§ 190 Arrest, how made.

An arrest happens in one of two ways. Either the officer physically restrains the person, or the person agrees to go along with the officer's authority and submits to being taken into custody.

This means an officer doesn't have to use handcuffs or physical force for an arrest to count as valid. If someone simply stops resisting and accepts that they're being taken into custody, that's still considered a lawful arrest. What matters is that the person's freedom to walk away has been taken by the officer, whether through physical control or through the person's own acceptance of the officer's authority.

This rule matters because it sets the starting point for other legal protections. Once a person is arrested, certain rights kick in, like the right to be told why they're being held and the right to avoid unreasonable force. Knowing when an arrest actually begins helps determine whether those protections should have applied at a given moment.