Generally, crimes that are punishable by incarceration of one year or less are misdemeanors, and crimes punishable by incarceration of more than one year are felonies. Beyond the maximum period of incarceration, whether a crime is a felony or a misdemeanor is significant because it will have a bearing on criminal procedures and constitutional rights. An arrest occurs when the police take a person into custody in order to charge that person with a crime. To make a lawful arrest, a police officer must believe that a crime was committed by the person to be arrested. This is important in the context of mental illness because an arrest does not occur every time a person with mental illness is picked up or taken into custody by the police.
Booking is the process of fingerprinting and photographing a person who has been arrested.
In some instances, it may be important for the police to be notified quickly that they have a person with mental illness in custody. However, families should be cautioned that the disclosure that a person has a mental illness can make the police view the situation more seriously. Therefore, whenever possible, before family members make disclosures to the authorities concerning the psychiatric history of a mentally ill family member, they should discuss it with their attorney. Family members should try to prevent the police from questioning a family member with mental illness without a lawyer present. Any person who is questioned by the police and is not free to end the questioning and leave the place where he or she is being questioned must be given a Miranda warning.