It is very common to think of getting arrested as something that happens to someone else. Yes, you see new stories about arrests. You see police cars drive by with their lights on. But what are the odds that would ever happen to you?
They may be better than you think. According to some sources, an arrest is made every three seconds in the United States, on average. There are millions of arrests every year, and this means that someone is essentially in the process of getting arrested at any given time. It is always happening. Whether you are out with friends, at the store or just sitting at home watching television, it could happen to you.
Not all of these arrests lead to convictions
One thing to remember about this daunting statistic, though, is that a high number of arrests does not mean there will be a high number of convictions. Many people get arrested and are never convicted in court.
For instance, the police may have arrested the wrong person, so it’s a false arrest and they get released without having to go to trial. Or it could be a misunderstanding. Perhaps it’s a domestic violence incident where the police arrested the victim instead of the perpetrator. In other cases, the police believe they have evidence, but it doesn’t hold up in court. This could happen if a driver fails a breath test, but it then turns out that the test was administered incorrectly.
In other words, there are constant arrests in the United States, but you never want to assume that means you are going to be convicted. You always need to know about your legal defense options.