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Just say no. It is important to remember that the police has an adversarial relationship to you. Their job is to look for reasons to arrest you. Asserting your
by gyepi 13y ago
Just say no.
It is important to remember that the police has an adversarial relationship to you. Their job is to look for reasons to arrest you. Asserting your rights or looking suspicious is not a crime.
> Above all, stay calm, friendly, and respectful, all while standing firm.
This advice cannot be repeated enough. Most of us deal with the police so infrequently that, in that adversarial context, we have very little practice on how to do it effectively. Worse yet, asserting your rights appears to violate many of the social strictures on not being rude and respecting authority. Quoting Sen no Rikyu, "that must be set aside".
- shawabawa3 13y ago> Their job is to look for reasons to arrest you I thought their job was to serve and protect. Of course, quotas tend to confuse things...
- gyepi 13y agoMost of the time, most people get some level of service and protection, depending on various demographic, economic or geographic factors. However, that changes if the police has probable cause to believe that you are or could be suspected of having committed, in the process of commiting, or are about to commit a crime. They are trained to look for indicators that provide that probable cause. Once that happens, serving and protecting you is no longer their primary goal. The police are expert at making that transition seamlessly while most civilians are bad at recognizing the change or knowing that they have the right to withhold consent.