had arrested

Question

Now, the police officer who had arrested Mernel Koh, 15, is blaming himself for her death in his personal blog.  Question: Can you explain why this sentence uses had arrested instead of has arrested?

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

The past perfect is right because the person is dead.
CB

CalifJim · Answer

The past perfect (had arrested) is a dependent tense. It indicates anteriority to some other event. In this case, the arrest happened before other events of interest, most notably, the death of Mernel Koh.
CJ

Avangi · Answer

iconoffashionNow, the police officer who had arrested Mernel Koh, 15, is blaming himself for her death in his personal blog.

Question: Can you explain why this sentence uses had arrested instead of has arrested?

"Has arrested" is a bit special. Technically, an arrest occurs at one point in time, when you put a stop to someones liberty, or freedom of movement. Thereafter, the person is under arrest.

But in practice, we often think of the arrest as a long process, like a marriage (which also may be said to occur at one point in time).

"Where's my brother?" (reply) "He's still being arrested!" (transported to the station, fingerprinted, interrogated, strip-searched, etc.)

Additionally, "She has been arrested" / "the officer who has arrested her" implies she's still in custody.

"He has handcuffed her" implies she's still in handcuffs. The action took only a moment, but her condition persists. "He has injured her." Her condition persists. ("He has injured her before," is a little different.)

Your question might have been, "Why wasn't the simple past used in this case?" (the police officer who arrested Mernel Koh). The answer to that would have been, "No reason at all, except the author wished to emphasize the sequence of events - that the arrest preceded the death."

"He handcuffed her." (simple past - she may or may not still be in handcuffs)

- A.

had arrested

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