Why You Should NEVER Talk To Police

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If you were raised, like I was, with the idea that the police exist to “serve & protect” then you might be surprised by what I’m sharing today …

But if you’ve been paying attention over the last few decades then what I’m about to talk about should really come as no surprise.

Even so, most people don’t know this critically important information.

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A Dangerous Trend in America Today …

These days, believe it or not, it’s hard to not break a law.

Yes, even if you’re a “good guy” and you think you’re not breaking any laws.

We all unknowingly commit crimes, including felonies, in our day to day lives.

“There is no one in the United States over the age of 18 who cannot be indicted for some federal crime. That is not an exaggeration.” This warning is from John Baker, a retired law professor who tried in vain to count new federal crimes created in just the past few years. The same message comes from attorney Harvey Silverglate in his book Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent.

In the piece we republished before on this site:

To understand why we’re criminals requires a basic overview of how law is created and enforced.

Every law hatches a new crime with an associated punishment. A law is both an order and a threat, for if a law carries no threat of punishment, it’s not a law. It’s a suggestion. Politicians mince words by using different labels for their rules – laws, regulations, statutes, bills, acts, ordinances, et cetera – but they all fundamentally mean the same thing: Obey or be punished.

Every year American politicians create thousands of new laws. They are incorporated into volumes consisting of hundreds of thousands of pages of legalese. The laws are grouped into “codes” such as theCFR, USCIRS Code, and codes for every state. These codes, along with the Constitution,executive orders, ratified treaties, county and city ordinances, and rulings from district courts to the Supreme Courtcomprise U.S. law as a whole.

Although the law is incomprehensible to the governed, ignorance of the law is not a defense when you’re prosecuted by the government.

Suspicion of committing even the most trivial crime subjects you to arrest at the discretion of a law enforcement officer. The Supreme Court has ruled that it’s legal to arrest people for crimes such as driving without a seatbelt orhaving unpaid parking tickets. Arrest can result in imprisonment for months or yearswithout ever being convicted of a crime.

In America the punishments for not obeying politicians’ rules may include monetary fines, property confiscation, imprisonment (including de factorape and torture), and execution.

The application of these punishments is wildly inconsistent and often horrifically arbitrary. The minimum sentence for first degree murder in Illinois is 20 years, but in Indiana it’s 45 years. Compare 20 years for murder with 15 years for having sex on a beach. Or a 5 years for stabbing a man to death. Or a 5 days (yes, days) for raping a 14-year old girl. Victimless crimes often carry far harsher sentences than raping and killing people, such as 25 years for selling painkillers to a friend.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1978 that it’s legal for prosecutors to threaten you with catastrophic punishment – even life imprisonment – for a minor crime if you don’t forfeit your right to a jury trial. (In the landmark caseprosecutors secured a life sentence for forging an $88 check because the defendant refused a plea bargain.)

Because prosecutors wield such enormous power, almost everyone takes a plea bargain. Getting your day in court is a myth perpetuated in TV shows and movies. Innocent people often agree to plead guilty and suffer the punishment rather than risk having their lives destroyed. The system isrigged against you, and your chance of conviction at trial is around 90%.

Consider this …

Study: 49% of Black Men, 38% of White Men Arrested By Age 23

According to a recent study in the journal Crime & Delinquency, almost half of black males and nearly 40 percent of white males in the U.S. are arrested by the age of 23.

This data excludes arrests for minor traffic violations by the way.

That’s, quite frankly, nuts.

And what’s really crazy is that there are 2.3 million Americans in prison or jail.

In fact, the U.S. has only 5 percent of the world’s population but 25 percent of its prisoners.

Really think about that: close to 50% of black men and 40% of white men–which would leave one to believe that this is problem throughout the USA not just of one race or socioeconomic group.

Incarceration Rates Continued To Climb As Crime Fell

The crime rate grew from the 1970s until the early 1990s, but after that it plunged. Incarceration rates increased steadily from the 1970s, but after the crime rate began to fall, it continued to climb unabated.

Here’s a nifty chart to see it visually:

Source: The Sentencing Project
Source: The Sentencing Project

I say all this to lead to my main point:

Never Talk To The Police

This video is a MUST watch for Americans today. It’s gone viral with over 6.1 million views on this version you’re about to see below.

Mr. James Duane, a professor at Regent Law School and a former defense attorney, tells you why you should never agree to be interviewed by the police.

The Police Will Not Protect Your Rights, You Have To Know Them, To Protect Them Yourself

In closing, please remember that you do have rights in America but that the police are under no obligation to protect those rights.

And they most likely won’t.

You have to know your rights and you have to be firm (but polite!) in protecting and exercising them.

What did you think of that video? Did you know that you should never talk to police? Did it help you?

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Caleb Lee is the #1 best-selling author of "Concealed Carry 101" and founder of PreparedGunOwners.com. He is a civilian (no law enforcement or military experience) who shares information about self-defense and becoming more self-reliant. He's a 1st degree black belt in Taekwondo, NRA Certified Basic Pistol & Personal Protection Inside The Home Instructor, Concealed Carry Academy Instructor certified & also a graduate of the Rangermaster firearms instructor course. He's also the author of numerous online courses including the UndergroundAssaultRifle.com course.

24 COMMENTS

  1. I’ve read all kinds of places, including here, not to talk to the police. I agree that we should not talk to them since anything we say can and will be used against in court.

    However, some of the people on YouTube are looking for a confrontation with policemen. It seems that a lot of the YouTubers are trying to make police being the bad guy that doesn’t know the laws. I watched one yesterday where a guy was detained buy the officer didn’t know for what. Six police arrived and they still had to call a detective to get information.

    I’m not saying to talk to them, but this is not all police. There are plenty that would help us protect our rights. Not all police should be grouped in with those that are not sure of laws nor what defines being detained. I hope people are not just going out to confront a law officer about laws (especially the 2nd amendment rights.

    • Everything you said about police action above is correct. The best advice for anybody in any situation–no matter how simple you think it is–if you are being questioned by police is to politely request an attorney be present. Again, no matter what the circumstances are, and no matter what they tell you (POLICE ARE ALLOWED TO LIE) DO NOT GIVE UP YOUR RIGHT TO THAT REQUEST. DO NOT SAY ANYTHING WITHOUT AN ATTORNEY BEING PRESENT. IF YOU DO, YOU ARE libel to be found to have given up those rights. If they persist in talking to you, become forceful in your demand, no matter how scared you are or how forceful (or friendly) they may become. This is not that police are basically bad people (quiet the opposite can be true) but 1) you don’t know the finer points of the law, 2) you don’t know all the circumstances; 3) you don’t know where they are coming from, 3) hell, you don’t even know how they are really feeling which may make a difference.
      Remember you don’t have to submit to any questioning, unless they put you under arrest, which would still be better than saying ANYTHING. At least then they have to quit questioning you until they supply you with an attorney. For anyone to sit there for over an hour without an attorney being present is just plain stupid.

    • There are 330 million people in the United state’s that’s like .2% prison population they also don’t have a mixed race society that means no race wars no gangs there is the fear of law a very small percentage as far as China Russia they execute immediately no access to record count of criminals incarcerated without cops there is anarchy bring back public hangings crime would drop it’s not inhumane we worry more about the criminal than the victim not every cop is a jerk allthough Obama aka barry butthead has a war on authority liberalism is a disease were only the very few are rich ask Hillary witch lesbian lieing evil clinton 220 million in speeches in 2 years

    • Of course they’re not ALL bad. But since police are supposed to be held to a higher standard of responsibility for being upstanding citizens themselves and “Officers’ of the Law, it is a worse situation than normal when some of them go rogue and actually violate the rights of citizens they are supposed to protect.

      That casts a shadow of doubt, suspicion, and fear of ALL of them because you never know which ones are the bad ones until it’s over. Which is too often too late. This is the case of one bad apple with a contamination of just the barrel, it’s more like a situation where few bad cops can destroy entire police departments.

  2. My blood ran cold when I saw this video. I am a law-abiding and well-educated man. I possess a CCW in the state in which I live and carry every day as a way of life. However, until I married my wife, I was a man that would have spoken to the police even though all experts say not to do so for any reason because I would be the “innocent party” who wants vindication. My wife found out the hard way that a simple and innocent conversation with a responding officer got her locked up for spousal abuse even though she was acting in self-defense. She thought that her injuries were enough to prove that she was the victim but her words admitting she struck out at her former spouse were used to convict her of the misdemeanor of spousal abuse. Mind you, she acted in self-defense against an abusive husband who had already beaten her badly. Because he denied hitting her and she “confessed” she hit him, she was the one who served time. I tell our children, “If you are ever arrested for anything, whether you did it or not, the only thing you tell the police is, ‘I want to speak with my Attorney.’ No matter how long they make you wait or tell you if you are innocent you have nothing to fear or that anything you say is off the record, always plead the Fifth Amendment and demand to speak with your attorney.” There is no such thing as an innocent conversation with a police officer. One of my best friends used to be a deputy sheriff and he tells everyone who will listen that they should never speak to as police officer unless they want to serve time for something they did not do.

    • Also remember, you cannot start talking and then claim the 5th Amendment. If you start talking, you cannot start trying to use the 5th as a shield in the middle of the conversation – unless you are Lois Lerner – you can’t pick and chose the questions you answer. Request an attorney and WAIT for them to get there. Even what might sound like a casual conversation between you and your new found buddy (the policeman) don’t be fooled. Don’t talk – wait for your lawyer and LISTEN to his advice.

  3. I thought this is good information. Having never been arrested in my 68 years, would not have known how easy it was to use any statement you make against you. Being a legally permitted concealed carrier I hope this never happens, but I will remember this and add it to all the other training I’ve received.

  4. I found this video very informative. I’ve worked for the Dept of Corrections 15 years, and it wasn’t until I watched this video when the light came on. Just as everyone else, I thought the same thing, that to invoke your 5th Amendment Rights, showed that you were guilty, or that you had something to hide. I instead learned, that it IS one of our constitutional rights to invoke as a protection to ourselves. Thank you for the enlightenment.

  5. I was in the Air Force as a Security Forces member. Essentially a military cop. I did everything from nuclear missile security to air base defense as well as law enforcement. The military is so much easier when it comes to law and protecting people and doing what needs to be done. When someone fucks up on base its your place to do what needs to be done to take care of the problem. Even if it’s an officer or a civilian. After getting out I’ve had a few chances to run in with the law. Mostly for me calling on neighbors being out of hand. A few domestics, child neglect or endangerment issues, possible child abduction, medical emergencies. I was even involved with a friend of my son who was being abused and had to provide shelter to him for the weekend while his great grandparents figured out what to do with their daughter who’d adopted the boy. He is special needs and on medication we called the police to accompany us to get him som clothes and his medication for the start of the new week at school and the police said since he was only 16 and she was his legal guardian he had to go back home. She even kept a padlock on the fridge. She sent him to institutions just so she could visit with friends from out of town. He always loved coming to our house because I laughed and play with my son and talk to him and hug him and fix him breakfast. He’s so starved for love and attention.

    I was even arrested for a warrant that had been out for me for nearly 10 years while I was in the military. Because of my name being on some paperwork of a rent to own property that a guy I was seeing before I joined bought and never paid for or returned. I hadn’t even known he’d put my name on the paperwork and the business had gone under they started looking for me. The original paperwork didn’t exist I hadn’t been back to the state except to bury my father and to get my divorce in 10 years since I had first left for my first base and I had found the guy gone and my place trashed my car wrecked, and my stuff stolen. Then I end up in jail because of him. The first prosecutor wanted 6 months of community service and 2 years probation. By that time I wasn’t events what I was in jail for. But I was starting to put it together. I remembered when he’d brought the stupid computer home. But since it was in his name I never saw a bill for it. They asked me if I never wondered why I’d get bills for the computer. I said I never saw anything. It wasn’t in my name. I just took him to the place cause I’d used them before. I never saw a bill I left for the military and have been gon for nearly 10 years. And explained the condition of my things when I got back from training to move. I had only just returned that year. I was lucky they ended up dropping the charges. The police were mostly polite and helpful. I had to go 24 hours without my medication which was extremely painful. They knew I was on medication but wasn’t seen by a medical professional due to the time of night I was processed and then Transferred and processed again. I had some medications with me when I was arrested but I was warned that if they weren’t in the original bottles they would be treated as contraband and possibly controlled substances. He didn’t have to help me that much.

    I’ve always told my son never to allow police in to the house and never to talk to them if I’m not home. Especially if he didn’t call them. I’ve always been a little paranoid when having to leave him alone when he was younger. It’s been just us much of the time. I said if there’s been a shooting in the neighborhood and they talk to people door to door and you let them in if one of our weapons happen to be in plain view that just gives them one more reason to ask more questions fishing for incriminating answers, or incriminating evidence. Whether you’re guilty or not you have now been added to the suspect pool and all your actions, comings, and goings will be more closely watched.

    People think that if they watch enough of Law & Order or CSI they can foil anything or believe the fiction of what Hollywood spins on the cops in the real world. While I know there are generally good police out there that want to help people and serve the community, there are just as many out there who are power hungry if not wholly dirty and corrupt. Positions of power have always drawn such men and women. It isn’t just police though police have been give the spotlight so much in recent years. Having been on both sides of the bars I would like to say I am one of the truly honest cops left. Alas I’m a cop no longer my health doesn’t permit. But my heart screams justice for the people. And for the people I still would fight to my dying breath. Drama is drawn to me or me to it. I still have never learned to look the other way when someone is in trouble and I risk my self and my health and my safety for others if or when I see the need at no though to the consequences to myself until after. I have spent many tours on shift or nights lying in the dark thinking of scenarios of what could happen and how I would or should respond. There is always something new that the universe will come up with to throw you a curve ball. But it never hurts to be mentally prepared for the fall of a nation either from civil strife or the zombie apocalypse. Or how many time I’ve had to think of killing my own child to save him a worse death. That is a question they ask you when they start teaching you about nuclear security. Are you willing to sacrifice the people you hold most dear for the safety of your nation and hundreds of thousands even millions of lives should our nuclear weaponry fall into enemy hands. It was an agonizing question. A mortally horrifying question. For my child is the singular most important shining thing in my life. They were asking me if I could sacrifice or even kill with my own hands the most precious thing a mother could have. The more I thought about the question and the enemy we face. The enemy that seems to grow stronger with every passing year has no compassion for the infidel. Not a child not a woman. Not an elder. My son would never be safe among the enemy. Never be safe in their hands while subject to torture and fear only to die like some animal. A beast unaware of their future or their fate. If my son my beloved child should die because of the enemy it would not be as a hostage subjected to torture and humiliation and fear only to still die. I would rather take my son’s life with a quick bullet from my own hand then subject him to that. But I’d sure as hell try to take out as many of the bastards as possible before that had to become an option. If it was his life at the cost of losing a nuclear weapon again I have to say I must for the greater good of my fellow man and for my son as well release him by my own hand. To those who would steal and use or sell a weapon such as that my son’s life will be less than useless to them once his purpose has been served. Many refuse to ever think of this possibility of taking the life of those they love in hopes that it may never come to pass. But I have been trained for the things that might and often do come to pass. So as you all prepare your bodies and your homes and your families, please also prepare your minds. Prepare your psyches so that you might come to terms with the awful things that might some day come to your door and the equally awful things that might have to be done by you or one of your family members to survive. Talk about what you are willing to do what you want what you could never do. Lean upon each other for all has their strength and weaknesses. But do prepare. This is the calm before the storm my friends. The eye of the hurricane is upon us and the winds are howling all around. The skies are black and Death rides the Lightning looking for the defeated. Accept Death. Welcome her. For once you allow death into your soul there is no longer anything to fear. Death has already claimed you from the moment of your first breath. So accept her in deny her nothing and she will empower you. One cannot conquer Death so accept her. Use her power and be afraid no longer. Fight as the berserkers of old fought. With out fear. Without mercy. And with out quarter. For none will be show us. They won’t stop until they destroy every last one of us or we crush them to dust.

    • Kallie, you need to tget out more and interact with normal, well balanced people. Or at least get on some anti-depressants? Do it at least for your son’s sake. He doesn’t need to be constantly exposed to all that doom and gloom.
      Having reasonable fear of death is ‘normal’, because without ‘some ”fear’ of death…we couldn’t appreciate the wonderful experience of Life.

  6. I have known this for a long time. When I first applied for my CCW in 1987 fortunately I was exposed to a similar seminar. This was a great reminder since it was so long ago that say nothing and the two eloquent speakers mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING was a booster shot for me. Time had made me feel confident that I could handle myself in most situations like those used as an example. I am in my late sixties and have never been arrested not as a juvenile or adult. This video was a vivid reminder that it still could happen to anyone. Don’t fall for the “we won’t have to arrest you” line either. Prefer to be arrested than give up your Fifth amendment rights! Many thanks to Caleb and Preparedgunowners.com for such a valuable refresher course in the law that just may save one of your readers from a horrible life changing experience!

  7. I just talked with a local police officer and he was really cool guy and a former navy marine. He takes on the subject of guns and protecting America against all enemies foreign and domestic and said police and military would help civilians to be armed and trained as they are to help and assist and I thought that was awesome answer from a local police officer. People are usually not to like them for they do have their faults and er all do but if we can stand in line with them to defend our country iam all for it!

  8. Back in 2010 I was on a public bus and in a verbal disagreement with a friend because wanted to go do crack/meth. Sombody called the cops. We were still arguing on waiting on the next bus to transfer and when getting on the bus and going down the road cops pulled over bus and arrested me told me she said I was her pimp taking her to get doped up and pimp her out. I said it was a lie they never read me my rights. I requested the belt recorders to show no rights read and the cops police report was all made up and they couldn’t find them! How convenient. They also without my knowledge changed the false assault to a domestic violence on a family member! It was dismissed for she would never show to court. But yes the system is corrupt. Just plead the 5th.

  9. I found from difficult personal circumstances that anything said around the police could be used as evidence against you. Idle chatter or conversation can be damning; there’s no such thing as “off-the-record” or ‘just out of curiosity…” Responding to a “gee whiz…” statement made by police has no context whatsoever.

    In a separate matter, I was a jury foreman in a self-defense shooting trial (don’t ask me how I got on the jury!): a policeman commented to the later-defendant “You sure smoked his sorry ass!” to which the shooter admitted “Yeah, I sure did.” The shooter was charged by police with first-degree murder, in which the policeman stated under oath that the defendant said “…I smoked his sorry ass…” in response to being asked if he’d shot at the defendant, and why. The shooter was on the witness stand for almost three days with a grilling that the Gestapo or KGB would have been proud of. Only the testimony of a police desk clerk who overheard the officer relate what was really said saved the defendant from death row — later having the case dismissed — but the defendant lost his home and everything he owned to attorneys’ fees.

    Take it from experts: say nothing.

    Take it from radicals (aka Saul Alinsky): 1. Admit to nothing. 2. Admit to nothing. 3. Admit to nothing.

  10. Just in case you may have missed this: it doesn’t make any difference whether you’d been read your rights or not when it comes to the admissibility of statements you make to police.

    One other thong the video doesn’t stress: sign nothing. Repeat, sign nothing.

    Say nothing. Write nothing. Sign nothing. Admit to nothing.

    Unlike most career criminals, you have almost no knowledge of how the legal system works — and it’s bad enough when police do a sloppy job of investigating a shooting., but if they come up with an easy solution to pin murder on someone in a self-defense shooting, you can be looking at facing facts that your life is going to be forever changed in the event that you face a live criminal in your attempted murder trial.

  11. As a retired police officer with over 31yrs.in law enforcement, I feel sorry for some of you misguided people. Please don’t brainwash your children with this nonsense.

  12. This advice is critical for those of use who carry concealed weapons. If we ever have to use our guns, we WILL be arrested even if only while it is investigated. I think the insurance offered for this kind of situation is very important as it takes the financial stress of paying for a lawyer out of the equation for a little while. If you carry and might use your gun someday, you will need help with the police even if you are in the right.

  13. Fascinating information!!! The twists and turns would make an innocent man feel guilty, and the fact if they followed you a while, you accidently commit felonies?? It doesn’t seem possible, but I trust his word!! I am grateful for the information they have given us!!!

  14. There’s a terrible paradox taking place. Our police officers are one of the only things standing between us and total anarchy, but they are also one of the arms of tyranny for a totalitarian government. So…you must know your constitutional rights in order to hold the cops at bay by invoking them when you’re innocent. Cops only see you as a perpetrator on the scene, if there’s any doubt whatsoever, because so many ghetto rats are accomplished bearers of false witness (liars) and cops must subdue everything in their path to achieve their idea of controlling the situation and collect information allowing the courts to unravel the confusion at a later date. You’re faced with the dilemma of defending your rights with force, against cops, if needs must, if they come charging into your home without a constitutional warrant. Notice I said “constitutional” warrant, because tyrants are starting to play fast and loose with what constitutes a legal warrant. Bottom line? The constitution belongs to “We the People”…NOT the government and when the government sends “swarms of officers” (read the 12th paragraph of the Declaration of Independence), in the same manner as the King against the colonists…we have the right, yay, the duty to respond with armed resistance, because when ANY form of government becomes destructive of our rights…resistance becomes our sacred duty. And remember…tyrants will always call our temerity, treason.

  15. This video sure open my eyes about not talking to police and having an attorney present for your defense. Although it would be hard to say I plead the fifth, you are under scrutiny and feeling a lot of pressure knowing that you need councel as the law is quite complex. You hope you can afford an attorney of your choosing as you most likely have better councel. To have one appointed to you, how do you know how much experience they have to defend you properly? Certainly you will have someone to defend you which is better than nothing. You hope never to be in this situation in the first place.

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