After the Arrest: The Charging Decision in Prairie City

The police have taken a suspect into custody and booked him. After the arrest, what next? At first glance, this rather simple question seems to imply an equally simple answer - the arrestee will be formally charged with a crime. Inattention to post-arrest proceedings has reinforced the assumption that judicial proceedings follow an arrest. But being booked in the police station is not the same as being charged in court. Despite the swelling of interest in the police and their use of the arrest power, there has been relatively little interest in or concern with what happens to the suspect after the arrest.