If you are wrongfully detained or are arrested even though you’re innocent, you might feel compelled to protest or resist the false arrest. But you are still legally obligated to cooperate with the officer’s detainment of your person whether or not you believe the arrest is in error.
Your only choice is to address the issue afterward through the legal system. If you fight back during a false arrest, what might happen to you? Here’s what to know.

You Cannot Legally Resist Arrest

If you are being taken into police custody, you have no choice but to go voluntarily and cooperate with any demands made by the police officers who are bringing you into custody. This is true regardless of the circumstances of your arrest or whether the police detaining you are in violation of the law.

If you obstruct the police in any manner during your arrest, such as by pulling back, twisting your hands away, or yelling, this is considered a separate offense that will be added to the other criminal charges you face. Even if the arrest is later proven to be fraudulent, you might still be held liable for your actions in challenging it.

You Give Up Your Chance At a False Arrest Case

If a law enforcement officer falsely arrests you and you resist in any manner, you have actually just affirmed their right to arrest and detain you. You may not bring action against the law enforcement for a false arrest if during that arrest you resisted. At the point of resisting, the arrest ceases to be false and officers are fully within their legal rights to continue detaining you.

You Make It Harder to Argue Against Excessive Force

If the officers who false arrested you utilized unnecessary force to restrain you and you resisted, you will jeopardize your ability to seek justice afterward. Fighting back against an arrest allows law enforcement personnel to claim that the violence used to apprehend you was appropriate and justifiable, and continued resisting can even be used to justify the use of heightened or deadly force.

When a police officer uses disproportionate force against you from the beginning, it is extremely difficult to cooperate; but, remaining calm is the only shot you have of ultimately pursuing justice for the injuries and trauma you endured from the police.
Arrested? Call Okaloosa County criminal defense attorney T. Martin Knopes today for a consultation by dialing (850) 683-0700.