Attending rehab is an enormous and positive step forward in your life. It shows that you’re willing to make the right decision by first accepting you need help and then asking for it. Rehabs are the perfect environment to help you overcome a range of addictions, as you’ll be attended to by qualified staff able to help you crest every hill of your new life. Can The Police Arrest Someone While In Rehab?
However, it’s also true that addictions and the behaviors that support, influence, and are reinforced by them, can sometimes lead you to experience trouble with the law. Of course, the possession of certain substances that fed your addiction may have been illegal, or even if they weren’t, such as in alcoholism, tangential problems caused by such an addiction (like driving under the influence), can implicate you in criminal activity.
But can you arrest someone while in rehab?
It’s important to note that rehab centers are not sanctuaries where you will be free from law enforcement. However, HIPPA laws often dictate that law enforcement is not permitted to seek or arrest someone who has committed an offense while experiencing inpatient rehab – depending on the offense in question.
Furthermore, rehab centers often perform background checks to make sure it’s safe to bring you into their treatment program. As such, you should not head to a rehab center only to get temporary reprieve from law enforcement. Rehab centers are also inclined to contact law enforcement should you cause trouble, such as assaulting someone or distributing drugs within the facility.
If the police have a valid arrest or search warrant for you, then they are perfectly within their rights to fulfill that obligation.
Is rehab attendance looked on favorably by law enforcement?
The penal system is inclined to look at those actively attending rehab treatment centers to get a hold of their addiction, especially if they did so voluntarily, with sympathy. They may even mandate rehab attendance as part of the punitive process, depending on the offenses committed.
However, booking into a rehab center while on the run in the hopes that you will be looked at leniently is not the best way to turn your life around. Rehab is most successful when a patient willingly attends in order to make a real change in their life, not to delay the consequences of their past actions from catching up with them. If anything, we’d recommend hiring a competent lawyer to help you cooperate with law enforcement.
What about outpatient rehab services?
Outpatient rehabilitation services are provided as a means to offer a full rehab suite in a more convenient, home-based setting. As you will not be a restricted ward of the rehabilitation center, law enforcement may contact you. Inform them and your lawyer of your attendance with the particular outpatient program, so they can liaise with the service in question and avoid long disruptions of your treatment.
The world-class outpatient programs provided by the Impact Outpatient Program can be a fantastic first step in turning your life around.
With a comprehensive admissions service, including intensive outpatient, and telemedicine capabilities.
Those looking to unlock a better tomorrow by beating the pitfalls of their prior addiction can find real hope here, without the inconvenience of long-term stays in an inpatient facility.
Contact us today.