Why is resisting an unlawful arrest illegal?

[Anonymous]

It doesn’t make any sense. It makes it sound like the police are always right. It’s you’re getting arrested for not getting arrested. Some people say oh you’ll die but death is a natural part of life. The thing is cops can’t arrest you for no reason.

Think about people like Ryan Ferguson:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_W._Ferguson

[lightbulb27]

not sure, to me it is illegal. they should have solid grounds for their arrest. of note is the rare case where someone is an imposter officer and murders the arestee. of note as well is the triggered mentallity of "black people" being arrested... theyve seen countless videos of black people being killed by police in every scenario, so their apprehension of being arrested is emotionally programmed. thus such scenarios must be handled with even more concern... when warranted, given some people (no matter the race) are very dangerous. recent example of that in my area... where dude (mexican) was heavily armed when pulled over.

if not then, arrestee should be awarded $ by the court and officers and their bosses paddled by professional wrestlers. that evens the field and helps them to adhere to some guiding principles of ethics.

now if citizens don't respect the police and abide by a legitimate concern of theirs, then they should be disciplined. Officers are doing a job and deal with all sorts of scenarios... like traffickers, drug runners and armed nut jobs. you the citizen must respect their reality.

it's all a discipline, power, security issue to solve. you are owner of the country, you solve it your way.

Jewish people have ZERO problems... so become jewish. e. g. it's really an emotional problem based upon peoples perception of their power.

my strong advice is anyone asking a question like this sign up to be a cop. it should be civic duty. after a year of service, then you get to propose some rules or run for mayor.

[Anonymous]

Because the cops like to abuse power

https://www.youtube.com/embed/XfG07CCHYbA

[MrOracle]

It's a simple concept: if you disagree with the police, the way you fight back is IN COURT, never with violence. The point is to incentivize people to never use violence against the police. And in the vast majority of circumstances, that's the smart thing as well as the RIGHT thing to do.

Hopefully, no one here will ever find themselves on the wrong side of the police, but IF YOU DO, following the following few rules will SIGNIFICANTLY increase your chances of surviving that with the lowest cost to yourself AND your liberty.

• Don't physically resist.
• Don't "cooperate" - as in, don't volunteer information, don't give permission for searches, don't invite them into your home, don't confess to anything, etc. I'd guess that AT LEAST 50% of criminals TALK their way into having worse charges, and perhaps even a higher percentage will get physical and through their actions arouse more suspicion and earn themselves more charges. Even many times when you have broken the law, the police are only going to give you a ticket and release you, UNLESS you fight back.
• DO follow lawful orders. If you are driving, you are required to give an officer your license, registration, and proof of insurance, for example, so do that. If asked to leave, leave. If told to stay way, stay away. But, gather information, take notes, record video, and be prepared to make your case IN COURT. Often, if your lawyer has this information, and you've not been charged with resisting or interfering in an investigation, your lawyer can get many charges dismissed and you won't even go to court.

You will never win (long-term) by fighting with the police - in fact, that's how you go to jail (or prison). Save it for the courtroom, and win there.

[normalice]

The police unions are set up to protect police when they abuse their authority instead of demanding the sort of salary that reflects performing one of democracy's most critical and dangerous feature and need. So, the prior happens instead of the latter and, as it happens, erosion of the latter accelerates the manifestation of the prior as they are contradictory roles in any community. Thus, the laws about it being unlawful to resist arrest were written but the laws that allow you to stand up to police when they are wrong was not.

[Kaneki05]

Because that can't be judged until after it's revised?
Otherwise any criminal could just resist and say ah but I thought it was unlawful arrest! So that gave me an excuse to fight back!

So unless you want a world where anyone can resist arrest benefiting actual criminals then you need resisting arrest to be illegal. Also resisting arrest just makes look worse so it helps you in no way if innocent so.. how this would benefit you I don't know. Ultimately it only benefits criminals.
And if you can prove it was unlawful arrest you can get money for your troubles so... a win?

A wrongful guilty verdict in a court though is another issue and a real issue.

[Lliam]

I always wondered how some ass hole (s) could manhandle a person and charge them for resisting arrest just for struggling in pain as their arms are being twisted or painful "compliance techniques" were being employed, and then charge them with resisting arrest without filing any other charges.

I've seen countless videos of cops swarming people and hurting them while shouting "Stop resisting!" for the cameras, when the people were actually trying to comply. It's a common tactic.

In other words, they didn't have any charges with which to arrest the person, so the person wasn't actually under arrest.
So how could they be charged with resisting arrest if they weren't under arrest in the first place?

A charge of resisting arrest when there are no other charges should be thrown out immediately and the cops who did it should be disciplined.

[DryGermanGuy]

Because the ultimate determination of an arrest being illegal is made in the courts. And you do not hold court in the streets! So if you are arrested for whatever illogical, unjust reason, be peaceful, shut the fuck up and call your/a lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Whether you are guilty or innocent has nothing to do with whether or not it is a lawful arrest. If the police find probably cause to arrest you, tell you you are under arrest, tell you what charges you are being arrested for and read you your Miranda rights, it is a lawful arrest.

And if you resist that lawful arrest that is an additional crime.

It isn't up to you to decide if you are guilty or innocent, it is up to the courts. So you do not (and should not) be able to lawfully resist a lawful arrest and are legally required to cooperate with the police. Makes perfect sense or we would have a lawless society.

[jshm2]

Because at the time the officer (s) do not know the full circumstances. As far as they know you are a potential criminal.

Hence it's easier for all to bring you in and release you later if all clear, than let you get away and face recriminations later.

[exitseven]

Who gets to say what is a lawful arrest, ? If you go down to the local lockup I bey 9 out if ten people there will say that they were arrested unlawfully. The cop would disagree

[Zestyassmf1997]

Who’s going to enforce the law against the police? Unfortunately, there’s nobody to keep our government and it’s agents in check.

[BoopBoopBeep]

In some states you can

[Asker]

It needs to be in all states. At it is laws are to protect and serve citizens not torment and torture them.