NEVER-EVER Talk To The Police

a reply to: SlapMonkey

Monkey,

Not to stray from the point but just to make a quick comment on your post.
No, not all cops are bad people and I want to believe they're in the minority.
I under you have served and have buddies whom have served and are now
or were law enforcement.
To my thoughts on the police - I feel their corruption is so rampant and infested
that there is no turning it back.
The blue wall of silence is their take on "Snitches get Stitches".
Too many of these good cops see their corrupted colleagues in acts of criminal behavior
and turn the other way to not become involved which is itself a criminal act on their part.
I have seen video after video of officers going full metal on civilians (some deserved some not)
but when I go to research their charges or arrest I always just see THE MAIN officer involved.
In the video below only the officer doing the choking was fired and the problem there is that
I saw two other officers allowing it to happen that should have been fired as well.

- Sorry Monkey had to edit - video was not loading - Please copy and paste youtube link -

www.youtube.com...

a reply to: SlapMonkey

yes... which is why you shouldn't say anything to cops and yes they can use anything against you before issuing Miranda rights while on the stand.

when I was arrested years ago the judge didn't even care the cop forgot to tell me my rights.

a reply to: MagicCow

Im not even stating all cops are bad just some will manipulate you if you don't know your rights, so just say nothing.

The most important YouTube video you will ever see (in my humble opinion)...

Don't Talk to Cops, Part 1

a reply to: CraftBuilder

Very true, this lawyer know what is really going on. Thanks

When read your Miranda rights it should be a recorded audio statement with YOUR voice saying" yes I understand or no I don't. If that isn't made available at court......dismissed. Any cop can say " I read him his rights" I would imagine if the cop aint a total arse-wipe with the courts ,then the judge gonna believe the cop. I've been arrested, I was not read my Miranda rights......and no one gave a shat except me. I agree you have the right to remain silent....exercise it.

originally posted by: iTruthSeeker
If you are under criminal investigation then yes, this is good advice. But if I am being pulled over for a tail light, I am not going to act like an ass over it.

You are correct sir.
My brother is an attorney and he says over and over DO NOT speak to the police for any matter, just request your phone call and call me.
(I have never been in a situation where I had to speak to the police other than traffic incidents)

A couple of weeks ago I was coming up on a red light and my damn flip flops got stuck on the gas pedal.

I don't know why I just didn't use my left foot which was free, but I finally got it out and slammed on the brakes.

Of course I just barely ran into the back of a guy in a rental car that he just got because he totled his car the day before.

Go figure.

There was no damage to either car.

He insisted on calling the police.

So a motorcycle cop pulls up and gets everyone's info and all that stuff.

The guy I hit was understandingly upset but not with me.

I kept hearing my little brothers voice in my head yapping away to keep my mouth shut.

I just couldn't stand it anymore and told the officer "Look, my little brother is an attorney and tells me to never speak to the police and for Gods sake never admit to anything".

I went on to say "I just have to tell you that this accident was completely my fault."

He replied " And that's why I'm not going to give you a ticket for failure to control your vehicle."

These people that protect us take an enormous amount of crap daily from the people they bravely protect.

All of my dealings with the police have all been via some traffic incident and have found that being polite and not arguing with them makes a world of difference on how they treat you.

My God. I really wrote too much. I could have said that in a about 5 sentences.

a reply to: seasonal

To a point, that is generally a given (about using your professional skill set while off-duty).

With my trade profession being graphic design, there's not a sign, logo, or advertisement that I don't look at and critique--to myself or to others--concerning the design, good or bad. My dad is a retired electrical engineer for PG&E (California), and he STILL talks about how electrical components are laid out in a city as we're driving down the street, passing judgment on whether it was designed well or not. My mom is both a realtor/broker and a registered nurse, and she comments on people's health and homes all of the time.

My point being, professions aren't just a job with which we can disassociate ourselves once we leave the office--our knowledge and skill set and everything else associated with what we do for a third of our day spills over, but that's not to say that it does so in a nefarious way or with ill-intent on behalf of police officers.

If the cop if fishing for information during a cordial discussion in a public place, so be it--if I fit the description of someone for whom they are searching, I would expect them to approach me and question me, even if indirectly, because that is their job. I see nothing wrong with that. However, just because they may be fishing for information does not mean that they can force me to incriminate myself for something that I may have done, and that's the point of this whole thread. We have the right to remain silent--we also have the right to talk and live without fear of always being a suspect on the radar of every LEO we encounter. I choose the latter, being intelligent enough to understand where a path of discussion may be heading and if I'm being questioned instead of being in a discussion.

Others who may not be able to figure that out probably should be cautious, but the OP was so general in its "advice" that it could add to the paranoia (most of which is unfounded) about individual LEOs that exists in many people right now. I just find that to be irresponsible, and it wouldn't take much to iron out the wrinkles so that it doesn't contribute to such fears or anxieties.

a reply to: JDmOKI

Then you had a s***ty judge, because what a cop says that you said is called hearsay, and is inadmissible as evidence in court. That is, of course, unless you stipulated to what he claimed you said in some sworn statement or something.

In any event, I don't know all the details of your story, but from what you're telling me so far, I don't think that you're sharing all of the pertinent details in order for me to determine if you were in a crappy court room or if there was other variables that went against you. Claiming that it all hinged on a crooked cop is not something that I just readily accept without much proof.

Please don't take my comment the wrong way--I'm not calling you a liar at all, I'm just saying that there are myriad variables that can take place in a courtroom that can go against the defendant (and, yes, and crooked cop and/or judge is one of them).

originally posted by: iTruthSeeker
If you are under criminal investigation then yes, this is good advice. But if I am being pulled over for a tail light, I am not going to act like an ass over it.

Sounds like someone is about to have pot smelled on them and then have their car ripped apart

a reply to: RedDragon

Sounds like someone is about to have pot smelled on them and then have their car ripped apart

That can definitely be true, I would also encourage a cell video. Turn the video phone on and get audio at least. Another tip is to crack your window. Do not open it all the way.

originally posted by: SlapMonkey
a reply to: seasonal

As at least one other person noted, this is good advice if you are being questioned as a person of interest in a criminal activity, otherwise this doesn't pertain to everyday interactions with police officers (who, mind you, are human beings, most of whom like talking and interacting with people in a friendly way).

I think that your title of the thread is misleading, as it implies that you should never talk to the police--ever--and that's just nonsensical.

Some cops just want to up their arrest numbers to look good for their boss or something. They'll start pressuring you, lying to you, making you nervous. All the sudden your eyes look red and you're sweating because you're in a stressful situation, they say they smell pot in the car, and bam the cop looking for a promotion gets a DUI to add to his arrest statistics.

You, the victim? Why should he care about you? All that can be avoided if you just keep your mouth shut.

a reply to: seasonal

Good advice. It's not police though or, it's not just police that you shouldn't talk to. Any agent of the government or person subject to state authority, however seemingly innocuous or benevolent, represents a brush with coercion. It's not their fault personally, that's just the nature of the monopolization and casualization of the use of force.

It has become routine and is exemplified by the familiar flippant comment "there ought to be a law!"

Any and every law has the ultimate potential to instigate mortal violence so, they should be very necessary laws indeed.

originally posted by: RainbowPhoenix
As a rule I have two things I say when dealing with officers: Nothing and I don't know. This is of course dependent upon the nature of the conversation taking place. In some cases it is best to just tell them what they want to hear.

You must have a lot of dealings with police if you've made rules for yourself!

Seems odd so many here have put this much thought into it. How many of you are questioned by cops on a regular basis?

originally posted by: nightbringr

originally posted by: RainbowPhoenix
As a rule I have two things I say when dealing with officers: Nothing and I don't know. This is of course dependent upon the nature of the conversation taking place. In some cases it is best to just tell them what they want to hear.

You must have a lot of dealings with police if you've made rules for yourself!

Seems odd so many here have put this much thought into it. How many of you are questioned by cops on a regular basis?

I'd like to answer this question.

40% of white men have been arrested for non-traffic related offenses by 23. In the younger demographic that's grown up in our "police state", that number is higher.

Everyone I know has been arrested at least once and I was a goody 2 shoes that grew up in the wealthiest suburb in the country and went to one of the richest high schools in the country.

If you're a little older, you might not understand this but that is what's going on.

It impacts me personally because I want to work in South Korea. However, South Korea, for the most part, won't issue working visas to anyone with any kind of arrest record. They don't understand that we live in a police state and how common it is to have a record here in the U.S. nowadays. They assume that any kind of record indicates you're a lowlife because it does indicate that in the rest of the world.

We have both the largest prison population in the world AND the highest incarceration per capita rate, higher than even what the CIA estimates North Korea's to be. I'm a victim of that.

a reply to: nightbringr

Seems odd so many here have put this much thought into it. How many of you are questioned by cops on a regular basis?

For me it is natural to not trust and to question authority, there for the less info I give them to keep our once every 6 or so year encounter the better. Again respectful, but brief and no info given out.

im so happy to see this is the point its gotten to.

im sure LEO relations will get progressively better

cant wait for the future

vote Trump.

a reply to: odzeandennz

im sure LEO relations will get progressively better cant wait for the future vote Trump.

This has very little to do with the president, not nothing, but not to the extent that there is going to be a magic wand waved and the all better signal is given as the next place holder is inserted.

The problem runs deep and it is as complex as it is simple. All it takes to solve is police officers not allowing their fellow officers to break and skirt the law. Sounds easy til you turn a fellow police officer in and all hell breaks loose on you. Not just from your peers, but from your "up line."

Way to word a title to make it sound like you should never speak to a cop under ANY circumstances whatsoever, OP. FFS, at first glance, someone skimming through would think you're advocating not uttering so much as a "Morning, officer!"

It's standard legal advice for someone pulled over in a traffic stop, under arrest/investigation or being interviewed in connection to one, but not remotely applicable to "Oh s#, walking past a cop here, better not speak at all". Which is exactly what you made it sound like, and I have a feeling that's what you were going for in the first place -- you snipped each off the list in just the right spots where it leaves out sentences where it's obviously advice for people to put into use in an arrest/court situation.