unarrest

present singular third person unarrests · participle present unarresting · participle past unarrested · past unarrested

1. transitiveTo release (an arrested person) from custody.

   They were subsequently unarrested and released into their parents’ custody on Friday evening.

   2015, “Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said two teenage brothers arrested while trying to leave Australia to fight with ISIS were ‘saved’”, in News.com.au

   1 more example

   She was swearing at the police who were trying to deal with a domestic incident. I had to break up the situation, the harassment was interfering with them dealing with the original fight. It was decided to unarrest her when we realised her age.

   2010, Gabrielle M. Maxwell, Allison Morris, Family, Victims and Culture: Youth Justice in New Zealand, page 33

plural unarrests

1. The act of cancelling an arrest.

   Several unarrests, and only two total successful arrests, occurred at the Navy Memorial.

   2017, Matthew Knouff, An Outsider's Guide to Antifa, page 156

   2 more examples

   However, it has been suggested to the Committee that police will not utilise this power because there will be a fear of the "unarrest" being used as evidence of a wrongful arrest.

   1994, Queensland. Parliament. Legislative Assembly, Parliamentary Papers - Volume 3, page 223

   These long stops essentially consist of a form of illegal, undocumented arrest, an investigation, and an “unarrest”—a wholly unconstitutional process.

   2020, Hannah L. F. Cooper, Mindy Thompson Fullilove, From Enforcers to Guardians