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What is the actual formal, legal definition of this? I'm frustrated and somewhat shocked at how wishy-washy the law is when it comes to formal definitions of what should be critical terms. I want to know because, you guessed it, I have a C/F concern. Some applications have a question "Have you ever been arrested, charged with a crime... blah...blah" and sometimes one of the blah's is "taken into custody." I'm now biting my nails worrying if something that happened to me falls under this definition. A while back, I was briefly dragged aside and handcuffed by law enforcement officials. They patted me down, asked for ID, asked me a few questions -- then some basic personal info: name, DOB, address, maybe SS#. After maybe about 15, 20 minutes, they uncuffed me and let me go. I wasn't issued a summons or charged with anything. Now, after reading up on arrest procedure in some states, I'm worried that under a ridiculously broad-scope definition, this could even be considered an "arrest." Do you think what happened to me would be considered "taken into custody?"

Help!

anonymousCoward wrote:What is the actual formal, legal definition of this? I'm frustrated and somewhat shocked at how wishy-washy the law is when it comes to formal definitions of what should be critical terms. I want to know because, you guessed it, I have a C/F concern. Some applications have a question "Have you ever been arrested, charged with a crime... blah...blah" and sometimes one of the blah's is "taken into custody." I'm now biting my nails worrying if something that happened to me falls under this definition. A while back, I was briefly dragged aside and handcuffed by law enforcement officials. They patted me down, asked for ID, asked me a few questions -- then some basic personal info: name, DOB, address, maybe SS#. After maybe about 15, 20 minutes, they uncuffed me and let me go. I wasn't issued a summons or charged with anything. Now, after reading up on arrest procedure in some states, I'm worried that under a ridiculously broad-scope definition, this could even be considered an "arrest." Do you think what happened to me would be considered "taken into custody?"

Help!

As my judge said the other day, "taken into custody = handcuffed"

If you were put into handcuffs then it's a custodial arrest.

I had just been reading all kinds of stuff about how being handcuffed doesn't necessarily = arrested.

Damn

Good question.
On one hand, how is that worse than being pulled over at the side of the road. You also can't leave then.

that is not being arrested.

Were you read your rights? Were you "mirandized"?

If not, it's was not an arrest. In every arrest, rights MUST be read to the arrestee and charges need to be spelled out (i.e., "you are under arrest for XXX"). If you are still unsure about being "taken into custody," contact the police station and request the police records regarding the incident. It is your right.

I think "detained" is a better word. Cops can detain you for up to 24 hours for no reason at all. This is different from being arrested.

LoyalRebel wrote:I think "detained" is a better word. Cops can detain you for up to 24 hours for no reason at all. This is different from being arrested.

What I'm wondering is if "detained" = "taken into custody." I was not taken to a police station or put in a police car or anything -- which is why, originally, I never at all thought this would be considered "taken into custody." I was just handcuffed at dragged like 10 feet away for a brief time.

scammedhard wrote:Were you read your rights? Were you "mirandized"?

If not, it's was not an arrest. In every arrest, rights MUST be read to the arrestee and charges need to be spelled out (i.e., "you are under arrest for XXX"). If you are still unsure about being "taken into custody," contact the police station and request the police records regarding the incident. It is your right.

I was not read any rights. But I've read from multiple sources that arrested suspects do not have to be Miranda-ized until and unless they are going to be formally interrogated. Basically, what happened was, I was at the wrong place, wrong time in a physical altercation. I wasn't the aggressor, but the cops just pretty much handcuffed everyone and I guess took 20 minutes to sort out what was going on and ran our names to see if anyone had any warrants or anything. I think someone else wound up getting a summons. I never even considered this to be any kind of potential issue until I was reading up on police procedure for unrelated reasons.

*sigh*

I guess where this is heading is that I'm going to have to bg check myself to see if I have an arrest record. Great.

its not an arrest unless they log it as such. you do not have to hear your miranda rights to be arrested, but regardless that's not what they were doing to you. they were just handcuffing people to sort out a fight, that happens all the time without anyone being arrested.

Thanks for your reply. It seems now there are two issues:

1. Was I arrested? - My general sense is that I was not, and I suppose this can be verified by contacting the local police department or whatever.
2. Was I "taken into custody?" - This is so much more vague and seems to rest on both semantic and legal vagaries.

I know most people think the rule of thumb is "disclose everything!," but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot too much.

anonymousCoward wrote:

LoyalRebel wrote:I think "detained" is a better word. Cops can detain you for up to 24 hours for no reason at all. This is different from being arrested.

What I'm wondering is if "detained" = "taken into custody." I was not taken to a police station or put in a police car or anything -- which is why, originally, I never at all thought this would be considered "taken into custody." I was just handcuffed at dragged like 10 feet away for a brief time.

scammedhard wrote:Were you read your rights? Were you "mirandized"?

If not, it's was not an arrest. In every arrest, rights MUST be read to the arrestee and charges need to be spelled out (i.e., "you are under arrest for XXX"). If you are still unsure about being "taken into custody," contact the police station and request the police records regarding the incident. It is your right.

I was not ready any rights. But I've read from multiple sources that arrested suspects do not have to be Miranda-ized until and unless they are going to be formally interrogated. Basically, what happened was, I was at the wrong place, wrong time in a physical altercation. I wasn't the aggressor, but the cops just pretty much handcuffed everyone and I guess took 20 minutes to sort out what was going on and ran our names to see if anyone had any warrants or anything. I think someone else wound up getting a summons. I never even considered this to be any kind of potential issue until I was reading up on police procedure for unrelated reasons.

*sigh*

I guess where this is heading is that I'm going to have to bg check myself to see if I have an arrest record. Great.

You can call the police station and ask how you can get a copy of the report. You will need your name, date and time it occurred, and location it occurred. The report is public record. It will make it clear if you were arrested, detained, etc.

Tanicius wrote:If you were put into handcuffs then it's a custodial arrest.

Not true. I was a cop. Handcuffs = detained not arrested. We cuffed all the time for officer safety while investigating and then released.

blowhard wrote:

Tanicius wrote:If you were put into handcuffs then it's a custodial arrest.

Not true. I was a cop. Handcuffs = detained not arrested. We cuffed all the time for officer safety while investigating and then released.

Would you consider it that I was "taken into custody" if I was only handcuffed, or in your understanding, does "taken into custody" just apply if someone is removed from the scene?

anonymousCoward wrote:

blowhard wrote:

Tanicius wrote:If you were put into handcuffs then it's a custodial arrest.

Not true. I was a cop. Handcuffs = detained not arrested. We cuffed all the time for officer safety while investigating and then released.

Would you consider it that I was "taken into custody" if I was only handcuffed, or in your understanding, does "taken into custody" just apply if someone is removed from the scene?

It depends entirely on the circumstances, not just on removal. If you were detained while he investigated, than I'd say you weren't taken into custody. If he placed you into custody and then further investigation revealed you to be innocent, I'd say you were. The handcuffs are irrelevant. I'd say you were definitely not arrested given the circumstances. A cop cannot un-arrest you...the DA must formally drop charges.

I guess my only recourse is to try to see if a report was written by the police department clarifying what happened, since the "taken into custody" aspect seems kind of subjective. I was sitting on the ground in cuffs while the cops asked several questions about the incident then took my personal information. Since I was only in cuffs for 20 minutes or so, I'd tend to think the cuffs were to enable investigation/officer safety.

anonymousCoward wrote:I guess my only recourse is to try to see if a report was written by the police department clarifying what happened, since the "taken into custody" aspect seems kind of subjective. I was sitting on the ground in cuffs while the cops asked several questions about the incident then took my personal information. Since I was only in cuffs for 20 minutes or so, I'd tend to think the cuffs were to enable investigation/officer safety.

Weird... I could've sworn this was my advice to you three or four posts ago...

Just get the report.

lol. What I'm worried about, though, is that even the report won't even clarify the "taken into custody" question, since I can't find any consensus on what this actually means.

Actually, I have a sneaking suspicion that my name doesn't even appear in any report, in which case, I guess I don't have anything to worry about.

anonymousCoward wrote:lol. What I'm worried about, though, is that even the report won't even clarify the "taken into custody" question, since I can't find any consensus on what this actually means.

Actually, I have a sneaking suspicion that my name doesn't even appear in any report, in which case, I guess I don't have anything to worry about.

Exactly.

Look, I had to do this for something once. I found out I was listed as "suspect" but not arrested and nothing was forwarded to the DAs office. It was embarrassing, and in the end resulted in an addendum anyway, but at least I KNEW I wasn't charged which was something.

I'm currently a sheriff's deputy and the advice you've been given to this point is mostly correct. You can call the police department and obtain the information from the call, but most likely there won't be anything on you specifically. Instead of worrying about it, just reside on the side of caution and answer the C&F questions by stating that you were briefly detained during a police investigation and then released upon the officers determining you had no involvement. Being "taken into custody" is a synonymous term for "arrested", so in this case you were not taken into custody, but simply detained for investigation. As a previous poster stated, handcuffs are irrelevant to the situation and can be used for a variety of reasons (officer safety, actually being arrested, etc...).

Short version: Write a sentence stating you were briefly detained and released upon further investigation determining that you were not involved.