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Why did you use scare quotes around "misremembered"? Are you implying that police officers don't have ordinary human memories, and that if any officer's recollection is different from someone else's, the officer simply has to be lying??! If so, you're the only person (who actually watched the video) saying so. And I cannot believe you even went there, given the lengthy and very persuasive illustration on the video about how human memory works and how easy it is to get it wrong even when we're trying not to.
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Well, as there are several people here who have alleged that its SOP for police to lie, thats what the quotes were for. I'm fully aware that police are human beings, subject to the same limitations as the rest of us. Regardless, whether the cop in question misremembers because he truly is mistaken or is lying, the potential for this exists whether you say something or not.
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At the end of the day, the evidence the cop hands in can and will be used by the prosecutor. It will not be particularly helpful to the defense attorney because the cop's job is NOT to look for evidence of innocence, but to find the perpetrator of a crime.
You can hate that or love it, but there's no sense taking it personally. It's the way the system works ...
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I'm very much aware of how the justice system works having been a part of it. And its from this experience that I can say that 98.6% of cops aren't out there to looking to pin something on someone.
Using a defensive shooting as an example, if someone is dead or shot, its pretty clear that a crime has been committed. There isn't anything the police need to manufacture for this. Their problem is figuring out whether the guy with the gun was the attacker or the guy on the ground. If its a clear cut shooting (my wife was a witness, the knife is still in the guys hand/on the ground, he's got a rap sheet) I can save myself a whole mess of grief by giving a short summary of what happened.
In other words, there are situations in which its probably helpful to talk to police. Saying no in all cases just isn't productive.