While I’m cobbling together this article I’m working on, watch the most important video on the internet — why you should NEVER talk to the police. Yes, even if you’re totally innocent! (If you can’t watch the whole thing, the police officer takes over around 27 minutes in and almost immediately agrees with Professor Duane. That’s a decent cutoff, though the whole video is great.)
If you’re intrigued, he’s got a book about the subject.
EVERY time I'm in a conversation where sharing this video is apt...I lose 30 minutes of billable time. I simply cannot share it without also watching it again.
I do stop after the good prof is done, because I've already seen the cop's segment. The prof's segment is Solid Gold.
(My son lives in VA Beach about 5 minutes from Regent University, and I drive by it all the time when I visit him and his family. Can't help but think of Prof. Duane every time!)
The justice system isn't really about justice, right and wrong, it's always about winning and losing. The cops are mostly decent people, but they have a job to do and their boss demands wins. Your loss becomes their win. We want them to be hard on real criminals, but fair and balanced with us. The problem is we give them the power to arrest or kill criminals and us, if they consider it a win. Power corrupts, always, so they tend to become more willing to exercise their power to increase their wins.
Maintaining the right balance requires some participation on our part (us being the good guys). As the cop in the video says, everyone breaks laws. Not our fault, usually, but the byzantine law structure makes it likely. The trick is to not act like a criminal. The path to prison has several steps, beginning with the first "interview" with the cop. Act normal, you might not get arrested. Act like a criminal, expect to get treated like one. Just remember the cop has different objectives than you do, and don't get too chatty. He's not your friend. If he's interviewing you, you're either a witness or a suspect. Telling them what you saw makes you a witness. Discussing what you did makes you suspect. Don't do that.