A full custodial arrest (one that lasts for a substantial period of time) is usually accompanied
by a trip to a police station or to jail and must be based on probable cause. Secondly, the
duration of a full custodial arrest can last from several hours to a few days. The location of
full custodial arrest begins on the street or in other public or private places, but usually results
in removal to a police station. Besides being removed to a police station, the arrested person
usually also suffers other invasions of privacy., including being fingerprinted, booked,
photographed, interrogated, and possibly subjected to some identification procedures.
Full custodial arrests differ from stops in two important respects. The first is duration. Stops
are measured in minutes; full custodial arrests can last hours and sometimes even days. The
second respect in which the two differ is location. Stops begin and end on the streets and in
other public places. Arrested people are taken to the isolated and intimidating surroundings of
local police departments or jails.
Not all arrests are equally invasive. Full custodial arrests are the most invasive of all arrests,
but less invasive seizures are also arrests. An arrest begins when a stop ends and the
individual is still detained, and continues through a full custodial arrest, where the person is
usually placed into a squad car, taken into a station house, subjected to a search,
photographed, booked and fingerprinted, interrogated, and ultimately locked up for a
substantial period of time.