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Comment by cldellow | Hacker News Reader

On the one hand, knowing what we know now, I certainly agree it would be preferable if he wasn't arrested.

On the other hand, the neighbour had made at least 4 reports to the police about harassment and death threats. I believe the neighbour's brother and parents had also spoken to the police in support of these claims. On the day of the arrest, the neighbour had _just_ made the most serious claim yet--about death threats.

Given that context, I can understand why the police legally have the right to arrest, and would be willing to arrest.

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Hum... No, it's not ok for the police to arrest somebody only due to claims. It doesn't matter how often the claims are repeated.

Maybe the police should have investigated it earlier, but lack of that earlier investigation is not cause for arresting him.

I assumed that they were shown the video of 'the finger' and arm waving and thought the accusation had enough meat on it.

"I certainly agree it would be preferable if he wasn't arrested."

We should actually be completely fucking outraged that any citizen can be forcibly detained on the whim of the police for non-violent behavior. Yet you seem to think it's just fine to deny a person every basic human right on the whim of some cop?

The kind of person it takes to make 4(!) official complaints and have the local police office in their contact list is exactly the same person to exaggerate dramatically, play the victim, and ultimately be the true source of anti-social behavior. I don’t believe there’s any veracity behind their claims, and the police department should have forwarded their calls to a therapist instead.

A friend[1] of mine (and his neighbours) have made a lot more than 4 official complaints about an absolutely deranged lunatic[2] on his street.

It took years of complaints and police calls, for the guy to get a court date (For harassing the neighbors and vandalizing their cars.)

Unless you actually go through many of the steps of investigating, you have no idea if the person making the complaints is the anti-social shithead, or if the person being complained about is. '4 official calls = complainer is full of shit' is a terrible heuristic.

[1] Who I trust and respect very much. I doubt that he's full of crap.

[2] Who, from all accounts, wouldn't benefit from a fine or prison sentence - he needs therapy.

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