Being polite to the cops?

Syd_Barret

Syd_Barret

Bluelighter
Joined
Sep 13, 2001
Messages
794
Ok, let's say I get busted for possession of some drug. When the cop proceeds to ask you if you have any drugs and where is it and all that hoopla. If I just sit there and don't talk can anything bad come of that? I mean I do have the right to remain silent correct? Or would spitting out the facts right there and then put me in a better situation?
Are you rewarded for making the cops job easier?
I didn't get busted or anything, nor am I going to be in a situation where it is possible. Just curiousity.
 
Originally posted by Syd_Barret:
Ok, let's say I get busted for possession of some drug. When the cop proceeds to ask you if you have any drugs and where is it and all that hoopla. If I just sit there and don't talk can anything bad come of that? I mean I do have the right to remain silent correct? Or would spitting out the facts right there and then put me in a better situation?
Are you rewarded for making the cops job easier?
I didn't get busted or anything, nor am I going to be in a situation where it is possible. Just curiousity.
That's kind of a tough thing to answer.. It is really up to the cop. Most of the time, if you "cooperate" with the police, they will be more lenient on you. However, by telling the police everything, you are basically admitting guilt, which is fine if thats the way you want to go.
I will say that most drug lawyers would just instruct you to say I want my lawyer and that is it. It seems that possession charges on average are usually easy to beat. There are so many loopholes in the law that allow for this.I you are ever caught, pay attention as much as you can to what is going on, and if you get a good drug lawyer, they will follow how the police conducted their investigation and look for proper procedure, and proper handling of evidence.
I really can't tell you which way to go -- me personally, i'm accustomed to dealing with lawyers and the police and I wouldn't talk. That way isn't nessessarily the best if you don't have a decent drug lawyer backing you. It's all about money.
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Originally posted by Conspiracy Kid:

That way isn't nessessarily the best if you don't have a decent drug lawyer backing you. It's all about money.
This is the reason drug possession should be decriminalized at the very least.
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The right to remain silent stops you from self incrimination. Often when people are questioned by police they don't realise that a simple yes or no answer may be all the police need to seal a case against you. By being silent, you are doing yourself a favour.
If ever approached by the police you should seek legal advice straight away, often lawyers/soliciters can negotiate a caution or warning instead of an arrest.
 
"Are you rewarded for making the cops job easier?"
When i was under the Influ' of LSD and coming down after doing some stupid sh-t, i was extremely polite, helpful, and cooperative. That was the biggest mistake of my life. Even when i answered their questiosn, if they thought i was leaving something out i got harassed and such...
"Look, We're trying to Help you out here! If you don't Want to Work with us We can do this the Hard Way!!!" - Cops to me after being a nice little boy.
My animosity of cops now excedes that of Christians 10 fold.
 
The best policy is always to keep your mouth shut. Be polite when you say "I'd like to speak to a lawyer before I answer any questions"
Cops are NEVER looking to help you out, they will pretend that if you can be their buddy and be polite to them it will somehow help you out, but it's not true. They are simply gathering evidence, the more you talk the more they have to hang you with later. I've had a dumbass client who didn't think the police would hold his statements against him because they were laughing and high fiving him while letting him brag and shoot his mouth off. The whole time they were just writing down what he said.
Don't make cops jobs easier by talking.
 
depends on the specifics. never be an ass to anyone unless there is a purpose. never cooperate with anyone unless there is a purpose. social engineering is what its all about. engineer the social situation to your benefit. some cops are jackasses and want to be the big man. some will be nice and joke and let you go. some are federally trained and will play with you. but in the end, how you engineer the situation is the main thing. they play good cop bad cop. you can too.
 
I don't think it will ever hurt you to be "nice" or "kind" to a cop. Of course, you should never admit guily. On the other hand, if you piss that cop off; there goes your lawyers shot at plea bargaining your case.
 
Originally posted by PottedMeat:
I don't think it will ever hurt you to be "nice" or "kind" to a cop. Of course, you should never admit guily. On the other hand, if you piss that cop off; there goes your lawyers shot at plea bargaining your case.
A plea bargin is set up with the prosecution, yes they will hear what the cop has to say, but the decision to offer the plea is the prosecutions.
Weather the Plea is accepted is up to you and then the judge.
The deal they cut you depends on a) how much info you can give them b)how strong there case is on you c)how hurting they are to get a conviction. It is very common to see the courts overworked and want to cut a plea just to skip all the trial non-sense.
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Cops are trained to think in certain ways. Any veteran cop will have a "heightened sense of awareness" (sorta like paranoia). This can be good and bad, for instance they are potentially suspicious of everyone. Maybe a cop will notice how dilated your eyes are or maybe a cop will notice the C4 explosives in the back of Muhammad Abdul Jareem's rental car. Next time you're totally straight and you bump into a cop just try to start a conversation. You'll see how observant they are.
BAM!
 
cops are fucked
period.
they use morally repugnant scare tactics and lie, lie, lie so that you will incriminate yourself
cops are the embodiment of "blindly following the status quo" - they accept all anti-drug propaganda and ethnocentric rhetoric as gospel - and I'm willing to wager dollars to donuts that they don't cross reference any of this mentally mediocre garbage they are fed to see if it is really truth - cops are mindless machines hiding behind badges - they perpetuate fear and solve the insecurities they have about their small dicks with the guns on their belts
god, where is my "millions of dead cops" t-shirt when i need it??
- i feel a bit better now
 
sometimes they may dump out your dime bag or something if you give it up. i don't want to give them the satisfaction, fight them to the end.
 
talking to a cop is a lot like talking to your drunken abusing dad when U were 4. Shut the fuk up and do what he says or he might send U to your room and beat your ass with a belt for no reason.
do what they ask, and dont give them any lip. if U belive they are doing an illigal seach say so. dont resist. any complaint can come afterwerds. U may even get some money out of it.
whatever u do, do everything they ask.. with a hustle .. not a pimp hustle, the kind of hustle your gym teacher likes
 
Doing what a cop has asked me to do has helped me a lot in the past.
When i was coming home at 150am saturday morning, i was crusing pretty fast coming home from a party down the freeway. I was doing 72 in a 55, not being smart, especially after just smoking some pot in the car while it was parked in the parking lot with a friend before leaving. He smelled the pot, told me he was going to make my life easy and that if i give it to him he wont do anything to do. I hand him the leftover pot, he throws it on the freeway, hands me a speeding ticket and walks off. I knew i was fucked to begin with after he smelled, so it was in the best of my opionion to do what he asked without question. I got off with a 150 doller speeding ticket and no pot. Better than what it couldve been.
 
Cops are human beings - some of them are nice guys and a lot of them are assholes. When the assholes want something bad enough, they will do pretty much anything to get it. They'll tell you they're going to prosecute you for things they can't, they'll intimidate you in whatever way possible. As long as you know your rights you're straight. If they ask to perform a search tell them to get a warrant. If you're arrested, don't say anything except "I am exercising my right to remain silent, and I will continue to do so until an attorney is provided to me."
I strongly reccomend that everyone read the book "Marijuana Law" by Richard Boire. And keep in mind that cops aren't the people who made all of these shitty drug laws, it's just their job.
 
Seems like there are some confusing arguments here. Of all I have READ (since fortunately I've never had more than a traffic ticket, nor should I) there are some distinctions that need to be made.
1) Polite/nice and cooperative are two different things. A policeman might not write you a ticket if you are cooperative when asked about speeding or some minor misdemeanor, but politely letting a cop search your car is not going to get you any breaks. Don't be an asshole because pissing a cop off certainly can't help and can hurt. It could be the difference between "have a nice day" and "I think I smell pot"
2) nice and good are two different things. We can all ACT and so can the police.
3) Cooperation helps once you are CHARGED in your SENTENCING when your lawyer is there as an adviser.
Watch a few episodes of cops to see how easy it is for police to get people to tell them everything when they are doing illegal shit. It's almost like they hypnotize the crooks. Keeping your mouth shut and giving only necessary information seems like the best plan.
 
Please keep in mind that not all of us cops are "out to get you".
Most of the officers that I work with would much rather be making arrests for persons crimes then drug posession. But it is something we have to deal with because current drug laws promote organized crime which is tied into so many persons crimes. Remember what someone said earlier in this thread... we don't make the laws... just inforce them.
I genuinely enjoy helping people and making them happy. I'm lucky enough to be in a position where I get to do substance abuse education amoung other things. People who attend my classes are are usually surprised when I give them information about alcohol and other drugs without the usual "don't do this, it's wrong" rhetoric.
As far as officers not cross referencing any of the mentally mediocre garbage they are fed to see if it is really truth... I regulary visit this web-site as well as "dancesafe" to find current information and attitudes. I also consult other profesionals like pharmacists when I receive new information from the government.
To those of you who do not like the police, I hope that someday myself or another officer has the oportunity to do something to help you or one of your friends.
Please party safe and look out for each other.
 
thiscop4plur: yes, i see your point. there are exceptions to every rule. i can't logically assume that all law enforcement officers are "bad". however - the majority that I have had contact with; be it a situation where i was being "investigated" or one where I was simply having a conversation with a cop about their jobs and their opinions on drugs and drug laws - they have been the "bad" cops.
it's interesting that you said "...drug laws promote organized crime" - how true! how much less crime syndicates we would have if drugs were legalized - or- at the very least - decriminalized. the current 'war on drugs' is a repeat of 1920's/1930's prohibition - history is repeating itself and those who fight to keep drugs illegal have failed to learn the lessons our society experienced the first time around.
in the meantime, I ave to suffer the 'bad' cops (keep in mind, i have acknowledged the existance, tho they are few and far between, of the 'good' ones)who tell me the horrific details of my grandmothers murder, which they were on the scene of - causing me to weep - then saying they need to search me for drugs, because my eyes are red and puffy (from my crying at the details of this traumatic experience relived)- yet they think it's because I'm high - so they use that as an excuse to search me for drugs.
there is one more comment you made that i would like to respond to : "remember what was said earlier in this thread: we don't make the laws - we simply enforce them".
well - tradition is not a valid reason for perpetuating something that's wrong -.
 
liquid... when i said "we don't make the laws, only inforce them", by no means was that a statement to hide behind. the laws that we enforce we do so because it's legal to do so and it's expected by the general public that we do so. i have already agreed with you in that i'm not crazy about the current system but until we come up with something better it's what we're stuck with.
officers like myself work behind the scenes to get other officers to remember they always have the option of "discretion". that's another one of the things i do to try to change things but you have to do your part also in pressuring your local rep. in washington to change things.
my apologies as to how you were treated when being told of your grandmother's murder. i don't normally encourage complaints on police officers but i hope that you made one. that's the kind of behavior that gives all police officers a bad name. as a supervisor, part of my job is handling complaints made against officers and that is unacceptable behavior.
you were negative towards the police in your first posting so i would like to say thank you for the moderation in your second response.
take care all.
 
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