Making a false arrest is a type of police misconduct. Police who engage in misconduct should be held accountable.In New York, a private person or a police officer commits the tort of false imprisonment or false arrest when they detain someone without legal authority. The complaint charges them with false arrest, false imprisonment, and illegally strip searching the plaintiff. The plaintiff's claim in a warrantless false arrest lawsuit arose from a sheriff s deputy s visit to her house to check on the welfare of her daughter. A false arrest is the unreasonable seizure of someone's personality. A seizure is considered unreasonable when there is a lack of probable cause to support it. If there is probable cause, this serves as a complete defense for a police officer sued for false arrest. 11. False imprisonment. False imprisonment defined.