# So my brother was just arrested (a rant)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [March 6, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427 "2003-03-06T04:32:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/1 "2003-03-06T04:32:28Z")
**Disclaimer** - I’m sure there are people on this board who are police officers by trade. Please take no offense to the sweeping generalizations I am about to make about cops. And I’m not looking for any legal advice, either. I just want to vent.
They’ve been trying to get him for weeks now. Apparently, he’s done something stupid (I’m not going to repeat what he might or might not have done for obvious reasons), and they haven’t been able to pin it on him yet. So they come by and arrest him tonight for something else, literally about 10 minutes ago. If he did something wrong, I can’t really complain about his getting arrested. If he broke the law, he has to pay for it.
It’s one of the officers who responded to the call that I have a problem with. This asshole walks right into my house without a search warrant. He remains in the house, even when they have my brother and he is asked to leave. He refuses to provide his name and badge number when asked (which he is required to as I understand it), and is condesending prick the entire time he is here. He tells my brother to “go ahead and eat his cookies” (I don’t understand it either). When asked to leave, I offer him a hearty “Fuck you!” He turns around and says, “You want to try me?”
Anyway, to the bastard pig with the shit-eating grin who just violated my constitutional rights…I’m really too pissed to come up with a really good insult right now, so I will just offer one that the great George Carlin once offered to a heckler:
If I ever see you again, I’ll grab your ass and throw you out on the street where you belong, with your mother. And I’m fucking her in the asshole every night anyway. So fuck you and your wife and your sister. If you have a kid, I hope your fucking kid dies in a car fire.
Hell hath no fury like that of an intelligent United States citizen with a legitimate lawsuit.
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/2 "2003-03-06T04:36:42Z")
Well, it _could_ be argued that wishing his kid a fiery death is anything but intelligent.
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### Author:  [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2003, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/3 "2003-03-06T04:44:27Z")
That’s all a little vague. Were they in hot pursuit?
BTW, I don’t know how much experience you have with real life, but you just got about the mildest response one can realistically expect from tossing a “Fuck you!” at a cop.
Good luck with it all.
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### Author:  [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2003, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/4 "2003-03-06T05:12:05Z")
Well, um, you don’t make it clear but if he has a warrant out for his arrest and they know where he is, to the best of my knowledge a cop can legally enter a private residence if they know the party is there.
I turned someone in not too long ago. He violated parole and they were able to gain entry into the house to place him in handcuffs.
Just something to think about. He/she doesn’t require a search warrant but simply an arrest warrant.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2003, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/5 "2003-03-06T13:27:48Z")
What cause of action will your lawsuit specify, and what constitutional rights of yours were violated?
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### Author:  [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/6 "2003-03-06T17:56:40Z")
I think Lord A’s location says it all.
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### Author:  [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/7 "2003-03-06T18:11:47Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by techchick68 \*
> \*\*I turned someone in not too long ago. He violated parole and they were able to gain entry into the house to place him in handcuffs.
>
> Just something to think about. He/she doesn’t require a search warrant but simply an arrest warrant. \*\*
careful - in my jurisdiction, if the person is on parole, it’s a different situation totally than for some one who’s not on supervision. The supervising parole agent can order the person detained, w/o a warrant. But, to arrest some one who isn’t on supervision, a police officer generally needs either a warrant or probable cause at the time.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/8 "2003-03-06T18:21:08Z")
A guy I work with has “Scorned Woman Hot Sauce” that he uses in his Chili.
* * *
Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore.
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### Author:  [@yme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yme)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/9 "2003-03-06T18:52:24Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Bricker \*
> \*\*What cause of action will your lawsuit specify, and what constitutional rights of yours were violated? \*\*
The police had his brother in custody, and he refused to leave.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/10 "2003-03-06T19:04:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by yme \*
> \*\*The police had his brother in custody, and he refused to leave. \*\*
… loitering?
You’re going to sue a cop for loitering?
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### Author:  [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/11 "2003-03-06T19:13:43Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by yme \*
> \*\*The police had his brother in custody, and he refused to leave. \*\*
it’s not clear from the OP, he mentions ‘asked to leave and refused’ twice, once adding in the hearty ‘fuck you’ to the cop.
so I don’t know if there were two requests to leave or a request to leave w/a ‘fuck you’ following it, and how long after the cop left (I think it’s a given that the cop did actually leave). in addition, the OP adds that after the hearty ‘fuck you’, the cop **turned around** which kinda sounds like the cop may have been on his way out the door when the OP decided to give additional incentive to stay. I would hope the OP gives some clarification on what behavior constituted “refused to leave” (which isn’t the same, by the way, as "immediately running out of the establishment).
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### Author:  [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2003, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/12 "2003-03-06T21:08:10Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by \*\*Bricker \*\*\*
> What cause of action will your lawsuit specify, and what constitutional rights of yours were violated?
Why, his constitutional right not to have cops be condescending while making an arrest.
Haven’t reviewed your Bill of Rights lately, have ya?
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### Author:  [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/13 "2003-03-06T21:28:27Z")
For what reason would the cops remain in his house after having the suspect (the brother) in custody and being asked twice to leave?
Unless they were executing a search warrant, they really had no reason to remain in the house after the OP’s brother was in custody, right? So what legal principle would allow them to stay in the house after being asked by the resident to leave?
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### Author:  [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/14 "2003-03-06T22:00:58Z")
it’s not clear (from the OP) that they remained in the house for any legally significant period of time, nor the manner in which they were asked to leave. If, for instance, it went:
guy taken out in handcuffs, one officer lagging behind (not unusual, sometimes family members have questions for them, ‘where will he be taken?’ ‘when would he go before the judge’ etc.), and the OP says “get out” followed by a “get out fuck you!”, at which point cop turns around and says something in return, I’m not seeing any particular violation of law. according to the OP, the cop ‘turned around’ to answer his ‘fuck you’, which suggests to me, anyhow, that the cop may have been heading out the door.
at any rate the OP gives no particular time frame except that the arrest was “10 minutes ago” and he was able to then get back to the computer and post about it. So, unless the cop was still there (and it doesn’t appear to have been likely), the entire thing tookabout 10 minutes. Not sure that any action would be taken against a cop that took all of ten minutes to arrest a guy and leave the premises.
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### Author:  [@CRorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CRorex)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/15 "2003-03-06T22:01:02Z")
Having no idea what the OP’s brother was arrested for… I’m going to make an assumption here.
If my partner just arrested someone and was taking him to the squad car, I’d make DAMN sure I was watching everyone else in the house just incase some family member wanted to get the prisoner released with … say a shotgun.
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### Author:  [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/16 "2003-03-07T02:58:41Z")
Am I the only one who saw this?
> [@](#):
>
> He refuses to provide his name and badge number when asked (which he is required to as I understand it)
Is this, in fact, required?
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/17 "2003-03-07T03:08:16Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by techchick68 \*
> \*\*Just something to think about. He/she doesn’t require a search warrant but simply an arrest warrant. \*\*
True. But if the person for whom they have a warrant is arrested outside the house, do they have _any_ reason to come into the house?
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/18 "2003-03-07T03:13:10Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Ethilrist \*
> \*\*… loitering?
>
> You’re going to sue a cop for loitering? \*\*
Ha, that would be funny, wouldn’t it? If anything, probably for coming in the house uninvited and without a search warrant and then refusing to leave. That’s kind of up to my pops though, as it’s his house.
BTW, he was the intelligent person I was referring to. Anyone who reads my posts on this board can tell I am anything but intelligent. A quick glance at my postings in GD should be proof enough of that.
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/19 "2003-03-07T03:14:24Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by White Lightning \*
> \*\*Why, his constitutional right not to have cops be condescending while making an arrest.
>
> Haven’t reviewed your Bill of Rights lately, have ya? \*\*
All other things aside, did he really have to be such a condesending prick to people he wasn’t arresting?
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-brother-was-just-arrested-a-rant/159427/20 "2003-03-07T03:19:08Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by wring \*
> \*\*it’s not clear (from the OP) that they remained in the house for any legally significant period of time, nor the manner in which they were asked to leave. If, for instance, it went:
>
> guy taken out in handcuffs, one officer lagging behind (not unusual, sometimes family members have questions for them, ‘where will he be taken?’ ‘when would he go before the judge’ etc.), and the OP says “get out” followed by a “get out fuck you!”, at which point cop turns around and says something in return, I’m not seeing any particular violation of law. according to the OP, the cop ‘turned around’ to answer his ‘fuck you’, which suggests to me, anyhow, that the cop may have been heading out the door.
>
> at any rate the OP gives no particular time frame except that the arrest was “10 minutes ago” and he was able to then get back to the computer and post about it. So, unless the cop was still there (and it doesn’t appear to have been likely), the entire thing tookabout 10 minutes. Not sure that any action would be taken against a cop that took all of ten minutes to arrest a guy and leave the premises. \*\*
The “fuck you” came after what I felt were several unnecessarily condesending and just generally assholish comments from the guy. And the 10 mintues was kind of figurative. I tried to calm down for around 30-40 minutes, before I figured writing things down might help.
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