6 ms·

He actually answers this very point:[1] So, I say, don't talk to the cops. Ask to speak with an attorney, and get competent advice before you answer the cops'

He actually answers this very point:[1] So, I say, don't talk to the cops. Ask to speak with an attorney, and get competent advice before you answer the cops' questions. Are there mundane situations in which you might rationally decide to talk to the cops — say, if a neighbor's house is burglarized, and they come to ask if you saw anything? Sure. But you should view each interaction with the cops with an extreme caution bordering on paranoia, as you would handle a dangerous wild animal. When you talk to a cop, you are talking to someone who is often privileged to kill you with complete impunity, someone whose claims about what you said during your interaction — however fantastical — will likely be accepted uncritically by the system even if the particular cop is a proven serial liar. Even the most mundane interaction carries the potential for life-altering disaster. [1] https://www.popehat.com/2014/01/15/the-privilege-to-shut-up/ https://www.popehat.com/2014/01/15/the-privilege-to-shut-up/

mirimir 7y ago
If the cop shoots you, it won't matter what you said or didn't say. And in TFA: > According to ABC Action News, these affected customers ended up in handcuffs and in the back of a police car in the majority of the cases. A few people were even met with the business ends of a firearm and were taken into custody forcefully after disagreeing with police. So with routine traffic stops, playing it cool is almost always the best bet. I've experienced scores of them, mostly for speeding, but some for reckless driving. And a couple for evading. And I've never gotten more than tickets. One of those evading stops involved a county-wide APB :) I just said something like "Hey, I just saw "Dawn of the Dead", and got scared". Which was almost the truth, in that it was hypomania. They almost impounded the car, but eventually we all decided that it was funny.
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  > So with routine traffic stops, playing it cool is almost always the best bet. I've experienced scores of them Why do American police stop people so often? Every American here seems to have experience of being stopped and acts like it’s a super normal thing. I live in the UK and I’m don’t think I’ve ever even spoken to an on-duty police officer in my life. They don’t just cruise around stopping cars here.
  - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
    We haven't gone as far down the 1984 path as you have so we have still have human cops write tickets instead of using speed cameras. It also depends a lot on your area. Where I live the cops to "real problems" ratio is pretty good. I'm basically free to go a safe and reasonable speed regardless of the speed limit. I'd have to do something really flagrant to get pulled over for it. In the wealthier cities and suburbs that the people of HN tend to live in you have many more bored cops looking for trouble where there is little to be found so they spend more time extracting revenue from motorists and making fishing stops.
    - chrisseaton 7y ago
      But I hear about the police stopping people for things like tail lights in the US? Or in other comments people are talking about being stopped because they're driving a suspiciously cheap car in an expensive area? The police just don't seem to stop people here in the UK unless there's something seriously wrong. As I said elsewhere, I've never seen a tail light out ever, but it seems to be a common thing for normal people to be stopped for in the US? And of course speed cameras don't bother you if you don't speed in the first place, so they don't catch people unless they're doing something wrong.
      - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
        > they're driving a suspiciously cheap car in an expensive area? This happens all the time in rich areas. It's a plain and simple fishing stop. >I've never seen a tail light out ever, Because your government intentionally makes vehicle ownership so financially onerous that everyone who drives a car has the resources (time more than money) to get it fixed promptly. In the US, even in poorer areas it's not common but it's not uncommon. In a 40min rush hour commute in the winter (when it's dark and you can see everyone using lights) I could probably still count on one hand the number of head lights and tail lights I see out.
        chrisseaton 7y ago
        > We haven't gone as far down the 1984 path as you have > This happens all the time. It's a plain and simple fishing stop.
- mirimir 7y ago
  Sorry. My comments about being shot, and my outlandish experiences, were foolish. But the point about TFA stands. "[I]n the majority of the cases", people were not arrested.
mirimir 7y ago
Having the rental agreement is quite mundane, no?

mirimir 7y ago

If the cop shoots you, it won't matter what you said or didn't say. And in TFA: > According to ABC Action News, these affected customers ended up in handcuffs and in the back of a police car in the majority of the cases. A few people were even met with the business ends of a firearm and were taken into custody forcefully after disagreeing with police. So with routine traffic stops, playing it cool is almost always the best bet. I've experienced scores of them, mostly for speeding, but some for reckless driving. And a couple for evading. And I've never gotten more than tickets. One of those evading stops involved a county-wide APB :) I just said something like "Hey, I just saw "Dawn of the Dead", and got scared". Which was almost the truth, in that it was hypomania. They almost impounded the car, but eventually we all decided that it was funny.

chrisseaton 7y ago
> So with routine traffic stops, playing it cool is almost always the best bet. I've experienced scores of them Why do American police stop people so often? Every American here seems to have experience of being stopped and acts like it’s a super normal thing. I live in the UK and I’m don’t think I’ve ever even spoken to an on-duty police officer in my life. They don’t just cruise around stopping cars here.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago
  We haven't gone as far down the 1984 path as you have so we have still have human cops write tickets instead of using speed cameras. It also depends a lot on your area. Where I live the cops to "real problems" ratio is pretty good. I'm basically free to go a safe and reasonable speed regardless of the speed limit. I'd have to do something really flagrant to get pulled over for it. In the wealthier cities and suburbs that the people of HN tend to live in you have many more bored cops looking for trouble where there is little to be found so they spend more time extracting revenue from motorists and making fishing stops.
  - chrisseaton 7y ago
    But I hear about the police stopping people for things like tail lights in the US? Or in other comments people are talking about being stopped because they're driving a suspiciously cheap car in an expensive area? The police just don't seem to stop people here in the UK unless there's something seriously wrong. As I said elsewhere, I've never seen a tail light out ever, but it seems to be a common thing for normal people to be stopped for in the US? And of course speed cameras don't bother you if you don't speed in the first place, so they don't catch people unless they're doing something wrong.
    - dsfyu404ed 7y ago
      > they're driving a suspiciously cheap car in an expensive area? This happens all the time in rich areas. It's a plain and simple fishing stop. >I've never seen a tail light out ever, Because your government intentionally makes vehicle ownership so financially onerous that everyone who drives a car has the resources (time more than money) to get it fixed promptly. In the US, even in poorer areas it's not common but it's not uncommon. In a 40min rush hour commute in the winter (when it's dark and you can see everyone using lights) I could probably still count on one hand the number of head lights and tail lights I see out.
      - chrisseaton 7y ago
        > We haven't gone as far down the 1984 path as you have > This happens all the time. It's a plain and simple fishing stop.
mirimir 7y ago
Sorry. My comments about being shot, and my outlandish experiences, were foolish. But the point about TFA stands. "[I]n the majority of the cases", people were not arrested.

mirimir 7y ago

Having the rental agreement is quite mundane, no?