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Need help and/or opinions regarding filling out a law school application. I have zero criminal record and zero police records/ incident reports, other than minor traffic tickets. However, I am being stumped by the question below in regards to being detained. Is this referring to detainment's that carried actual accusations and/or charges brought against along with being detained for a certain period of time? The language used and directions to add documentation would imply so.
Many years ago, I was in situation where I was with a group of friends and an officer approached us about our activity, then after a few minutes, we were on way with no further issues. I am wondering if this needs to be constituted as a detainment for application purposes?
Thank you.
“Have you ever been arrested, detained, or restrained; taken into custody; or accused formally or informally of a violation of law or ordinance?
-You should disclose each instance even though the charges may have been dismissed, or you were acquitted, or adjudication was withheld, or a conviction was reversed, set aside, or vacated.

Pretty sure merely being approached and asked a few questions by an officer doesn't constitute being "detained."

So what would constitute as being detained regarding what they are asking for?

Yeah, that's not detainment.

So what would be considered detainment regarding what they are looking for?

lrog54 wrote:So what would be considered detainment regarding what they are looking for?

Actual detainment. As in, you weren't free to leave because you were being questioned as a person of interest. A stop-and-frisk would qualify. So would interrogation in a police station.

Stop overthinking it. They aren't trying to get at anything that wouldn't exist in official records.

Thank you cavalier,

I wasn’t frisked, but how am I to be sure that I wasn’t free to leave? I remember were spoken to, our information was taken down and we left a few minutes later. So no detainment ?

You know when you’re not free to leave bc the police tell you you’re not free to leave. You weren’t detained. You’re fine.

cavalier1138 wrote:

lrog54 wrote:So what would be considered detainment regarding what they are looking for?

Actual detainment. As in, you weren't free to leave because you were being questioned as a person of interest. A stop-and-frisk would qualify. So would interrogation in a police station.

Stop overthinking it. They aren't trying to get at anything that wouldn't exist in official records.

So if there isn't any police report record of it, could there sill be some documentation from when they took our information and why: would, that would be of concern regarding the question?

Thank you.

No. Stop worrying.

nixy wrote:No. Stop worrying.

No that there wouldn't be, or no that anything short of an actual report is irrelevant to the question?

Thank you

No, you don't have to report this and it's not a concern for your application. That's why I said stop worrying.

No, that doesn't count. I was once cited for disorderly conduct, but found not guilty. I had to disclose it on law school apps worded like that one, and to every state bar I applied to but not to the LS I wound up attending and it was a non-issue (aside from paper work as the citation was actually given to a misspelling of my name, which required about a dozen trips to the courthouse until I realized the police officer may have had the spelling of a second grader). You do not need to disclose traffic tix for this question.

cavalier1138 wrote:

lrog54 wrote:So what would be considered detainment regarding what they are looking for?

Actual detainment. As in, you weren't free to leave because you were being questioned as a person of interest. A stop-and-frisk would qualify. So would interrogation in a police station.

Stop overthinking it. They aren't trying to get at anything that wouldn't exist in official records.

IMO it's even a bit narrower than that. If you're randomly selected for a patdown whilst going through airport security, you're not "free to leave" and thus technically "detained," but I wouldn't really expect such "administrative searches" to be disclosable for purposes of that question. I know I for one have never kept records of those searches.

lrog54 wrote:So what would be considered detainment regarding what they are looking for?

Did you accurately describe in your post what happened? You seem overly concerned about the cops asking you a few questions and then sending you on your way.

Interestingly, the question of whether or not an encounter with police qualifies as a "detainment" (and thus attaches Constitutional rights) comes up very frequently in criminal cases. If I recall correctly, the test is whether a reasonable, innocent person would believe they are free to leave. But, in my opinion, what judges think a reasonable, innocent would believe often differs widely with what an actual reasonable, innocent person would believe, so it often becomes a coin flip based on the judge deciding the issue; unfortunately, it is difficult for an ordinary citizen - even well-versed in the law - to know the answer at the actual time of the encounter without explicitly and repeatedly asking, "Am I being detained?," but doing that is a great way to get on the cop's bad side. So, often, citizens divulge incriminating evidence where they honestly thought they were not free to leave, only to have a judge rule that they could have just walked away from the officer without saying a word.

OP's case sounds like what the courts classify as a "consensual encounter" with police, during which a citizen does not have to provide ID, does not have to answer questions, and can simply walk away. However, factors the courts consider in determining whether or not an encounter was a "detainment" include the number of officers present, whether a police vehicle's lights were flashing, whether the police tried to block the citizen's path, and whether the police displayed a weapon.

QContinuum wrote:

cavalier1138 wrote:

lrog54 wrote:So what would be considered detainment regarding what they are looking for?

Actual detainment. As in, you weren't free to leave because you were being questioned as a person of interest. A stop-and-frisk would qualify. So would interrogation in a police station.

Stop overthinking it. They aren't trying to get at anything that wouldn't exist in official records.

IMO it's even a bit narrower than that. If you're randomly selected for a patdown whilst going through airport security, you're not "free to leave" and thus technically "detained," but I wouldn't really expect such "administrative searches" to be disclosable for purposes of that question. I know I for one have never kept records of those searches.

Similarly, if you are stopped at a DUI checkpoint, you are detained, but I don't think it necessary to disclose such. On the other hand, I'd think all other traffic stops would need to be disclosed for this question - even those that didn't result in a ticket.