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Handling an Arrest

police-clipIf you happen to be present when somebody you’re close to gets arrested, there is definitely a right way and a wrong way to handle the situation. The first thing to keep in mind is that police officers are not litigators. It’s not their job to stand there and debate with you whether the person should be arrested. If the police officer has decided to arrest someone, it’s pretty much a done deal from that point on. That person will be brought to jail after they are arrested. The legal issues involved will be debated in court. The interval of time between when the person is arrested and when they go to court, however, is where bail comes in.

What Bail Does

If someone is arrested for a crime, there are, in the broadest sense, two directions in which it can go. The first is that the person is processed, given a court date, and then released on the understanding that they will show up for their court date. If they fail to show up for their court date, a warrant is issued for their arrest and they get picked up again. The other way it can go is that the person will be expected to stay in jail until their court date rolls around. This could take weeks.

Bail allows a defendant to put up money so that they can get out of jail. Unfortunately, the amount of bail required is more than most people have on hand. There’s also a much better way to go about getting bail money than taking it out of your savings account. You do this by contacting a bail bond company, which allows you to post bail for a much lower fee than would be required if you are to post it outright.

What to Do

After the person is arrested, you’ll have to wait until you get their booking number. You can contact a bail bond agent beforehand to get the process started, however. Once you have the booking number, the bail bond company can put up bail for a percentage of the total amount required; usually somewhere between 10% and 20%. After the fee is paid, the bail bond agent will put up a surety bond that is contingent upon the defendant showing up on their court date and, in some cases, upon some other conditions. Provided you follow the conditions to the letter, this is a very easy way to handle an arrest and to get someone out of jail before their court date.

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