10 Reasons Why You Should NEVER Talk to the Police
We had a discussion the other day about encounters with the police. (See this great series of YouTube Videos on the topic.) Most of us get the occasional parking ticket, or traffic ticket, etc. Occasionally, you might be involved in something else, like being around a bar fight or something like that.
When the police get involved, it is serious. Always. Why?
- They have guns.
- They can arrest you.
- They can detain you, intimidate you and make your life hell.
In short, the police have more power than you. They are not your equals. Because of that, we came up with the following reasons for why you should never, EVER talk to the police. (At least in the Unites States.)
REASON 1: IT NEVER HELPS: Lots of people like to think they can talk their way out of getting arrested. Maybe you can. But if you are charged with a crime, talking to the police hurts you. What you say can be used against you, but it isn’t going to be used to help you.
REASON 2: YOU CAN TALK LATER: If you are guilty and want to confess, wonderful. You are a good person. But confessing has consequences, and you need to be aware of them. Not only that, but you only want to confess to what you did, and you need to be sure of what you say. Think first. Talk later.
REASON 3: NOTHING IS OFF THE RECORD: Nothing you say to the police is out of bounds. Even if you agree to keep it ‘off the record’ or ‘just between us’, it isn’t. It’s going to be used, recorded, remembered and used against you at every opportunity.
REASON 4: COPS CAN LIE. YOU CAN’T: If a cop lies to you, it’s fine. They can do that. If you lie to the cops, you commit a crime: obstruction of justice. Not only that, but you will be seen as a liar and the rest of what you say is worthless.
REASON 5: EVEN AN HONEST MISTAKE IS BAD: Everything you tell to the police has to be true. Even if you make a mistake, this can be construed as a lie. If you have to testify and what you said to the cops is brought into court and it’s full of holes, you are going to look bad. NOT something you want to happen.
REASON 6: YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING: Did you know it’s illegal to own a lobster that is below a certain size, or that you can’t play dominoes on a Sunday in Georgia? If you don’t already know every law on the books, you may admit to doing something you didn’t even know was illegal. And yes, there are a lot of things that are illegal you don’t even know about it. How many? About 10,000 or more federal criminal statutes alone. And that doesn’t include local and state laws, and or regulatory rules.
REASON 7: THE 5TH AMENDMENT PROTECTS THE INNOCENT: The Supreme Court has said this themselves. The 5th Amendment is there so innocent people don’t get caught up in the very serious, stressful process of a criminal investigation. Innocent people are worth protecting. That’s why the 5th Amendment is there. Use it.
REASON 8: THE POLICE AND WITNESSES CAN BE WRONG: If the police get it wrong and you suddenly find yourself having to say X and the cop says Y, who is going to believe you? You are accused of the crime. Everyone expects you to lie, even if you are not lying and never did anything wrong.
REASON 9: EVERYONE THINKS YOU DID IT: Innocent until proven guilty is a nice idea, but it isn’t quite real. Think about it, how many times do you see or hear of someone being arrested and think “It has to be proven they’re guilty.” Never. And everyone is just like you. If you have to go in front of a jury, they already think “They’re probably guilty.”
REASON 10: THE POLICE HAVE THE POWER: Let’s say you and a friend get into a scuffle. Your friends says he won’t “press charges” and neither will you. Super. But your friend never could “press charges” even if they wanted to. Only the police and prosecutors can, even if no one wants them to.
Of course, this doesn’t mean you should report a crime or not call 911 if you are in trouble. But it does mean that if you get pulled over for a ticket or get into a car accident, you should probably just say “No thanks, I’ll get back to you later.’
(Photo courtesy pena2’s Flickr page, through creative commons license. Thanks, pena2!)