So, has anyone been arrested before?

[Bernadine]

I went to a meeting last night about the Poor People's Campaign- link

They're asking people to possibly participate in non-violent arrest-able actions (i.e., not leaving the state capitol building when asked by security), and I'm just wondering what that process would be like.

[shauni27]

I am trying to remember what I learned when I took a course on this in high school or college and I really cannot remember much. Do NOT resist, maybe go limp, write your lawyer's name and number on your arm in permanent marker I think? I think they will often take your phone so if you have been recording anything that could be helpful for the protests, etc, you may want to hand your phone off to a friend who can keep it safe for you.

[seeyalater52]

Yes. Poor People’s Canpaign is doing really great, intersectional work in my area. I haven’t been arrested with one of their actions so I can’t speak to that specifically.

A couple of notes:
If they’re responsibly organizing the protest, they will be providing information to participants that gives a better picture of how it is going to go. They should have a point person who will coordinate with people who have been arrested but who plans not to participate. That person should be able to help with things like tracking arrestees if they are being processed, organizing bail if necessary, etc. Have they planned arrest actions previously? Can they give insight into how they expect law enforcement to respond? Are they coordinating with them at all? A couple of times they have been super pissy and really handled protesters roughly, jerking us around and putting zip ties around wrists really tightly. That part sucks.

Are those arrested expected to post their own bail, or is there a fund through the group?

Don’t count on being able to use your phone post-arrest. If you are going to be making a call to a legal aid group write the number on your body where you’ll be able to see it no matter what happens.

Lastly, be prepared that sometimes you get charged for real when you do these actions. It’s hit or miss in my experience. Some jurisdictions would rather not deal with it so they just release people without charges but some will actually charge you and you may need to post bail or sit in jail over the weekend (depending on arrest day.)

I’d want as much info from the organizers as possible before doing this, as a poorly organized action can be a real logistical nightmare. If I believed in the issue at hand I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

[Bernadine]

seeyalater52, thanks. They sound pretty well organized, they have a jail support team who will call your emergency contact and stay until everyone is released. They expect catch and release, no charges filed. The organization does have a legal team to provide support as well. Oh, and they have "care bears" who will not participate in the arrest-able action and you can give them your phone, etc. before the action.

I'm just wondering about the actual process of being booked...like, I guess I'll have to strip? And would I be in a cell with other people? I just want to know what I'm in for if I decide to go through with it.

[sessy]

Apr 25, 2018 14:59:26 GMT -5 Bernadine said:

seeyalater52 , thanks. They sound pretty well organized, they have a jail support team who will call your emergency contact and stay until everyone is released. They expect catch and release, no charges filed. The organization does have a legal team to provide support as well. Oh, and they have "care bears" who will not participate in the arrest-able action and you can give them your phone, etc. before the action.

I'm just wondering about the actual process of being booked...like, I guess I'll have to strip? And would I be in a cell with other people? I just want to know what I'm in for if I decide to go through with it.

This really depends on where you live and how many people are arrested with you etc. 

Where I live activists get arrested all the time, it's a pretty quick in and out process at this point, unless they decide to use the folks to make some weird bigger political statement which has happened.

I was doing an action in another state and the arrest procedures were way less friendly for activists and that's just part of the work. At most actions you get to chose what level of risk you're willing to take on, Just remember lock you phone, and write the numbers you'll need in sharpie on your arms and legs. 

[sessy]

I should also add I've done a lot of "arrest able" action and most of the time the police don't actually want to arrest all the people. It's a lot of work on their end, and it's not good publicity for the police. In my experience most the time they just hover in their military gear but won't move into arrest even when the action is designed with that potential.

[seeyalater52]

Apr 25, 2018 15:08:25 GMT -5 sessy said:

Apr 25, 2018 14:59:26 GMT -5 Bernadine said:

seeyalater52 , thanks. They sound pretty well organized, they have a jail support team who will call your emergency contact and stay until everyone is released. They expect catch and release, no charges filed. The organization does have a legal team to provide support as well. Oh, and they have "care bears" who will not participate in the arrest-able action and you can give them your phone, etc. before the action.

I'm just wondering about the actual process of being booked...like, I guess I'll have to strip? And would I be in a cell with other people? I just want to know what I'm in for if I decide to go through with it.

This really depends on where you live and how many people are arrested with you etc. 

Where I live activists get arrested all the time, it's a pretty quick in and out process at this point, unless they decide to use the folks to make some weird bigger political statement which has happened.

I was doing an action in another state and the arrest procedures were way less friendly for activists and that's just part of the work. At most actions you get to chose what level of risk you're willing to take on, Just remember lock you phone, and write the numbers you'll need in sharpie on your arms and legs. 

I agree with sessy that this is very locally-specific. I’ve never done an arrestable action in a more conservative area and the two bad experiences I had were done with a group that had a really bad relationship with the police so some of the stuff was definitely retaliatory. I’ve only had to strip one time, but they did delete footage of the protest off my phone when they took it after booking a couple of times. Once they held us and waited to book until the end of the day basically just to keep us over the weekend, but I think that was an extreme case. Every time I was in a cell with other people, and if they arrest enough people at the action you usually end up together without anyone else in the holding cell in my experience. It sounds like they know what they’re doing so the group leaders should be able to give you specifics about what to expect. Caveat is that usually it’s better to prepare for the worst case scenario just in case.

[ohyouknow]

Apr 25, 2018 12:52:49 GMT -5 Bernadine said:

I went to a meeting last night about the Poor People's Campaign- link

They're asking people to possibly participate in non-violent arrest-able actions (i.e., not leaving the state capitol building when asked by security), and I'm just wondering what that process would be like.

I’ve been arrested. I was handcuffed and put into the squad car, then they took me to the local police station where I was in a detention cell for some period of time, maybe a couple hours. Then I was handcuffed again and driven to the city jail in the back of a van type vehicle with other people. That is where I was inprocessed with mug shot, paperwork, etc. I spent the next 10-12 hours sitting in a room with about 10 other women. There was a plexiglass wall and steel toilet with no privacy. The women I was with were.....interesting. I remember one woman walking around with her hand down her crotch scratching and smelling her fingers and claiming it was “some fine smelling pussy.” Several women also made crude comments when I had to use the toilet. The guards brought sandwiches, regular white bread with velveeta type cheese and bologna. I asked for some reading material and was denied. Finally they called my name and they did some paperwork and I was allowed to call my roommate to pick me up. They gave me back my wallet/money etc and I left. A month or two later i had my court date and it was resolved there. I can’t say that it has really affected my life since that time, I was still able to go to law school, get licensed as an attorney, commission into the military, and get a secret clearance. I’ve always been upfront about it and never hid it. But it wasn’t the most pleasant thing I’ve ever done lol.