People have strong opinions about the police. At one extreme there are people who believe every officerâno matter how little action he seesâis a hero. At the other extreme there are those who claim all cops are corrupt and entire police departments should be defunded.
In this blog post, I have no interest in adding one more opinion to the debate. Instead, I simply want to point out a few things everyone should consider before speaking to the police.
(Note: if police are questioning you because you are suspected of committing a crime, it is almost always best to remain silent and seek legal counsel.)
Warrant Status
First, if you engage an officer in conversationâregardless of the reasonâhe will almost certainly run your name in his database for criminal or civil arrest warrants.
I have watched innumerable body cam and cruiser cam videos in which a Good Samaritan speaks to an officer to aid an investigation and the officer, while appearing friendly, surreptitiously calls in the witnessâs personal information to see if an arrest is justified.
If you do have an outstanding warrant, it goes without says that the officer will place you under arrest and, depending on the circumstances, you could spend a night or two in jail before your arraignment.
Petty Arrests
Next, you should keep in mind that the police can and will arrest you for harmless and petty behavior if violates the law.
I frequently get clients who are genuinely baffled when they are charged with a crime even though they harmed no one and had no intension of breaking the law. I could give dozens of examples. But here are just a few.
- Defendant #1 was arrested for trespassing after walking his dog in woods (85+ acres) designated conservation land.
- Defendant #2 was arrested and jailed after his Facebook automatically tagged a woman who had a restraining order against him.
- Defendant #3 was arrested and arraigned for making an empty threat during a heated argument with his neighbor.
None of these defendants knew that his conduct was criminal. Moreover, none expected to be arrested for such minor, innocuous acts. But in each case, the police had justification to make an arrest (however flimsy it may have been) and they seized the opportunity.
Provocation/Fueling the Fire
In his excellent book Verbal Judo, veteran police officer Gregory Thompson says that a copâs most dangerous weapon isnât his gun; itâs his mouth. I completely agree.
Calling the cops to intervene in a tense (but non-violent) situation can be like adding fuel to a fire.
Cops get away with an awful lotâespecially when their words and actions are not being recorded.
And itâs not uncommon for an officer, through his words or mannerisms, to provoke an agitated person to cross the line.
This happens frequently when police appear at domestic quarrelsâwhether between a husband and wife, a parent and child, or even two neighbors.
Tempers are high and, sensing this, some cops will push personal boundaries hoping to get one party or another to lose their cool and become âdisorderlyâ or ânoncompliant,â thus justifying arrest.