Anarax
Master Black Belt
CAVEAT: I am not speaking officially, nor am I giving legal guidance. I'm offering my personal insights and opinions as a law enforcement officer in the United States.
As tempted as I am, I'm not going to start with Chris Rock's video -- even though it's actually got some good advice, cached as comedy. Towards the end, I'm going to pull up some links to the advice given by several police departments.
There are lots of reasons for the police to make contact with you. To begin with, a police officer can walk up and talk to anyone who's willing to talk to them; this is a consensual encounter. It's easy to stop, too... Just say "I don't want to talk to you right now." That's it. Don't go into a harangue about how the cops are always picking on you or whatever... The cop is just doing his job. He may even just be bored!
There are times that the police will stop you, and be a bit more insistent. They need reasonable articulable suspicion to detain you briefly for investigation; that suspicion can come from facts and circumstances relayed to them (like a lookout for a suspect), a complaint or tip called into the PD, or simply a combination of things that they can point to, which based on their training and experience suggest that "criminal activity may be afoot." Answer the officer's questions. Be polite. If they ask for ID, give it to them. You CAN inquire politely about why they're detaining you -- but understand they may not give full details. The officer may pat you down briefly for weapons, if they have reason to suspect weapons. (I routinely pat down gang members, for example, because I know, based on my training and experience, that gang members carry concealed weapons.) They may also handcuff you, depending on exactly what they know. For example, if you match the physical description of a wanted suspect... you're probably getting cuffed till they figure out what's up. If you're not doing anything wrong, the officer will probably get enough information to dispel their suspicions and send you on the way.
Finally, you might be stopped because you did indeed do something wrong. This may be traffic related (speeding, rolling a stop sign, missing tags, etc.) or because you're trespassing in a closed park, or some other violation of the law that you may not even be aware of. You won't be given a chance to leave here... You're in the wrong -- even if you didn't know it. (I'm assuming that nobody here will deliberately commit a serious violation of the law!) The officer will conduct an investigation; for a traffic stop, that means collecting your license, registration, and any other paperwork, probably checking the license status, and deciding whether or not to issue a ticket. The details will vary depending on exactly what they're dealing with.
My advice is going to boil down to go with the program. There's a time and place to argue and to complain. It's not in the field. But:
- Be polite. Answer the officer's questions -- or if you choose not to, say nothing.
- Common law does permit you to resist a wrongful arrest (state laws may vary!). However, unless you are beyond certain that it's wrongful... I'd strongly urge you to simply cooperate. Complain later, and defend yourself at court. It's a really good bet that you'll still go to jail -- and the resisting arrest charge or assault on an officer charge may stick even if the original charge didn't.
- Listen carefully to the officer; more than one person has argued themselves into a ticket or arrest because they got indignant as an officer tried to offer them a break.
- On a traffic stop:
- Remain in your car until/unless asked to exit.
- Turn off your radio and hang up your cell phone. I assure you -- the cop is the most important person to listen to during the stop! He's the one who will be deciding about giving you a ticket, or even whether you go to jail.
- At night -- turn on the dome light so that the officer can see inside your car.
- Be polite; treat the cop the same way you want him to treat you.
- Don't move around a lot, and keep your hands in plain view. YOU know you don't have a gun in your glove box and that you just dropped your wallet under your seat. The cop doesn't.
- If you get a ticket -- don't argue it on the side of the road. The cop's probably literally got his butt in traffic, and he's not going to want to listen. Take your ticket, sign if necessary, and come to court. Let the judge decide who was right.
- In a field encounter/subject stop:
- Stand still, and don't put your hands in your pockets. You know you don't have a gun or hand grenade in your pocket; the cop doesn't!
- Be polite; treat the cop the same way you want to be treated.
- HANG UP YOUR CELL PHONE. Don't talk on the Bluetooth headset, either.
- Listen to the officer's questions; answer them or don't -- but don't argue or complain.
- If you are arrested -- don't resist. Yes, you may be justified in resisting an unlawful arrest. You almost certainly won't succeed. You stand a good chance of getting hurt. You may not be able to get a bond. And you aren't guaranteed to win at trial, either.
- Search and seizure, and Miranda rights are both too big a topic for me to address here.
- Handcuffs:
- Yes, they're uncomfortable. We know; who do you think we practice putting them on?
- Generally, the "hole" is oval. Your wrist is oval, too. If you twist and turn... you'll end up with the long axis of your wrist running across the short axis of the cuff. The cuff is steel; it's not going to give very much.
- Yes, you will almost certainly be cuffed with your hands behind your back. Most agency general orders require this. Officer safety strongly encourages it. If you have shoulder injuries or other problems -- politely tell the officer. He is responsible for your safety -- and will do what he REASONABLY can to work around your injury.
- You can be cuffed without being arrested. A common phrase at that point is "You're not under arrest; I'm just putting these on for your safety and mine."
What if you think the cop was wrong, rude, unjustified? First, don't argue in the field. It's not the time or place. Argue your case in front of a judge. If you think the officer did something wrong, file a complaint. Speak to his supervisor. If you aren't satisfied, go up the chain. Just like yelling at the cash register clerk isn't likely to solve a consumer problem, yelling at the cop in the street isn't going to improve your situation. And can make it much worse. If the agency isn't responding, go to the state attorney general or state police (or both). If they don't respond -- got to the FBI.
OK... I said I wouldn't start with it -- but here it is:
Links: I scanned these quickly; they seem decent, and actually represent a few takes. My agency is deliberately not included, as I am not speaking officially.
What Are Your Rights If You Are Stopped By The Police | ExpertLaw
Police Traffic Stops and Vehicle Searches: FAQs - FindLaw
What to Do When Stopped by a Police Officer
What to Do If the Police Stop You
http://www.ric.edu/campuspd/documents/whattodo.pdf
http://bloomington.in.gov/documents/viewDocument.php?document_id=912
I usually do the following.
1. Be as uncooperative and condescending as possible for no reason.
2. Repeatedly yell I'M A SOVEREIGN CITIZEN, I'M A SOVERIGN CITIZEN
3. Call them Nazis and claim police brutality
Just kidding. I've been pulled over numerous times(traffic violations) and I always treat them with respect and they do the same. More then half the time they don't even give me a ticket
