Can Police make up a charge to get you arrested?

I was looking for vids about police abuse/brutality and making up laws and came across this on youtube..
Here

this seems to be a protest about the recent Joe Arpaio sweep in Arizona

so basically, can police put a cone on a sidewalk and tell you not to cross it? and if you do, can they make up a charge just because they want to ?

Depending on who you are the cops can "make up" any charge they like , if they so chose . Thats not to say it will stick .

Having said that I like to believe that most cops are good people that try to do the right thing .

not to sure in america but he basiclly read them "the riot act" he is basiclly saying continue in your current actions and you shall be arrested,but they do still have to do somthing wrong.

In this case i think bent cop is bent.

[edit on 26-4-2009 by antuk]

Happens all the time, google "trumped up charges" I imagine there's a whole wikipedia page on it....

Ask any black man driving thru a white neighborhood if Police can make up a charge. Driving while black is reason enough to be rousted in some sections of America. Actually driving while "not white" can get you pulled over.

It's happened to me a couple of times. Always get the charges dropped but the last time it cost me over 4 grand to do so.

How much justice can you afford?

In the UK the phony charge is called a 'breach of the peace'.
They can arrest you for what they like, if you complain, 'breach of the peace'. You can be shouting, dancing, doing anything the individual policeperson doesn't like. Seen it happen. I'd like to see a challenge of the definition of 'peace' in the court.

reply to post by ivycutler


The whole 'breach of the peace' in this country is so bogus. It's way too open ended to hold up to anything. Hell, you could be playing a stereo too loud, and someone might complain... 'Breach of the peace' apparently. But by the same token, couldn't police creating a scene be construed as breaching the peace, just by being an intimidating prescence?
Just what 'peace' is there really in this society exactly to breach?

Of course they can.

You can protest it later in court (not saying they'd actually put you in jail, but you can sue for unlawful arrest or something), but if they come at you with cuffs, any form of talking won't get you out of it, and running gives them reason to suspect something (enough reason to arrest you for searches in most countries anyway), and of course fighting back is an arrestable offence on its own.

All you can do is wait til you can challenge it.

[edit on 26-4-2009 by AR154]

It happens a lot. But, once in court most are dismissed. Most of the time this method works because they are looking to mess up your life with an arrest more than a conviction.

Sometimes laws are so broad they will charge you with simple stuff like obstruction or interfering with a peace officer. But, once you get your day in court you'll more than likely be free.

I once got threatened with 'failing to cease loitering' in Australia. I argued with the police that if I was free to go I would be happy to 'cease loitering'. They grumbled about this then eventually let me go, not before ordering me to walk the other way from which I tried to go. I suspect I could've been done for disobeying an order if I hadn't complied.

Hmmm, I guess they may just be feeling particularly malicious and want to put a massive cramp on your day.
Trouble is, in the UK particularly, when you're arrested on whatever charge, they'll take all your details, fingerprints and DNA as standard. All of which goes on a database. Apparently this gets deleted if no charges are brought up against you, but who's to say it'll actually get deleted?

Originally posted by HiAliens
Happens all the time, google "trumped up charges" I imagine there's a whole wikipedia page on it....

Yub, and if the particular officer is after a promotion or needs to attend to a performance schedule he will frame some one along the way.

That is why when stopped by an officer don't admit to anything even if he asks you what speed you were going, do not allow him to search your vehicle without a search warrant and keep your mouth shut. Get a lawyer if you are arrested, do not talk off the record or sign anything. Being innocent does not protect you.

Where there is one bad cop, there are no good cops. The the first duty of a good cop is to get rid of the filth in their ranks.

Originally posted by whaaa
Ask any black man driving thru a white neighborhood if Police can make up a charge. Driving while black is reason enough to be rousted in some sections of America. Actually driving while "not white" can get you pulled over.

This is a racist statement and is despicable. Everyone gets pulled over. Anyone in a neighborhood that they usually aren't in. I would report a person of any ethnicity that is not normally in my neighborhood driving around.

reply to post by LeaderOfProgress


Why? That sounds like profiling to me.

It's not illegal to drive somewhere, even if it's not your neighborhood. You can drive anywhere that's public property.

The police where desperate to destroy my life, and did everything they could to do this, so yes.

Fortunately i had a decent family, who stood by me, and after 17 years of non stop haressment, i am more at peace. I doubt they ever will let me live my life though.

In the United States you can be arrested for *ANY* reason by the Police.

However, you can not be held for longer than 24 hours (72 hours if you are arrested on a Friday) without being Arraigned (formally charged).

If you are arrested for either a fraudulent charge, or for something that cannot be prosecuted with a certain amount of certainty of a conviction, the District Attorney will generally drop the charges right there at your Arraignment (or between your Arraignment and Trial).

It is for this reason, when a Law Enforcement Officer attempts to arrest you, no matter how stupid they are, or how stupid their reasons, just go along with it. Don't argue...don't attempt to quote the Law, even if you know it better than they do. Law Enforcement Officers are not lawyers. They are generally High School Graduates with no further education. If you don't just sigh and go along with it you could very easily escalate the situation and be further charged with Resisting Arrest, which increases your chances of facing actual Charges and being found Guilty.

I've been arrested 3 times. Basically, each time, the Officers stated "We're not really sure who's at fault here, so we're just going to arrest everyone and let the DA sort it out." Fair enough. Went along peacefully, went through Booking, posted Bail, showed up to my Arraignment Hearing to find the DA never filed Charges because no crime had been committed, got my Bail Money back in the Mail 2 weeks later. Minor two hour interruption in my life each time. No big.

Whether a law has been broken or not is for DAs, Lawyers and Judges to figure out. Law Enforcement isn't capable of that. They may ask Dispatch to look up Criminal Code for them, but Dispatch isn't qualified to be making legal judgments either. This is also why Law Enforcement will almost never get involved in Civil Issues and restrict their Law Enforcement to only Criminal Issues.

Yes, it's ridiculous that we don't require Law Enforcement to be versed in the actual laws they are enforcing, however, that is the way it is. It's not in their job description. When in any doubt, they arrest. That's their job. They leave the decision of whether a law has been broken, or an actual crime committed, to the professionals; being the DA and the Judge assigned the case...which ultimately is probably for the best.

If you feel that you an arresting Officer has acted improperly, committed misconduct, or even harassed you repeatedly, you can file a complaint alleging a violation of your rights, you may contact the Department of Justice directly, or the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which is responsible for investigating allegations of criminal deprivations of civil rights. You may also contact the United States Attorney's Office (USAO) in your district. The FBI and USAOs have offices in most major cities and have publicly-listed phone numbers. In addition, you may send a written complaint to:

Criminal Section - PHB
Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20530

That sounds harsh Andy, what happened?

If you wanted to talk about your experiences maybe other people would like to hear.

reply to post by HiAliens


I have talked about it alot here, and you can find from my other posts. But trust me this thread is real even today. The ipcc are useless, and are not there for the people.

I suspect Andy and I are under the same cosh. We are both being fair-gamed and hounded for years. I and I think Andy have never broken the law but we are stalked and surveilled constantly and it is with police involvement.

I do believe there is another Atser, Harassment 101, experiencing the same thing. All three of us are UK nationals.