Why you shouldn't *always* remain silent (with the police)
A bit of a provocative title since the common suggestion is:
Never talk to the police.
Of course, we're talking about (criminal) investigations here (and with the goal of maximizing your odds of escaping a conviction, which is also a moral grey area if you've actually committed the offense).
Well, recently I had the good fortune of going under criminal investigation :).
Just a traffic ticket, but where I was, it was forbidden to ride a motorbike on a highway. I didn't know and I allegedly did. And that happened to be a criminal offense (BTW, crazy what some places include under criminal law. In Berlin not having a public transport ticket is a criminal offense, meaning you can go to court even if you just forget your pass at home a few times in a year).
I was read the local equivalent of the Miranda rights and, for the sake of learning, I engaged and answered.
It was an enlightening experience.
I agree that 99% of the time talking and engaging will make it more difficult to win because:
- You don't know what they know
- Most interrogations are set as traps (even for that small thing, the officer first asked me if it was me driving, then started adding evidence of what they already knew, such as "we talked to the rental shop and we know that...", "we talked to your pillion passenger and she already recognized it was her", etc. etc.)
- You don't know what information they're looking to build their case: it may be something you consider inconsequential, or something you consider helps your case but does the opposite.
Example: I said that I didn't remember the route and didn't have the map I followed because we "used her phone". I thought that was going to increase the scope for "reasonable doubt". Instead, the detail that we used her phone corroborated my passenger's version of the story (she had already shared the path we followed, something I didn't know at that point, albeit something I could have imagined if I knew better how these things work. That was my biggest strategic mistake) - Your best bet often is "reasonable doubt", and the more you share, the more any small bits and pieces of what you say can be used against you to build a case that dispels that reasonable doubt
HOWEVER...
If you knew in advance what they know, or what they can likely gather, and if it's a serious court case that will also examine your video recordings, you could use the interrogation as an opportunity to help your case.
In my example, without that major "we were using her phone" blunder, I think -think- I'd have increased my odds of beating the case by answering.
The simple fact that I stated I couldn't be sure it was me driving because all I could see was a shot from the back and "could have been anyone" may have increased the scope for reasonable doubt.
In the USA and in places that have juries, even acting a certain way can help persuade (or sway) the jury (say, behaving like an innocent person would, or even framing the cops as trying to trap you, which could help your lawyer build a case for a set-up and witchhunt).
Since those are huge IFs, you're still most likely better off choosing to remain silent.
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Very interesting title. I feel very sorry for your misfortune. I hope it will help you get stronger rather than bother you and hope it does not affect your mood and career too much.
I made a similar silly mistake when I was a teen. I invited a cute girl to my hotel room for the first time, and she start to get very emotional, defensive and shouting when I tried to escalate. I also got emotional. Somehow her parents (or her boyfriend, idk) called the police and the police comes to knock on the door. She suddenly stopped shouting and look at me for help. Now I know that she was most likely looking for collusion: how shall we deal with the situation together. But back to then I was too young and too stupid.
For some unknown reason I shouted "come-in" and I opened the door... possibly I thought I was the weak one seeking police's help ... the police then starts an investigation and we signed a police's record. After that she immediately run away.
Thankfully she did not say anything negative about me, otherwise I'd be arrested I guess. However, I was too embarrassed to contact her again... I think it is one of the most embarrassing and LMAO experience for me.
So now I guess, like you, if I dared to communicate a little bit with her before talking to the police, things will be different. It could have been a simple "nothing is wrong" behind the door that removes all upcoming hassles in advance.
Quote from MMC on July 7, 2022, 9:24 amI made a similar silly mistake when I was a teen. I invited a cute girl to my hotel room for the first time, and she start to get very emotional, defensive and shouting when I tried to escalate. I also got emotional. Somehow her parents (or her boyfriend, idk) called the police and the police comes to knock on the door. She suddenly stopped shouting and look at me for help. Now I know that she was most likely looking for collusion: how shall we deal with the situation together. But back to then I was too young and too stupid.
For some unknown reason I shouted "come-in" and I opened the door... possibly I thought I was the weak one seeking police's help ... the police then starts an investigation and we signed a police's record. After that she immediately run away.
Thankfully she did not say anything negative about me, otherwise I'd be arrested I guess. However, I was too embarrassed to contact her again... I think it is one of the most embarrassing and LMAO experience for me.
So now I guess, like you, if I dared to communicate a little bit with her before talking to the police, things will be different. It could have been a simple "nothing is wrong" behind the door that removes all upcoming hassles in advance.
Thanks for sharing man, a potentially very dicey situation indeed.
Escalations can be volatile indeed, and even without any bad intentions and action, one can sometimes find himself in a tough spot.
A powerful reminder of how important foundational social skills are during escalations (and cooperative and win-wins frames can make all the difference to avoid any possible issues_.
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Wow. That's quite a scary situation to be in. So what is the follow-up? Could you solve it on the spot or is it ongoing?
Wonderful points on both posts! Misreads from my side. I am glad that this incident is only making you and your career stronger. If you have time, I'd be grateful if I can learn more about how to be more supportive and sympathetic and in this scenario.
My first guess was saying "I am delighted that you shared this enlightening event along with your knowledge". But later I found it a bit Schadenfreude and deleted it. You are right that I must be careful in similar situations.
Thank you very much for sharing all these knowledges. They are truly helpful.
Quote from Lucio Buffalmano on July 7, 2022, 10:13Escalations can be volatile indeed, and even without any bad intentions and action, one can sometimes find himself in a tough spot.
A powerful reminder of how important foundational social skills are during escalations (and cooperative and win-wins frames can make all the difference to avoid any possible issues_.
I also read your link immediately. Perhaps my girl's resistance was kind-of token, as her negative emotion immediately turned 180 degrees to cooperative when the door was knocked (we did not know it was the police). I was too stupid to accept her emotionally collaborative frame and I was still emotional and competitive.
It really really surprised me that a girl was able to (positively) change her mood/emotion in split seconds (is this covered in TPM?). Possibly she was just faking a competitive emotion for token resistance, so taking that emotion off was very easy for her?
Wow this really sucks 🙁
I hope this resolves itself quickly and fairly.
Disclaimer: These are some ideas, but they may have serious flaws that I'm not aware of and that could let them backfire. If anyone disagrees with anything, please don't hesitate to say so!
Some ideas that came to mind in case you decide to go talk to the police that might help when faced with the accusation for a victimless "crime" (i.e. nobody got actually hurt). Some might be helpful in "spontaneous" police contact as well:
Getting Information
After you already answered some inconsequential questions like name and address (so you already gave a tiny bit and showed willingness to cooperate), you could start with something like:
"I'm happy to cooperate with you and I will try to answer what you want to know as good as I'm able to (already planting an option to potentially kindly refuse later on, in case the question was fair of them to ask but dangerous for you to answer).
I think it's important to make sure that I really get the full picture of what is going on. Would you tell me what we will talk about and why?"
This could open them up a bit and if they don't immediately provide more details, you could either take a guess on their intentions or try some more opening-up statements like these:
"I get what you're saying, I really do, you have your procedures and good reasons for them.
[ Optional − (only use if true, otherwise it could backfire enormously): A friend of mine works for (something related) in (...), I'm aware of what you have to deal with on a daily basis. ]
From my experience in different, potentially challenging situations, I learned through mistakes that I don't want to commit again, that it's important to make sure we are on the same page. Otherwise there could be an imbalance and a lot of room for misunderstandings, and those could be in the way of a fair outcome. Would you share your perspective on what is going on here?"
So the overall strategy here is to motivate them to share what they have against you and other helpful information and to get an idea and intuition on how they see you, if they have bad intentions − which are insights that could help you in deciding what to answer and what not to.
Of course there are no guarantees of helpful results, but what appears good to me here is:
- it frames the interaction as friendly, warm and collaborative
- it has the potential to uncover helpful information that you otherwise may have not gotten
- it gives you also insights on how they see and treat you without you having to say anything specific about whatever the problem is that could harm you
- while the approach appears to have little risks and downsides (as far as I can tell, I might be wrong − not tested in real life!)
Another approach − you might try to get "reasonable personal":
"Can I ask you something? What would you personally do in my situation?"
[This might help in many other situations as well where you have to rely on someone stuck in their job-role-frame and you want to increases your chances or simply build rapport with them. I think I have the concept from PU but I'm not sure from where, if anyone has a link with context, please share]
This could be interesting as well, because they might now actively empathize with you and your situation and you are now closer to being equal.
But if they refuse to answer or brush it off or appear very dishonest or distanced, it could be a bad sign and it could be better or even important to close up as well. Their response should give you important intel on how to further proceed.
I think it's particularly important to thank them for their opening up, as it may be an unconventional thing to do for them:
"Thank you for your perspective, I really appreciate it. [...]"
"Thanks, that really helps a lot, now I get what's going on. I think there are a some misconceptions that we should talk about [...]"
A different approach to start into the conversation:
Being vulnerable and empathizing with them
"Honestly, all this scares me. Police Officers everywhere, Pistols, Batons, Handcuffs on belts, a serious atmosphere, this is very stressful for me. (if they don't immediately respond − proceeding with) But I know you have to deliver good work as well and are accountable for it. I hope we can make this as easy as possible for both of us."
The end of the interaction
At the very end of the interaction, I think it is of particular importance to leave on a high and personal if possible, if it went overall alright.
This could provide an actual opportunity to build rapport with the police, because they might be trained to resist such attempts during an interrogation − but when that part is done, their "shield" might go down, so when they escort you out of the building, you might say something along the lines of:
Honestly I was pretty scared and intimidated by this whole situation. But as we went through it I got comfortable. And btw I must say the view from here is quite one of a kind.
If the interaction went overall well, this should be "under the radar" and they should not block completely against it. It might be one more small part that may help you further down the road.
These are just some ideas that came to mind, but they are not tested in real life and they will likely only work for victimless "crimes" (an upside actually, as I don't want to write on approaches towards any other).
Please disagree if you find anything in here that you think could get someone in even more trouble, as I might be off here (Bels' perspective being of particular interest).
Hi Anon,
I think the optimal course of action in these situations is always the same: quick reference to being willing to help as much as possible, but needing to call your lawyer (or a lawyer) first. Then silence.
Even a lawyer being asked to talk to the police as a suspect should follow this very advice.
There are multiple legal reasons for this, and this law professor explains them in detail better than I ever could (he talks to lawyers about U.S. law, but the principles are universal); just the first 20 minutes are enough (for those who don’t have time to listen to it all, specific reasons are listed at times 7:55 9:37 13:10 14:20 17:08 18:58 22:28):
Thanks for chiming in Bel,
that's very helpful.
I will also read more on this, as it apparently is something I'm a bit naive about.
@Lucio feel free to add to the top of my first comment in here something like:
Edit: Not actually recommended when dealing with police − I changed my mind (maybe applicable for other situations)
− if you want to, as my post is a bit long while probably not all that useful, so nobody will waste their time going through it.
An interesting poker-playing game:
The police trying to get information from him without making him aware of what crime they're investingating, and him trying to tease out from the police what they already know.
In the end, it was maybe around a draw.
But since the police, in the end, did ask about the murdered man (who had it coming, BTW), you could say he may have gleaned the information he wanted -if he did, he didn't use it well though to erase all possible evidence though-.
Since he gave nothing but you could say he earned a solid (street) reputation with the video made public, you may even say this interrogation was a "win" for him:
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That’s very interesting.
From my perspective, this video totally confirms the general advice to never answer questions if one is a suspect, and to just get a lawyer.
I see several things said in the video that could be used against the suspect, and that to me are clear mistakes on his part.
Consider, just from a practical point of view:
- giving even the most innocent statement creates a record that can, and will, be used against the person during the trial (imagine that the best legal defense rests on a specific fact or situation or sequence, and that just one of the answers given here is incompatible with that: this simple fact destroys that legal defense in advance, or at the very least is sufficient to cast doubt on it);
- just saying he does not want to respond, and does not want to tell on others, frames him as person with a specific background and mentality;
- he says he doesn’t want to answer, but keeps falling for the continuous questions/remarks/pushes: to me the police here was thinking ”this is really good” all the while during the interrogation.
From a strictly legal point of view, also consider the most important points:
- in most legal systems, what the suspect says can only be used against him, not in his favor. This is because most legal and trial systems have rules based on the premise that, while everybody is capable of saying false things that benefit themselves, no one will say a thing against their own interests unless it is true;
- in other words, even if the suspect only shares information helping him (an impossible feat by the way), at best it is going to be (mostly) irrelevant to the trial;
- the prosecution could isolate the most tenuous admissions from a suspect, and present them as indications of guilt;
- just affirming by mistake something that is irrelevant, but later turns out to be false, is sufficient to cast serious doubt on the credibility of a person;
- just affirming the truth on something unrelated to the case can be a problem, if a witness later (even by mistaken recollection) contradicts that truth!
It’s significant that the commentator in the video says, near the end: “he should really not have answered any questions and gotten a lawyer, but he did a good job”.