Are police allowed to handcuff you if they say you are suicidal and refuse to go!

Yes. The police have the authority to take you in for a medical and/or psychiatric evaluation if you demonstrate behavior that shows you are a danger to yourself or others. Laws vary by state and country - but in the US the hospital can hold you for up to 72 hours (yes, against your will) if your behavior demonstrates you are a danger to yourself or others.

When you say or do serious things, expect to be taken seriously. I see many, many, many people in your situation because I work in the Emergency Department, and that is where the police bring people. And yes, they are often in handcuffs because they refuse to come in voluntarily - this gives the police little choice in the matter.

Obviously, you were having a difficult time and I am sorry for this. If you are suffering from a mental illness, you have my sympathy as it can be a devestating thing to have to deal with. However, it's important to remember that YOU put yourself into that situation with your behavior. Your behavior has consequences and you choose how things will go. If you choose to behave this way again in the future, you are also choosing to experience another unpleasant "escort" to the hospital. If you were unable to think or behave appropriately because of your mental illness, then it becomes necessary for someone to step in and make choices for you.

If you are feeling unsafe or suicidal, you can choose to (1) ask your doctor or therapist for help (2) go to the ER and ask for help (3) call a suicide hotline and ask for help. None of these would result in you being taken to the hospital in handcuffs. But behaving in a way that scares or concerns people enough to call 911 for you, followed by an inability or unwillingness to cooperate with police and medical personnel, will most likely end with you in handcuffs again.

I hope you can get help to feel better so you do not have to experience this again. It's certainly not an experience most people would like to repeat. Good luck to you.

RN

The reason you were handcuffed is that "you were a danger to yourself." The reason they were there is to protect the people who operate the ambulance are not harmed in any way, shape or form.

You did not say if you were suicidal or not. If you were, then this was a necessary act that they needed to carry out as well as strapping you to the gurney in the ambulance.

This type of behavior is common in situations such as this. Don't feel that you were treated in a way which is untoward in this type of situation.

might seem a bit much ut if you are a danger to yourself or others and will not go in the ambulance voluntary then yes they can handcuff you

you amy have lashed out at the police or nursing staff etc that's why they handcuffed you and strapped you to the gurney

have you made a Dr's apt yet
ianswered you yesterday

best wishes

glad you got an apt hope all goes well for you

It may seem brutal but if you refuse they are allowed to take you away!

i have a grandmother who got taken away and we asked.

There are criminal charges which can be made for making a suicide threat. If you were suspected of making such a threat, then you the police may have had grounds for an arrest. They might assess your willingness to cooperate, so that if you had agreed to go to the hospital, they would have determined that you were cooperating, were not combative, and it would be safe NOT to charge you with a crime. Since you chose to resist, then they took you into custody because there were indications that you may be combative, in order to resolve the issue that was reported to 911, and give them an opportunity to further investigate the report of a disturbance. The cause for taking you into custody might have been suspicion of (it doesn't have to be proven, just reason to suspect, such as someone has reported it to be the case), domestic violence, inducing terror (making a threat), public intoxication, etc. Bottom line, a 911 call was made indicating some kind of domestic disturbance, and you are not cooperating. Some police have a policy to ALWAYS make an arrest in a domestic disturbance. If you refuse to cooperate with the police or medical staff, then they will use handcuffs, and any other necessary procedures in order to subdue the suspect. If they take someone into custody, and that person is suspected of needing medical treatment, then they may accompany a suspect who is in their custody to the hospital, so that the medical treatment can be received, prior to charging them with a crime. If, at the hospital, they gain additional information, such as the person was suicidal and is placed on a 72 hour suicide hold, or that the person was diabetic and having a blood sugar crisis, or that the hospital has verified they were not intoxicated and a good explanation has been offered for the events, they may determine an arrest is no longer necessary.

Bottom line, in all likelihood, they probably did have the grounds, based on the 911 call, to take you into custody as a suspect for some kind of disturbance, and they showed you leniency in leaving you in the care of the hospital, instead of taking you back into custody and charging you with a misdemeanor, once you had received medical care.

I wouldn't press my luck! Since you are following up with a psychiatrist, there's a good chance your behavior did play into this situation in some manner.

Best Wishes and Good Luck!!




If you feel your rights have been violated, talk to a civil rights lawyer.

But, a better use of your time might be to either figure out who you are hanging with who would make a malicious false report on you, and avoid that person from now on, if that is the case, or figure out what YOU did wrong to convince someone who cares about you that you were intoxicated and suicidal, to the point that they felt a 911 call was needed.

Best Wishes and Good Luck!!