A charge is any type of legal accusation made by one police or the court of law. A charge is filed when there is evidence showing that an individual has committed some type of crime. Generally, police will gather information regarding the incident and then make an arrest on the person they believe committed the crime. When the individual is arrested, police generally have a very small amount of time to charge the individual with the crime. When they do so, they officially enter the accusation into the court system. The individual is then told of his or her rights. Generally, at this point, the individual will be give preliminary bail depending on the nature of the offense and they will wait for the judge's official arraignment to occur.