51–60 of 246 posts
Note cops are trained to assume that cagey people could be guilty. (1) I wonder if this guy wants to make more work for himself and people in his profession, and (2) Black and White people might get very different results from this and other advice.
No matter who you are, talking to the police is a bad idea. This is a constant piece of advice from every lawyer AND POLICE OFFICER I’ve ever known. I have several cops in my family, and they all advise to never talk to the cops.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
While you have the right to remain silent, I remember reading somewhere that you have to actively invoke that right (by stating something like "I invoke my 5th amendment right to remain silent") for your silence to be considered an invocation of that right, and not merely suspicious behavior, an implicit admission of guilt, or obstruction of justice. This is actually reprehensible, since invoking a right should mean…
> Another topic that everybody should know about is juror nullification. Jurors who are aware of jury nullification are routinely dismissed.
Anecdata: I can see how it might be possible, based on my own jury duty callup last month. Hundreds in the waiting room, when individual trials did "go to jury", a secondary lottery chose from the hundreds a batch of more than 60 to go for interview. So, the lawyers would be further weeding out some 80%.
Note cops are trained to assume that cagey people could be guilty. (1) I wonder if this guy wants to make more work for himself and people in his profession, and (2) Black and White people might get very different results from this and other advice.
While you have the right to remain silent, I remember reading somewhere that you have to actively invoke that right (by stating something like "I invoke my 5th amendment right to remain silent") for your silence to be considered an invocation of that right, and not merely suspicious behavior, an implicit admission of guilt, or obstruction of justice. This is actually reprehensible, since invoking a right should mean…
This is, as I ubderstand it, incorrect on multiple levels. First, all you need to do is shut up to exercise the right. Second, no matter how you frame exercising the right, police can and will treat it as suspicious.
You may be confusing the right to remain silent with the right to have counsel present during questioning, which must be explicilty invoked for questioning without counsel present and its fruits to be excluded. They are separate, but related (as invoking the right to counsel also narrows the ways police can pressure you to waive the rightbto remain silent without legally tainting anything they get out of it.)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
“No one likes a cop until they need one”. Cops are not inherently your foe, but that does not imply that they are in any way inherently your friend, even when you are part of the “in group”. In the US the relatively recent shift to use of the term “law enforcement” both reflects and drives a self-destructive nature in the broad culture. Your insightful point, “The police's sole purpose is to punish crime, not to prev…
> Cops are not inherently your foe From a game theoretical POV this is false; no good can come from speaking to them, and only bad can.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
“No one likes a cop until they need one”. Cops are not inherently your foe, but that does not imply that they are in any way inherently your friend, even when you are part of the “in group”. In the US the relatively recent shift to use of the term “law enforcement” both reflects and drives a self-destructive nature in the broad culture. Your insightful point, “The police's sole purpose is to punish crime, not to prev…
> Cops are not inherently your foe From a game theoretical POV this is false; no good can come from speaking to them, and only bad can.
In the first case at least they are surely going to suspect you, so you should still be careful. But “no good can come of it”?
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Is there any country where it's advantageous to speak more than required to the police? (I'm sure there are some countries where you're required to speak more than in the USA where you're legally allowed not to speak at all without a lawyer)
A friend of mine recently had quite a bad experience asking the police for help with directions as he was traveling through the Netherlands. He was trying to figure out where he was using the map on a bus stop and approached a nearby police car to ask for assistance. They demanded his ID which he was not carrying at the time. He explained that it was in his bag at the place where he was staying and they said he neede…
It's strange, but you must be able to identify yourself if you're over the age of 14 [1] in The Netherlands. Having lived in the US for 20 years now, this also seems a bit draconian to me, but I didn't think much of it while growing up over there. [1]: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/paspoort-en-identit...
remember, the police's sole purpose is to punish crime, not to prevent it. they don't care who they punish as long as they can add your number to their statistics. they are NOT your friends. that's just childhood brainwashing.
The USA police is a bit of an exception here, being overly militarized, not kept in check by judges and politicians, and historically having a side job of fugitive slave catchers. Around the world, the core job of the police is more: Restore the public peace. They can forgive transgressions in public if you demonstrate further disturbance of peace will cease. They have to maintain a reasonable level of fairness, or t…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Cops are not inherently your foe From a game theoretical POV this is false; no good can come from speaking to them, and only bad can.
I won’t categorically say the opposite, but I think your statement is overwrought. If someone murdered your spouse, or tried to run you down with a car, who are you going to call? In the first case at least they are surely going to suspect you, so you should still be careful. But “no good can come of it”?
In the latter case, I would not call them at all.
What good would police contact do in either of those cases? In each instance they cannot help me.
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Is there any country where it's advantageous to speak more than required to the police? (I'm sure there are some countries where you're required to speak more than in the USA where you're legally allowed not to speak at all without a lawyer)