PUNISHMENT. Most people think that an arrest and a few days in the sneezer is appropriate punishment for many of these offenses. Don’t forget one thing, however. When petty offenders are arrested and jailed, they have not yet been convicted of a crime in a court of law . They are presumed innocent. For this reason they’re called pretrial detainees. Of course, if it’s you in the freezer, you’ll be happy to know that even though you’re living behind bars; wearing dungarees and flip-flops; eating green baloney sandwiches; and getting handcuffed, ordered about, and yelled at by members of the corrections officers union, you’re not actually a prisoner. You’re just a detainee.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ARRESTS
     
    Ever wondered why people get arrested? Years ago arrests were made only for the most heinous crimes against persons, the so-called common-law crimes—night burglary, robbery, rape, assault, battery, mayhem, and murder. The purpose of the arrest was to make time for a thorough investigation. This would include evidence collection and witness interviews. It also included time for prosecutors to decide whether they could get an indictment and prove their case. Historically the arrest was not a matter of public record; only the conviction was.
    Nowadays, many misdemeanor arrests are made for crimes for which there is no investigation, and none needed. For example, for possession of small quantities of drugs, what’s there to investigate? You’ve got the dope or you don’t. When it comes to fleeing from cops, either you fled or you didn’t. For the petty crimes we’re talking about in this book, during which there is no investigation and for which you generally get popped loose from jail in a few days, you can reasonably ask why you got arrested in the