What is the difference between arrest and detention?

• A. Detention requires probable cause; arrest is only suspicion.
• B. Arrest is temporary; detention is permanent.
• C. An arrest involves formal deprivation of liberty with probable cause; detention is a temporary hold for investigation, often based on reasonable suspicion.
• D. Arrest and detention are the same.

Answer: (C)

The key idea here is how liberty is affected and what standard justifies the action. An arrest is a formal deprivation of liberty backed by probable cause that the person has committed a crime, meaning the officer has enough solid facts to take the person into custody. Detention is a temporary stop or hold for investigation, not a full arrest, and it’s usually based on reasonable suspicion—the lower threshold that allows a brief inquiry or detention to proceed. Detention should be limited in time and scope, and the person isn’t treated as a formal arrestee unless probable cause develops or they’re released.

In practical terms, a brief traffic stop or stop-and-question situation is detention: it’s temporary and investigatory. If later facts establish probable cause, an arrest may follow. The statements that detention requires probable cause or that detention is permanent aren’t accurate, and they mix up the standards and the duration.