Why shouldn’t you talk to the police?
Alternative Title: A Letter I Wish I Could Send to My Future Clients.
Note: this is mostly geared towards white people or people who grew up middle class. You know, those of us who grew up with adults telling us that police are our friends and they’re here to help and trust them. It’s also geared towards Americans in particular, because other countries have different rights and different procedures.
Talking to police when you don’t have to is a bad idea. (If you are the victim of a crime and you are reporting it, I count that as ‘you have to’.) Here are a few reasons why, but, in a nutshell:
If the police don’t suspect you of anything: talking to them might be pointless, or it might cause them to suspect you of something. If the police do suspect you of something, talking to them probably will give them material they can use against you later, and, really, I promise, you cannot convince them they’re wrong and that you’re innocent. It never works.
Allow me to elaborate.
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SCENARIO 1: A crime has occurred involving people that you know. The police ask you for an interview to investigate. They emphasize that it’s low-pressure, just trying to figure out what happened, could you come into the station to talk.
Don’t do it.
Why? Because the police are almost certainly not trying to find out what happened. In the vast majority of the crimes they investigate, they already know what happened -- or they think they already know what happened. (Is this justified? Maybe; most crimes are pretty obvious. But in my experience, police are likely to overestimate their own ability to just ~know~.)
In their minds, their job is to first get enough evidence, then make an arrest. That closes the case. Job done. If they have the evidence, then they have their person, period.
Let me tell you about police interrogation. The current “fad” interrogation method is called the Reid Technique (link to Wikipedia). This technique instructs the officer to be the one talking -- to interrupt the suspect when they say they’re innocent -- to convince the suspect that the officer already knows they’re guilty and the only way to save themselves is to confess. The Reid technique produces so many false confessions that it’s an entire section on that Wikipedia article. And if you ask the police, they say they know it produces false confessions... but that they’ve never induced any false confessions. Because they only use it on the right suspects.
How can you protect yourself from the police in this scenario?
1) If the officer starts accusing you, or making excuses for the criminal, or talking over you, ask if you’re free to leave. And then try to leave. Remember cops are allowed to lie to you.
2) Ask for a lawyer.
3) Tell them you’re invoking your right to remain silent.
4) FOR GOD’S SAKE, IF THEY START READING YOU MIRANDA RIGHTS (right to remain silent, have an attorney, etc.) DO NOT WAIVE THOSE RIGHTS. If they’re reading you those rights, it means they want to cover their asses so they can use your words later in court. This is a huge danger sign!
Repeat those four steps until the interrogation stops. And go.
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SCENARIO 2: You are worried about a friend. You think they may be hurt/sick/overdosed on drugs/a suicide risk. You want to call the police and ask them to do a welfare check on that person.
I’m not gonna tell you not to do this one, period, end of discussion, because in America there are really limited options for checking on the welfare of distant friends.
Ask yourself: Would your friend be better off in jail? Because that’s where they might end up. And if the answer to that question is ‘yes’, which it very well might be!, then go ahead.
(This entire section is a symptom of a larger problem, which is that we force police officers to take on too many different roles in society, without adequate training. Our empowered-to-use-force law-enforcement-professionals should not necessarily be the ones trying to help people in crisis, but that’s the reality of our world.)
Allow me to provide some examples.
1: The simplest scenario. Police get a call for welfare check on someone that might be on drugs. They go to that location, find that person, and find illegal drugs. That person is arrested for possession of narcotics, which is a felony in most places. If convicted, they are now a felon. Their life has become much harder in every possible way.
2: Police respond to a call for a welfare check and find someone threatening suicide. That person has a knife, or a gun, or that person freaks out when the police come in, shoving the police officer or struggling when they are taken into custody to be brought to a mental hospital. Lo and behold, when they’re released from the hospital, they have been charged with assault and battery on a police officer. This happens so fucking often, and it’s depressing as hell -- police say they’re just protecting themselves, and in the meantime, someone who was suicidal and scared could end up not only with a felony record but also, in Virginia, six months mandatory minimum jail time. Consider, additionally, where the person the police are supposed to check on is black, or autistic, or otherwise behaves in ways the police don’t expect. Black people have been shot and killed in scenarios like this.
3: Police respond to a call for domestic violence. Be aware that in a lot of departments around the country, the decision of what to do is not even in the hands of the police that respond -- department guidelines might mandate that they arrest someone. And abusers are fast-talkers, quick to paint themselves as the victim, while people who are being abused are often upset, incoherent, or actually convinced that they are the ones who are in the wrong. Police arrest the wrong person all the time.
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So what are some good rules to live by?
1) Think twice before calling the police. Once they’re called, the situation is out of your hands.
Police solve problems in particular ways. You might be lucky enough to get one who’ll really help. You might get one who got the shit scared out of them last week who’s way too quick on the draw with their gun. But, in the end, their power rests on their ability to make arrests and write charges. If they’re pushed, that’s what they’ll do: without your permission, potentially against you, even if the situation wasn’t your fault.
2) Stay polite but don’t agree to anything.
Don’t piss them off if you can help it. There’s a reason “obstruction of justice” is sometimes known as “contempt of cop.” If the officer is mad at you, they can find something to charge you with.
On the other hand, don’t let them isolate you. Don’t tell them they’re allowed to search your car or your office or your home, because if you consent to a search, they no longer need probable cause.
3) Try to find solutions outside the legal system, if you can find something safe, effective, and feasible.
The legal system is a beast, and once it’s rolling, it’s almost impossible to stop. You will have more flexibility if you don’t start it going in the first place.
Which isn’t to say that the legal system doesn’t have its place. If you are the victim of a crime, you should call the police. Just be aware what it is you’re setting in motion.
4) Know your rights, and know the magic words to say to invoke them.
This is a more complicated issue, and might be the topic of another post. But the above steps -- silence, lawyer, getting the heck outta there -- are your best options.
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Disclaimers: I am one criminal defense lawyer in one particular state in the United States. Other states are weird. Other countries are weird. I’m friendly with many cops and there are some I really admire. Being a cop is a tough job. Most cops are not power-hungry assholes, but they fall into the myths and the culture of law enforcement and they end up more narrow-minded than they think. Remember that when you go to court, the judge will probably believe the cop, not you. Be careful. Stay safe.
