RTS Charges likely to be dropped Monday

Well, Duh! I didn't know that was going to happen. Isn't that the pattern in SF?
The Police arrest illegally, hold you in jail for four hours, treat you like shit, then have the drop the charges.

I had a quick legal question.

Were we supposed to be read the miranda rights?

Q. At what point are police required to inform a suspect of their Miranda rights?

A. After a person has officially been taken into custody (detained by police), but before any interrogation takes place, police must inform them of their right to remain silent and to have an attorney present during questioning. A person is considered to be "in custody" anytime they are placed in an environment in which they do not believe they are free to leave.

Example: Police can question witnesses at crime scenes without reading them their Miranda rights, and should a witness implicate themselves in the crime during that questioning, their statements could be used against them later in court.
Q. Can police question a person without reading them their Miranda rights?

A. Yes. The Miranda warnings must be read only before questioning a person who has been taken into custody.

Q. Can police arrest or detain a person without reading them their Miranda rights?

A. Yes, but until the person has been informed of his or her Miranda rights, any statements made by them during interrogation may be ruled inadmissible in court.

Q. Does Miranda apply to all incriminating statements made to police?

A. No. Miranda does not apply to statements a person makes before they are arrested. Similarly, Miranda does not apply to statements made "spontaneously," or to statements made after the Miranda warnings have been given.

http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/mirandarights/a/mirandaqa.htm

It's totally the pattern. In Oakland, they rely on the 'crazy' approach that Noam Chomsky described the US state department as deliberately using. You act erratic and unstable and prone to violent outbursts and then everyone will tiptoe away and avoid any police contact, preferring to go on a high speed chase if stopped.
SF isn't like other cities, but mainly shows broad tolerance, like of widespread street drinking and gaybashing and car violence going on at Halloween in the castro, or nudity at other things, and they have a specific threshhold where their reaction suddenly dramatically changes and the entire block will be arrested. It happened to me once. Any random person with their laundry can be swept up in the wrong space.

The popular police sentiment that I've heard in various places is "You can beat the rap but you can't beat the ride." Arrests that don't stick are a police tactic and a form of punishment as well.

Of course, some good folk (you know who you are) are finding ways to beat the ride as well, by holding police departments accountable for the way that they treat people while in custody. (That's a luxury we may have in the US that our friends in Guadalajara may not enjoy. Then again, holding police accountable is a luxury that many in the US do not have available either.)

Three cheers for RTS! By keeping SFPD busy, you might have saved a life.