Never talk to Cops

[afton]

Saw these on youtube and thought they were pretty interesting and made some pretty good points, just curious what some officers think about these. They are kind of long, but a good watch.

edit: first one is a lawyer, second is an officer.

[Piggy]

I think any attorney who makes a public statement like that should be disbarred. At no time did he ever talk that suspects shouldn't speak, he just said anyone should not speak to the police.

I would like to see his ideas on how society would react if that were the case. No crimes would ever be solved and the criminals would rule. First class moron if you ask me.

[txinvestigator1]

I think any attorney who makes a public statement like that should be disbarred. At no time did he ever talk that suspects shouldn't speak, he just said anyone should not speak to the police.

I would like to see his ideas on how society would react if that were the case. No crimes would ever be solved and the criminals would rule. First class moron if you ask me.

On what grounds would he be disbarred?

What about the police detective who agreed with him? If YOU were an attorney and a client called YOU and asked you if he should speak to the police about a crime, what would you advise YOUR client?

[InTheEnd]

For the general public for the greater good talk to the cops. A person subject to a ticket or arrest doesn't have to say a word.

[Citicop]

On what grounds would he be disbarred?

What about the police detective who agreed with him? If YOU were an attorney and a client called YOU and asked you if he should speak to the police about a crime, what would you advise YOUR client?

Haven't watched the videos, as it seems to be something that will only put me in a bad mood.

Could someone who has watched them answer a question for me?

Are the point of the videos that you should never talk to the cops as a suspect, or you should never talk to the cops, period?

It seems to me that there is a big difference to those two points of view. I can at least understand the point of view with the first one, but if the second ever became prevalent, the whole system WOULD grind to a halt. If there is no cooperation at all from the public (reporting crimes, giving witness statements, etc.), Law Enforcement simply can not do it's job.

Citicop.

[txinvestigator1]

Haven't watched the videos, as it seems to be something that will only put me in a bad mood.

Could someone who has watched them answer a question for me?

Are the point of the videos that you should never talk to the cops as a suspect, or you should never talk to the cops, period?

It seems to me that there is a big difference to those two points of view. I can at least understand the point of view with the first one, but if the second ever became prevalent, the whole system WOULD grind to a halt. If there is no cooperation at all from the public (reporting crimes, giving witness statements, etc.), Law Enforcement simply can not do it's job.

Citicop.

He is addressing LAW STUDENTS, who will become lawyers and advise clients. A person may not know he is a suspect when voluntarily being interviewed. He may not BE a suspect until he is interviewed.

Watch the video.

[Johninaustin]

Don't really care to watch the videos, it's a moot point anyway. When was the last time you had a suspect, victim, complainant or witness who was CAPABLE of shutting up? ;)

[sbrad]

Saw these on youtube and thought they were pretty interesting and made some pretty good points, just curious what some officers think about these. They are kind of long, but a good watch.

edit: first one is a lawyer, second is an officer.

Interesting first post. Can't wait to see where this one goes.

[Legoate]

Typical ghetto mentality:

Have a woman screaming at me because someone shot her "nephew". When I became aware that she knew who it was and asked her, she told me I'd have to figure it out myself because she's not a snitch. Of course, she was pissed because we couldn't immediately... or ever... solve the crime due to a complete lack of cooperation from all witnesses involved in the case, including the "victim". Kind of one of those "why did you bother calling us again?" calls.

[Wolfman]

Typical ghetto mentality:

Have a woman screaming at me because someone shot her "nephew". When I became aware that she knew who it was and asked her, she told me I'd have to figure it out myself because she's not a snitch. Of course, she was pissed because we couldn't immediately... or ever... solve the crime due to a complete lack of cooperation from all witnesses involved in the case, including the "victim". Kind of one of those "why did you bother calling us again?" calls.

Yup. Forty people standing outside watching it yet "nobody saw nuttin'"

[Piggy]

On what grounds would he be disbarred?

Lawyers are Officers of the courts. As few ethics as most of them show, for him to make a blanket statement not to talk to a Police Officer without distinguishing his statement only applies to suspects and not victims is unethical. How is a Sheriffs Deputy for example, able to do everyday jobs such as serve court orders when this guy is telling everyone not to talk to a Police Officer? This could go on and on.

He is also giving the impression this is perfectly okay, when in some instances it is not and a person is required to speak with a Police Officer even if it is just to give basic information such as your identification. Giving bad advice, knowing it is bad advice is also against the bar association ethics.

Sadly, lawyers only have about five rules to go by.

[Legoate]

He is also giving the impression this is perfectly okay, when in some instances it is not and a person is required to speak with a Police Officer even if it is just to give basic information such as your identification. Giving bad advice, knowing it is bad advice is also against the bar association ethics.

Just recently had the "I know my rights, I'm not talking to you, not giving you my identification, and not getting out of the car". All this on a traffic stop for a stop sign.

Lady ended up having a really bad night after she, and her car, went to jail.

[DeltaV]

I think both of the videos are a bit misleading. I've had many cases where I'm in the initial fact finding stage of the investigation and a statement from the suspect clears them of wrongdoing or sheds new light on the investigation that is helpful to their cause. EVERYONE will lie out here, including victims. If the suspect doesn't talk then we only get one side of the story. A sworn statement and identification from a victim is enough to constitute PC for any felony arrest in the absence of evidence to the contrary, so it's in someone's best interest to cooperate if they're innocent. We must pursue any leads that establish someone's innocence just like we pursue leads that establish their guilt, however it's hard to pursue leads that we don't get.

On a related note, it's not surprising that an attorney would want their client never to talk to the police. Getting arrested means that they will run up legal bills so the attorney will get paid. The attorney isn't going to make any money if their client isn't charged with a crime.

I also can't believe that the officer (who is also an attorney, BTW) would suggest not talking to the police during a traffic stop. The ONLY way you're going to get a break with me is if you admit to the violation I stopped you for. You may still not get a break, but if you don't want to make any statements when I stop you or deny doing anything wrong, I'm going to issue you a citation every time.

[afton]

Interesting first post. Can't wait to see where this one goes.

hehe, just curious what the point of view on the other side was, I'll admit I don't have any love lost for the police, however when you are on youtube you don't exactly get a broad range of opinions on something. I was just curious what the opinions of active police officers were on these.

I talked to my cousin who was an officer down in arizona for awhile and what he said was it's really just a balance of pissing off the officer and them finding something to arrest you for and protecting yourself from being wrongly prosecuted. The former seems to be more likely to me.

[txinvestigator1]

Lawyers are Officers of the courts. As few ethics as most of them show, for him to make a blanket statement not to talk to a Police Officer without distinguishing his statement only applies to suspects and not victims is unethical. How is a Sheriffs Deputy for example, able to do everyday jobs such as serve court orders when this guy is telling everyone not to talk to a Police Officer? This could go on and on.

He is also giving the impression this is perfectly okay, when in some instances it is not and a person is required to speak with a Police Officer even if it is just to give basic information such as your identification. Giving bad advice, knowing it is bad advice is also against the bar association ethics.

Sadly, lawyers only have about five rules to go by.

Did you watch the video? What he did is not unethical. You don't like it because it makes your job harder. I don't blame you for that.

A person may be legally required to identlfy to a LEO in certain situations, but he NEVER has to speak to one. Not in my state.