system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do so many people in the USA get arrested for resisting arrest? Surely you need to be arrested for something else first in order to resist.

I know that in the UK the standard "Arrested for being a dick" is "Breach of the peace" - is it the same thing?

EDIT: It seems that it is a blanket term for refusing to comply with Police instructions - I wonder if it has always been as poorly defined or if it is one of those laws that has suffered from expanding definitions over the years.
gpt
There are a lot of charged answers in here, but the real reason is that it would set a bad precedent if you were "allowed" to resist arrest if you did not actually commit a crime.

The idea is that, if you are placed under arrest, you should simply submit and allow the legal system to determine the facts of the charges against you. Think of it this way: you aren't doing yourself or the officer any kind of service when resisting an arrest. The whole problem of people being arrested on bullshit charges is a separate issue.