Wrong.
Job application. Have you ever been arrested? No job.
Mortgage application. Have you ever been arrested? No mortgage. No house.
Rental application. Have you ever been arrested? No apartment.
These are just a few places you will have the door slammed in your face. Now, the OP was lucky, because the matter was dismissed, the arrest record evaporates. If he was convicted of even the most minor criminal offense because the judge was having a bad day too, his life is now fucked.
NB, this is argument applies even if you're trying to make the argument to a very pro-law-enforcement person who accepts the premises that only guilty people need to worry about the police and that the laws are perfect so everything that is a crime ought to be one.
Arrest records do come up in the system when a background check is run as I can vouch for personally. They also come up (in Colorado) with the initially charged crime whether or not the charge was changed or dismissed. This has never hampered my ability to obtain employment, loan, or a lease.
Getting involved with "the system" in any way, even if you're not guilty, appears to be a red flag for some employers.
It's incredibly pro-landlord, but because there's a shortage of housing supply, they can get away with it.
Only source I can remember for this offhand is behind a paywall, but I used to work in drug policy, so this is something I've witnessed many times: http://bklynr.com/arrested-developments/
The worst thing that officer could have done to that person for that day, rather. A different officer, different victim, different judge on a different day? Could have been a lot worse. It often takes a couple of days just to see a judge.
>encountered pretty much the worst scenario possible
No.
The female officer could easily have beaten or killed this person and would never see justice. Don't even bother trying to convince me otherwise.
Now cops just hand out tickets for every petty violation they can to the homeless since they know they can't pay, and ticket protesters for jaywalking or some other BS, and when a major media covered event comes through they now have a legit reason to round them all up.
Cops can also detain you longer, like this guy who was kept 24hrs in a psych eval, even though he had already spent hours in jail.
Surely America should be compared with Developed (1st world) countries if it's to be considered one...
Now obviously this is a ridiculous situation and the officer was on a powertrip, but you did break the law and technically she was within her privileges to bring you down to holding. Still, the fact that you encountered pretty much the worst scenario possible and were only held up for a few hours from start to finish is, to me, a sign that the system is working pretty damn well.