jakoz
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2001
- Messages
- 3,140
Well, as some of you know, a *very good friend of mine* was raided recently, along with other friends, and here are some observations of the workings of a police raid, from someone who has been on the recieving end. I will try not to make any legal observations - this is purely from whose who have copped the wrong end of the law.
I choose to start this post..... now.
---------------------------------
You hear a knock. Not knowing that 4 or 6 cops are standing on the other side, you open it, to be met with a warrant. What's going to happen to you? What are they going to do, and how thorough are they?
1. The Entry
Expect 4-6 cops to be there. One will be in front, and will confirm your identity. He/She will then present a warrant. You say okay, and they come inside. Once in, they'll set up a video camera, and record you and the officer in charge as he tells you what's going on. The camera does not record the whole search, and will not come out again until the end of the search.
The cop will ask whether you have anything illegal in the house. Here you have two choices if you actually DO have anything in the house: you can either tell the truth, or lie your ass off. If there ARE any drugs in the house, I would recommend telling them unless they're damn well hidden... they probably *will* find them.
2. The Search
In general, theyre pretty damn thorough, seeming to average about 12 man hours for a search, whether that be 3 hours with 4 cops, 2 hours with 6 cops, etc. That gives them *a lot* of time to go through your house and admire your porn collection
Probably the key thing you can do is not to obviously fuck them around and be a smartass. The 12 hours average is for people that are courteous and try to at least *look* honest. If you fuck them around, they could tear the place apart.
THE HOUSE
In short, you are an *idiot* if you keep anything in the house - this is exactly where they expect it to be. They'll go through pretty much everything, even flipping through all your books, moving furniture, etc. This is where they epsnd the majority of their time. If you DO need to keep a drugs store, DO NOT keep it in your house. By the way, they'll also look in the roof.
THE COMPUTER
They WILL sit on your computer, go through logs (IE, ICQ, IRC, etc). That said, the majority of people on here are far better with computers than they are, so information hiding should not be much of an issue. Keep your histories short, dont use ICQ for ANY seedy purposes, dont keep any dodgy friends on your ICQ list (for their protection), NEVER log anything on IRC, and make sure you use a prograjm like 'Eraser' (free from www.dowload.com) to properly erase your deleted files - when you delete them normally they are not deleted, just hidden from your view. Also check out www.download.com for encryption programs, and a neat lil program called 'Camouflage', which encrypts and hides files into other files, leaving the changed file still working.
THE MOBILE PHONE
DO NOT have dodgy numbers on your phone - they will go through it, write down all the numbers on your SIM card, and investigate those people.
If you simply must have them, one thought is to leave them on the 'phone' phone book, but only have the main phonebook use the 'SIM' phonebook, thereby at least giving minimal protection to your seedy buddies.
THE BACK YARD
They'll check the back yard you holes recently dug, stones to turn over, etc. Theyll go through your garden shed. You get the idea. I would not recommend using either of these places.
AFTER THEY'RE DONE
They'll pull that camera out again, and film the officer in charge of the search concluding the search, and asking you on film if youre happy with their conduct.
3. Tips for avoiding prosecution and for coming out with your ass as intact as possible[*]DONT KEEP ANYTHING ON YOUR PROPERTY! This is the golden rule![*]Dont lose your head and start babbling crap. Don't panic. They *will* corner you with anything they find in an attempt to make you give them names. If you fold and give your friends up you're a weasel and deserved to get raided anyway - this is how they probably got your name from someone else.[*]If you feel scared then always remember - cops are just like us, only less intelligent. [*]Never give your friends up.[*]Keep your story simple, and stick to it. If you keep adding to it, they'll know.[*]Keep an eye on them during the raid. They will be more than happy to plant something, and might move any dodgy things found into areas where they become more dodgy, eg. (for arguments sake) an old bag of pot into a recently used jacket.
If you keep your head, you'll be fine. If they manage to nail you, get legal advice. From the raids of friends, you *will not* come out any better if you just spill the beans and tell them the whole story.
----------------------
Another community service announcement by Jakoz
By the way... to the person who told them that my close friend was raiding material, you will probably read this, so a message for you:
You will be found.
[ 28 March 2002: Message edited by: Jakoz ]
I choose to start this post..... now.
---------------------------------
You hear a knock. Not knowing that 4 or 6 cops are standing on the other side, you open it, to be met with a warrant. What's going to happen to you? What are they going to do, and how thorough are they?
1. The Entry
Expect 4-6 cops to be there. One will be in front, and will confirm your identity. He/She will then present a warrant. You say okay, and they come inside. Once in, they'll set up a video camera, and record you and the officer in charge as he tells you what's going on. The camera does not record the whole search, and will not come out again until the end of the search.
The cop will ask whether you have anything illegal in the house. Here you have two choices if you actually DO have anything in the house: you can either tell the truth, or lie your ass off. If there ARE any drugs in the house, I would recommend telling them unless they're damn well hidden... they probably *will* find them.
2. The Search
In general, theyre pretty damn thorough, seeming to average about 12 man hours for a search, whether that be 3 hours with 4 cops, 2 hours with 6 cops, etc. That gives them *a lot* of time to go through your house and admire your porn collection
Probably the key thing you can do is not to obviously fuck them around and be a smartass. The 12 hours average is for people that are courteous and try to at least *look* honest. If you fuck them around, they could tear the place apart.
THE HOUSE
In short, you are an *idiot* if you keep anything in the house - this is exactly where they expect it to be. They'll go through pretty much everything, even flipping through all your books, moving furniture, etc. This is where they epsnd the majority of their time. If you DO need to keep a drugs store, DO NOT keep it in your house. By the way, they'll also look in the roof.
THE COMPUTER
They WILL sit on your computer, go through logs (IE, ICQ, IRC, etc). That said, the majority of people on here are far better with computers than they are, so information hiding should not be much of an issue. Keep your histories short, dont use ICQ for ANY seedy purposes, dont keep any dodgy friends on your ICQ list (for their protection), NEVER log anything on IRC, and make sure you use a prograjm like 'Eraser' (free from www.dowload.com) to properly erase your deleted files - when you delete them normally they are not deleted, just hidden from your view. Also check out www.download.com for encryption programs, and a neat lil program called 'Camouflage', which encrypts and hides files into other files, leaving the changed file still working.
THE MOBILE PHONE
DO NOT have dodgy numbers on your phone - they will go through it, write down all the numbers on your SIM card, and investigate those people.
If you simply must have them, one thought is to leave them on the 'phone' phone book, but only have the main phonebook use the 'SIM' phonebook, thereby at least giving minimal protection to your seedy buddies.
THE BACK YARD
They'll check the back yard you holes recently dug, stones to turn over, etc. Theyll go through your garden shed. You get the idea. I would not recommend using either of these places.
AFTER THEY'RE DONE
They'll pull that camera out again, and film the officer in charge of the search concluding the search, and asking you on film if youre happy with their conduct.
3. Tips for avoiding prosecution and for coming out with your ass as intact as possible[*]DONT KEEP ANYTHING ON YOUR PROPERTY! This is the golden rule![*]Dont lose your head and start babbling crap. Don't panic. They *will* corner you with anything they find in an attempt to make you give them names. If you fold and give your friends up you're a weasel and deserved to get raided anyway - this is how they probably got your name from someone else.[*]If you feel scared then always remember - cops are just like us, only less intelligent. [*]Never give your friends up.[*]Keep your story simple, and stick to it. If you keep adding to it, they'll know.[*]Keep an eye on them during the raid. They will be more than happy to plant something, and might move any dodgy things found into areas where they become more dodgy, eg. (for arguments sake) an old bag of pot into a recently used jacket.
If you keep your head, you'll be fine. If they manage to nail you, get legal advice. From the raids of friends, you *will not* come out any better if you just spill the beans and tell them the whole story.
----------------------
Another community service announcement by Jakoz
By the way... to the person who told them that my close friend was raiding material, you will probably read this, so a message for you:
You will be found.
[ 28 March 2002: Message edited by: Jakoz ]