A friend of mine, former Leo posted a slight rant/ point of view about the implied assertion that if we are involved in a self defense situation the police will arrest you. I see it as a worst case result but none the less effective as a advertising tool by companies like USCCA. It was one of the main reasons I got interested in getting insurance with my permit.
I was wondering how often did self defense result in no arrest? In other words what are our chances of not spending the night in Jail?
Two words, The Mckloskeys!
If you’re on the right side of the law and you defend against predator, you’re guilty. Right is wrong and wrong is right, the new normal!
The situation is more complicated, cops may let the citizen off the hook, but the DA will file charges later.
I would say, the percentage is high that you will be arrested. Now, you could be quickly released, with no charges, but, unless there is an overwhelming amount of obvious evidence, and an abundance of witnesses, be prepared for a ride in the back seat to the PD. Not always, but, I would say more often than not.
This one strikes me in a similar way to all those “What’s the best…” threads. The truth is that there is no “best” 9mm, caliber, holster, target, etc. because the right answer always begins with “It depends…”
Will everyone always get arrested? NO. I know of a great many self-defense confrontations where the successful defender was not arrested or prosecuted. I know of a few of those where they were sued by their attacker(s) or the deceased attacker’s relatives. But that isn’t always going to happen either.
The wiser question is probably what a prudent person should prepare for in the aftermath of successfully defending yourself from criminal violence? And that begs questions like how common/uncommon is it to need an attorney, need bail money, be prepared for kinetic retaliation, etc.
Physical retaliation is actually common following successful self-defense. Getting arrested varies widely based on jurisdiction where the incident occurred. But something that is nearly universal is the common effects of psychological trauma a person experiences (sooner and later) following a critical incident.
It is clearly in the financial interest of trainers, coaches, insurers, and prepaid legal service providers to overstate the likelihood and impact of the legal and financial repercussions of a lawful use of force incident. Lawyers and insurers are always going to give risk-averse advice. It’s what they do.
Apparently my attempt at humor on the subject of “it all depends” was no universally acceptable.
Removed it!
I understand how generic the question sounds but let me give you some background. I have had a CCW off and on for much of my life. Never really thought about having to use it. When I was young I thought like a cowboy and thought I would only use the weapon for truth, justice and the American way. Never came close to using my weapon and I never thought about firearm usage insurance. When I retired I moved to a quiet retirement community and thought I would live my life out in peace and quiet. But it turns out crime can come to anywhere you might live and that started to happen in my area. One day the local throw away paper had a article about a man and his wife living about two blocks form me that had suffered a home invasion. A young man had forced his way int the house and started to ransack it for valuables. The people were about my age so it caught my attention. At one point the man grabbed the older man’s wife and started beating her. With the attention on the wife the older man grabbed a weapon and put three rounds into the younger invader. The invader managed to escape and was driven away by a waiting assistant outside. The police came took a report and found the younger man at a hospital in the next community over from ours. The older man was not arrested and no charges were brought. However it was the reason I reapplied for my CCW and started packing again.
I understand the reasoning for the sales staff at stressing the financial and legal issues of home defense I was just wondering what percentage of the self defense cases were resolved at the site? I would still invest in insurance even if it were 50/50.
Well, that’s a much more precise question! But the answer still starts with “It depends…” and ends with “…the political and legal climate where it happened.” Where I live, it is almost certain that such a person as you described would not get arrested. This would also be true in most states I have lived in since 1989, when I lived in Kalifornistan while I was in the Navy. In fact, we see this sort of story in the news a few times each year around here. Since last Spring, we’ve seen them even more and more than 1 sheriff has gone on TV and said the perps got what they deserved and criminals shouldn’t do this kind of stuff if they don’t want to get killed by their intended victims. We are USCCA members mostly so we are covered when we travel. I plan for the worst and hope for the best, because life has taught me that if I do both I will almost always get something in between the two.
Where I live the probability is pretty low. The complication is, it seems, everyone that shoots someone claims self defense, at least until the evidence proves otherwise. That make the police rather suspicious in all but the most obvious cases.
Not the answer you want to hear, but…
What I can assure you is that no matter what state the situation happens in, if you use your firearm in self-defense the police will question you. Personally, I would like to have an experienced self-defense attorney with me when I answer questions even if I think it’s an open and closed case.
Will you be arrested? Maybe. Will you be detained? Yes. There is a difference here that is key to point out. If you use a gun in self-defense you will be detained until the initial situation wraps up (not the whole legal process, the initial incident). You might or might not be arrested. That is where the “depends” comes in. It all depends on the circumstances.
Will you always get arrested?
There is always the possibility that you will get arrested, but no, you will not always get arrested. There are so many factors that would apply including facts, evidence, location, politics, witness statements and the applicable law, to name a few. There are certainly places that you are more susceptible to being arrested, such as larger cities versus smaller towns. Your are less likely to be arrested as a victim of a home invasion or an otherwise armed attacker but it will all depend on the facts available at the time of the encounter and those that are discovered later.
Yep! This is why I tried to refocus the question to more specific questions than “will I always get arrested.” There are things that are almost certain to happen following any critical incident (an emergency where people are in imminent and grave danger of great bodily harm)…even more so for force on force incidents.
However, I will also say that not every legal use of force by civilians results in LE involvement. For example, many years ago now I was out trail running just after dawn on my own 200 acre farm when I was jumped by 9 hybrid wolves (mixed with coyotes…they are pretty common where I grew up). I shot 5 of them with 8 shots and reloaded my pistol before they broke off their attack and scattered. Nothing illegal happened. I was on my property. Why would I call the sheriff’s department? I didn’t. But I told my local game warden about it the next time I saw him, and reminded him to be careful. There’s a moral to this story.
“It depends on the legal and political climate…” is a far more profound statement than most urban/suburban gun owners realize. For people who raise livestock and crops far from the city lights and nearest Walmart Supercenter, daily life is very different. And the way folks view firearms and the appropriate use of deadly force is very different from what people who rarely see the stars in the night sky and have speed bumps on the road leading to their house think it should be.
This 
A my age, I would probably be carrying for a total of about 25 years. Even at a very conservative $500/mo taking price increases into consideration, I would end up paying less than $15K.
But, peace of mind? Priceless.
Life in the country is very different than in the city. I miss living in the country.
There you go countin’ beans again! 
That answer has a lot of what , who when and where in it and depends on the responding officers and what they are told. Some agencies have strict policy that doesn’t give the officer any choice in the matter, all subjects involved shall be detained in lock up until full investigation is completed and or prosecutor makes the call.
Each shooting incident will have its own merits.
As a retired leo from a city that had multiple shootings (especially in the summer) we always had victim(s) and rarely suspects in custody. But , when we did have shooters, they 99% of the time took a ride to the station for interviews with detectives and usually were locked up afterwards while the prosecutor made the decision the following day, if lucky!
On rare occasions , with good witnesses, a detective will call the on duty prosecutor , explain the self defense scenario given or video tape provided (if available) and release the subject pending further investigation.
Would the doorbell videos or personal security camera footage be considered reliable, @Vince2?
the last shooting did involve a ring door bell video, and was used to prove self defense case. But, since it was an officer involved shooting, her body camera helped out as well! that was in lansing, mi last year. Officer did a great job. She even cleared a malfunction in the process.
but, back to the door bell video, it was quite clear and sound had good clarity! its on you tube if you want to see it. or, it use to be. Ingham county sheriff shooting or lansing, mi sheriff shooting.
As a former state prosecutor and criminal defense attorney, I am not sure that I can recall a single instance of someone employing a weapon in self-defense and NOT spending the night/next 12+ hours in custody (custody meaning in jail or taken in for questioning).
I am not saying that it happens 100% of the time. But the percent sure is high.
Welcome @Tom_Grieve I think you are spot-on. They are going to want a statement at the least!