66 lines
3.4 KiB
Plaintext
66 lines
3.4 KiB
Plaintext
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Don't Talk to Cops
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By Robert W. Zeuner, Member of the New York State Bar
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Typed by: The Mad Alchemist | Lunatic Labs BBS 213-655-0691 1200/2400
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Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia!
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"GOOD MORNING! My name is investigator Holmes. Do you mind answering a few
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simple questions?" If you open your door one day and are greeted with those
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words, STOP AND THINK! Whether it is the local police or the FBI at your door,
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you have certain legal rights of which you ought to be aware before you
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proceed any further.
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In the first place, when law enforcement authorities come to see you,
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there are no "simple questions". Unless they are investigating a traffic
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accident, you can be sure that they want information about somebody. And that
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somebody may be you!
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Rule number one to remember when confronted by the authorities is that
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there is no law requiring you to talk with the police, the FBI, or the
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representative of any other investigative agency. Even the simplest questions
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may be loaded and the seemingly harmless bits of information which you
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volunteer may later become vital links in a chain of circumstantial evidence
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against you or a friend.
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DO NOT INVITE THE INVESTIGATOR INTO YOUR HOME!
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Such an invitation not only gives him the opportunity to look around
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for clues to your lifestyle, friends, reading material, etc., but also tends
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to prolong the conversation. The longer the conversation, the more chance
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there is for a skill investigator to find out what he wants to know.
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Many times a police officer will ask you to accompany him to the
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police station to answer a few questions. In that case, simply thank him for
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the invitation and indicate that you are not disposed to accept it at this
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time. Often the authorities simply want to photograph a person for
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identification purposes, a procedure which is easily accomplished by placing
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him in a private room with a two-way mirror at the station, asking him a few
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innocent questions, and then releasing him.
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If the investigator becomes angry at your failure to cooperate and
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threatens you with arrest, stand firm. He cannot legally place you under
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arrest or enter your home without a warrent signed by a judge. If he indicates
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that he has such a warrent, ask to see it. A person under arrest, or located
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on premises to be searched, generally must be shown a warrent if he requests
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it and must be given to chance to read it.
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Without a warrent, an officer depends solely upon your helpfulness to
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obtain the information he wants. So, unless you are quite sure of yourself,
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don't be helpful.
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Probably the wisest approach to take to a persistant investigator is
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simply to say: "I'm quite busy now. If you have any questions that you feel I
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can answer, I'd be happy to listen to them in my lawyer's office. Goodbye!"
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Talk is cheap. When that talk involves the law enforcement
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authorities, it may cost you, or someone close to you, dearly.
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This info came from a leaflet that was printed as a public
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service by individuals concerned with the growing role of
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authoritarianism and police power in our society. Please
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feel free to copy or republish.
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This info also applies to dealing with private investigators, and
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corporate security agents.
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<END OF FILE>
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