Arrest

I

Introduction

Arrest, the process of taking a person into custody, usually carried out by a duly appointed law enforcement officer. Arrest can be classified as criminal or civil. Criminal arrest is generally the first step in a series of legal actions taken against a person suspected of committing a crime, in order to bring that person to court for judgment. Civil arrest, infrequently used today, is designed to compel an individual to fulfill some legal obligation at the order of a court. Certain privileged persons, such as representatives of foreign governments, are not liable to arrest in either civil or criminal proceedings.

II

Criminal Arrest

A person may be arrested when there is probable cause to believe that he or she has committed a crime; when an indictment has been handed down by a grand jury; or when parole or probation has been violated in any way. The court may then issue an arrest warrant, which is served by a police officer or other court-appointed individual. The warrant must specify clearly the nature of the offense with which the party arrested is charged.

In most cases, however, arrests are made by police officers without warrants when they apprehend a suspect during the commission of a crime or when they have sufficient reason to believe that a person is guilty of a criminal offense. Civilian arrests are sometimes made by one who is not an officer of the law when a felony is committed in that person's presence. Private individuals and, occasionally, arresting officers may be subject to suit for false arrest if the accused party is acquitted.

Since the 1960s, the rights of a person facing arrest in the United States have been protected by several landmark decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. The best known is the case of Miranda v. Arizona (1966), in which the Court ruled that the suspect must be informed by the arresting officer of his or her constitutional rights, including the right to remain silent and the right to have an attorney present during questioning. After an arrest is made the suspect is taken to a police station to be booked. See Criminal Procedure.

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III

Civil Arrest

According to the old common law of England, a debtor was considered guilty of a breach of the peace and was subject to forcible arrest and imprisonment. The severity of the law was gradually mitigated, until, by the 19th century, imprisonment for debt had been abolished in Britain and the United States. In some civil actions, however, a party is still subject to arrest. As a rule, these actions are either of a quasi-criminal nature, such as the recovery of a fine or penalty, or are brought to redress wrongs to person or property.

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