Author: JM
Date: 03-11-10 16:44
I don't know if the people you connected with are real police who have been deputized or just rent-a-cops. You suggest they were not real police.
In some states Rent-a-cops do have the right to detain you, in a reasonable way, until the real police come. In others their only legal option is to follow you and take your cars license number if you leave.
In most places they don't have a right to make an arrest on a public street. In most states rent-a-cops don't have arrest powers beyond what a normal citizen would have in the case of directly observing a felony.
I am not a lawyer and I don't know the law in your state, but it seems to me that unless you signed an agreement with the private organization agreeing to their athority before the incident, they don't have a right to stop you on a public street, or to interrogate you, or to condition your release on singing a confession or agreement.
Either the people who arrested, detained, searched and interrogated you are real cops, in which case you got off with just a warning, or they are not, in which case you may have grounds for kidnap, battery, unlawful detention, invasion of privacy etc.
If they were real cops then they would know that they could not force you to sign a binding agreement as a condition of your release, unless what you signed was a recite of a ticket, summons, or agreement to appear at a later date in court. Cops give out tickets, only courts give out punishment or impose restrictions.
In some states, on some campuses the security are real cops, or are deputized under state law to be able to make arrests. It would be wise for you to do your home work and find out the status in your city.
I does sound very fishy to me, but since there were witness you probably don't want to push this further, because there is probably enough evidence for them to make it a criminal matter if they choose to do so.
Should they followup with a criminal complaint, at a later date, say nothing and get yourself a good criminal lawyer who specializes in civil rights & search and seizure law. Someone to research if the stop, detention and search were legal.
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