how to . . .

. . . Help a Friend Who Gets Arrested in the Middle of the Night in the US. The basic premise of these instructions is that your Friend Who Gets Arrested is able to contact you. Once they've made contact, you ask them where they're being held, tell them not to talk to anyone until you get them a lawyer, then you tell the police not to talk to them (!), and then you get off the phone and try to find a lawyer. One of the top tips is:

Always keep about $500-$1000 available without having to go to the bank. Most minor crimes and traffic violations can be bailed out from the stationhouse through the use of a desk appearance ticket or a desk sergent's bail.

I think I'd only be keeping that kind of cash available if I was getting regular phone calls from friends who'd got themselves arrested. And if that was happening I'd be having a long hard talk with my friends about their life choices. But I've got to remember that I'm a white and female - I'm sitting happily in the least likely to get arrested demographic grouping. Maybe if I was black and male I'd be keeping the cash around the house after all.