humiliating and unnecessary? I was stopped by police while going to work in the am thursday last week...long story short, it turned out I had a warrant issued for a rather silly and minor offense so I got arrested...What followed was the most humiliating day of my life, and I'm not sure I did a big enough crime to deserve all this:
I was handcuffed, taken to jail, ordered to remove my heels and jacket, handcuffed again and got to spend the next 1.5 hours freezing my *** off waiting in a very cold holding cell handcuffed behind back, barefoot and with bare legs and arms as I was wearing a skirt and for some reason was not allowed to put my pumps and jacket back on (similar shoes-off treatment for the other people there too - no idea why).
Finally, they told me I will be taken to court for what they call an "arraignment". I was allowed to put my shoes and suit jacket back on, but then they went through this major production where I was fitted with a chain around my waist, handcuffs connected to this waistchain, leg irons on my ankles (which are really painful as they constantly rub against your ankle bone - especially with no pants on and bare ankles)and a chain from the handcuffs to the leg irons!! All this for a girl who is 112 lbs! At court I was put in a waiting cell and had to wait for about 4 1/2 hours, time during which the chains were left on and, final humiliation, I even had to appear in front of the judge chained and shackled, which was extremely embarrassing and at that point I had to really struggle to keep my composure and not burst out with frustration over the stupidity of all this.
I can understand why this would be done to murderers and violent criminals, but to do this to a petite woman in court for a minor non-violent offense seems a bit overkill to me. I'm sure there are ways to keep police officers safe without humiliating and disregarding all human rights of people being detained. And also I did not understand why did I have to be kept chained while in the court waiting cells where I could clearly not hurt anyone even if I was some ferocious criminal...
I was wondering if other people here had to go through something similar and what their experience was? Do you think it was appropriate to be treated like this or were you also offended and hurt?
I was handcuffed, taken to jail, ordered to remove my heels and jacket, handcuffed again and got to spend the next 1.5 hours freezing my *** off waiting in a very cold holding cell handcuffed behind back, barefoot and with bare legs and arms as I was wearing a skirt and for some reason was not allowed to put my pumps and jacket back on (similar shoes-off treatment for the other people there too - no idea why).
Finally, they told me I will be taken to court for what they call an "arraignment". I was allowed to put my shoes and suit jacket back on, but then they went through this major production where I was fitted with a chain around my waist, handcuffs connected to this waistchain, leg irons on my ankles (which are really painful as they constantly rub against your ankle bone - especially with no pants on and bare ankles)and a chain from the handcuffs to the leg irons!! All this for a girl who is 112 lbs! At court I was put in a waiting cell and had to wait for about 4 1/2 hours, time during which the chains were left on and, final humiliation, I even had to appear in front of the judge chained and shackled, which was extremely embarrassing and at that point I had to really struggle to keep my composure and not burst out with frustration over the stupidity of all this.
I can understand why this would be done to murderers and violent criminals, but to do this to a petite woman in court for a minor non-violent offense seems a bit overkill to me. I'm sure there are ways to keep police officers safe without humiliating and disregarding all human rights of people being detained. And also I did not understand why did I have to be kept chained while in the court waiting cells where I could clearly not hurt anyone even if I was some ferocious criminal...
I was wondering if other people here had to go through something similar and what their experience was? Do you think it was appropriate to be treated like this or were you also offended and hurt?