Theoretical question about being arrested.

[Cluricaun]

Ok, so the idea is that a person is say pulled over by the cops and has no ID on them, and refuses to give a name. The cops would of course take the person into custody and fingerprint them, but say the person had never been arrested before, had never served in the armed forces, had never had a security clearance, and had never done anything else to have their information entered into the system.

What would be the outcome? Can they detain you indefinitely until you give them a name? Can you be charged with anything if they don’t know who they’re charging?

[artifex]

My stepdad's a cop, I can ask him when he comes into town on Wednesday (for my graduation, whee!).

[CatInASuit]

IRL: The cops will also check out who owns the car next from number plate.

In the UK, they can hold for 24 hrs, and after that get extensions as authorised by a magistrate. Theoretically, although unlikely, that could be indefinitely.

[OneCentStamp]

So, level with us, Ryan: are you posting from your iPhone, and how did you sneak it into the holding cell? Fight the power.

[Cluricaun]

Haha, it's safe to say that they'd have no problem figuring out who I am by running my prints. This isn't anything but a question about what happens if they can't figure out who you are. Realistically you'd crack after a while since you'd have to call someone or a lawyer or or call your work to say you're going to miss a day or whatever and they'd be able to figure it out based on that stuff, but I'm still curious if you had nothing to lose do they just book you as "John Doe #213245" and be done with it or if something else would happen.

[Jaglavak]

Based on the cops I've dealt with I'd vote for 'something else'.
After about 10 minutes of 'something else' I bet you would change your mind.

[artifex]

Ok, I'm in the car with my stepdad. He says most states have laws requiring you to either have ID or verbally identify yourself. If you refuse, you'll just be thrown in prison for contempt until you fess up.

[Heffalump]

If they pulled you over and you're driving the car, wouldn't you be driving without a license? That's an offense, so I'm thinking they could charge you with that. So they at least have something to charge you with, and I'm guessing they can hold you so they know who they're charging.

If someone else was driving you, then they could get ID from that person or arrest them for driving without a license.

[tunaman]

Don't most states require a thumbprint to get a license these days?

[ivan astikov]

If it was a serious offense, I doubt you would be let out until they had established who you really are.

ETA. Okay, that was stating the obvious. In the case in the OP, I imagine you would be held in custody, taken in front of a court, and told you would not get bail until you gave them your name.

[Muffin]

Each jurisdiction will have its own laws, but in general, at the very least a person would continue to be prosecuted for whatever crime he or she was alleged to have committed. Since the person's ID is not known, the person would be given an alias (e.g. John Doe) until the real name was determined and swapped in. Since flight risk is a very important factor when determining interim judicial release, and since identification is a very important factor in determining family/community/career connections that would be considered when addressing flight risk, failure to identify one's self would most likely stand in the way of making bail.

[ivan astikov]

Ooooh, you copycat!