"Friday arrest syndrome"

Sometimes arrests seem to be made with a view to detaining the accused as long as possible before they can be released on bail. Such arrests may be made on a Friday knowing bail is unlikely to be obtained until the following Monday thus delaying release by at least two days.

The delay may allow the police greater freedom in questioning or may induce an accused to give evidence against others for release. Regardless, it is a manipulation of the system. It would be interesting to see arrest statistics to see how widespread the practice is.

"Friday arrest syndrome" is mentioned in a few B.C. cases (thanks to Yossi Schochet for these cases), examples being: 

Uppal, [2002] B.C.J. No. 3205:‪

239     Again issue is taken by Mr. Soomel to what counsel calls the "Friday arrest syndrome" and it is urged that the effect of the Friday night gambit ensures that an accused in Delta will be remanded by the Justice of the Peace on Saturday morning to the Delta Police lock-up until, at the earliest, his or her Monday morning court appearance.

240     It is argued that apart from the accused person's right to initially consult counsel, this unfairly isolates an accused and makes him easily accessible over the weekend for police questioning.

241     By itself the Friday night arrest scenario in Delta is not fatal, but, of course, it and what flows from it in any particular case are facts which must be considered in examining the entire context of any confession.‬

Ertmoed, [2002] B.C.J. No. 3253:‪

12     Much has been said about the Friday arrest. According to Corporal Cross the arrest was "well-scripted". I take it from that that it was carefully planned. The police admitted that they could have arrested the accused as early as Wednesday, November 1st. However, for "strategic reasons," they arrested him on Friday evening. The defence strongly argued that the reason for the Friday evening arrest was to deprive the accused of access to counsel. Sergeant Fordy denied that the timing of the arrest was orchestrated in order to deprive the accused of his right to counsel. He said he thought that a criminal lawyer would be more difficult to contact during the day because he or she would be in court. However, it is not in dispute that the arrest was made on a Friday evening so as to comply with the police plan to place the accused with a cell plant and to conduct a weekend interview which would essentially be uninterrupted. The police admitted that the arrest was made in order to control the whole process.