Millions of individuals are arrested in the United States each year. In 2022 there were over 7.3 million arrests. https://www.statista.com/statistics/191261/number-of-arrests-for-all-offenses-in-the-us-since-1990/. “An arrest is made every three seconds.” Rebecca Newsteter and Morgan O’Toole, Every Three Seconds https://www.vera.org/publications/arrest-trends-every-three-seconds-landing/arrest-trends-every-three-seconds/overview (January, 2019). The law understands that an arrest is a charge or accusation, and that large numbers of innocent individuals are arrested.

But the numbers don’t tell the human story. An arrest can cause serious harm. An individual can be subject to a custodial arrest for even a minor offense carrying no authorized jail time. Atwater v. Lago Vista, 532 U.S. 318 (2001). The arrestee can be kept in custody for 48 hours, sometimes longer, before appearing before a magistrate for a probable cause hearing. County of Riverside v. Mc Laughlin, 500 U.S. 44 (1991) (48 hours is a presumptively reasonable time). An arrest may result in loss of work, separation from loved ones, stigmatic harm, and fear, anxiety, and mistrust of the police. An arrest is no small matter!