The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - A Firearms Owner's Guide to Dealing with the Police

CaptainObvious · February 8, 2012, 09:02 PM

Let me make a clarification as I see my words were not quoted in context. It is not the officer's job to help you with your case or your defense. They may help you in other ways, but they will not help you with your case or defense. The prosecutor or the judge will also not help you either.

Officers will most certainly get fired if they tell a lie. There are rare cases where officers do tell lies, but those who do are soon exposed, charged and fired. So if an officer is approaching you then they did see or hear something or maybe something was reported to them. When they approach you, they will be doing so as an official representative of the people and the state. It will be all business and they will not help you in the defense. They will not tell you what is optional or what is mandatory. For example, they wont tell you that you dont have to answer their questions. They may politely say "Can I do a check of your vehicle?" What they wont say is "Will you waive your rights and let me search your vehicle?"

If the red lights are on behind you or you find yourself in front of an officer with lots of questions, then you will find out sooner or later they might be building probable cause to give you at least a citation or at worse a felony arrest.

So you have to remember when an officer approaches, they mean business and they do so as a representative of the people/state. You have to treat this encounter in a business manner and handle it as professionally as they are handling it. The professional manner of handling such things is to let your attorney do the talking. The trouble with attorneys, however, is that they keep regular hours which means things may have to wait until the morning or the weekday while you sit in a cell. If you have to sit in a cell or if the officer can't finish their report for a few days, then so be it. The person or persons who will make the final determination is the judge or jury. They are the people that really count in these situations. One wrong statement or action can mean the difference between freedom and several years in prison.

February 8, 2012, 09:02 PM	#60
CaptainObvious Junior member Join Date: February 5, 2012 Posts: 73	Let me make a clarification as I see my words were not quoted in context. It is not the officer's job to help you with your case or your defense. They may help you in other ways, but they will not help you with your case or defense. The prosecutor or the judge will also not help you either. Officers will most certainly get fired if they tell a lie. There are rare cases where officers do tell lies, but those who do are soon exposed, charged and fired. So if an officer is approaching you then they did see or hear something or maybe something was reported to them. When they approach you, they will be doing so as an official representative of the people and the state. It will be all business and they will not help you in the defense. They will not tell you what is optional or what is mandatory. For example, they wont tell you that you dont have to answer their questions. They may politely say "Can I do a check of your vehicle?" What they wont say is "Will you waive your rights and let me search your vehicle?" If the red lights are on behind you or you find yourself in front of an officer with lots of questions, then you will find out sooner or later they might be building probable cause to give you at least a citation or at worse a felony arrest. So you have to remember when an officer approaches, they mean business and they do so as a representative of the people/state. You have to treat this encounter in a business manner and handle it as professionally as they are handling it. The professional manner of handling such things is to let your attorney do the talking. The trouble with attorneys, however, is that they keep regular hours which means things may have to wait until the morning or the weekday while you sit in a cell. If you have to sit in a cell or if the officer can't finish their report for a few days, then so be it. The person or persons who will make the final determination is the judge or jury. They are the people that really count in these situations. One wrong statement or action can mean the difference between freedom and several years in prison.