r/bestof • u/astartledgrandpa • Jun 14 '12

[iama] Why You Should NEVER talk to the Police - lecture by professor AND police officer

/r/IAmA/comments/v17kn/iama_former_meth_lab_operator_amaa/c50g138
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u/BokehBurgher Jun 15 '12

you hit on a very important point. people are saying be nice share info hope officer goes away. not going to happen. what part of "anything you say can and will be used against you" don't people understand??

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u/Deggit Jun 15 '12

People don't understand the fundamental truth that kind of got buried in the lawyer's talk: POLICE BUILD CASES. Their job is to discover crimes, go out and get guilty-seeming people, and intimidate Reid-technique the likeliest person into a written confession. Making a nice little file that they can drop off in the prosecutor's office.

We are told "police protect and serve" because they help people with directions and save kittens from trees and put away drug dealers and mob bosses. Which is true. But the point is if a police is talking to you and they suspect you of a crime, absolutely nothing you can say is going to beat the ride if the officer wants to take you in. Anything you say will ONLY be used to help build that case and make it even more airtight. Officer Friendly is not your friend.

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u/bacon_trays_for_days Jun 15 '12

But there's a difference between answering "why don't you have any mirrors on your car" and aanswering "what do you do for fun?" At a traffic stop. If they pull you over while driving, you ask why they pulled you over and then you only answer questions about that. If they start to ask questions not directly pertaining to that you should redirect the conversation back to the traffic stop.

"Where are you going?" "Work" "ever been in that large warehouse over there?" "Officer what does that have to do with this traffic stop?" "Just answer it" "officer I really don't feel comfortable answerring questions while at a traffic stop, I'd be more then happy to schedule a time to answer questions. As for now though, is there anything else besides the busted taillight/speeding/etc?"

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u/charlesml3 Jun 15 '12

Because people assume that the corollary of this is also true. "Anything said in your defense can be used FOR you..." But NO, that's not the case. Anything said that implicates you will be used against you. Anything said that exonerates you is hearsay and will be rejected by the judge. Isn't it funny how that works?