Question

[Chazz]

I was watching an old episode on "Cops" the other day that featured the police taking a call to a white trash trailerpark in where a woman and her 18/19 year old son who lived there with her were having an argument about something or other. When the police officer arrived at the house he almost instantly put the kid in handcuffs, but never said the kid was under arrest or read him his rights. He told the kid and his mother that he was putting him in the cuffs for his own saftey as well as everyone else's. When all was calm, he let the kid out of his cuffs and told him that if his mother called him again he would be arrested and taken to jail. Although I agree with why The Officer put the kid in cuffs, especially considering the officer answered the call by himself, but was what he did actually legal? I always thought that if the cops slap the cuffs on you that you had to be under arrest. I never heard anything about the above, but then again I'm obviously no Criminal Law major. Does anybody know anything about this?

[Guest Vitamin X]

Yes, it's completely legal. It's not exactly brutality or anything, just getting the kid under control.

[Chazz]

I thought so. I'm just surprised that some ambulance chasing attorney hasn't tried to dispute this in court as this violating someone's civil rights by being "Illegally detained" or some other type of bullshit.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Scare tactic. If the kid had the money for a lawyer, and any sense, he might have some case, but that was just the cops way of saying "Don't fuck around or we'll haul your ass in, kid."