Don’t talk to cops
I found a short videotaped lecture on the 5th Amendment, from James Duane. Duane studied at Harvard Law and now teaches at Regent University Law.
The lecture, called “Don’t Talk To Cops,” is brief but comprehensive, and it applies to everyone whether they are guilty or innocent of a crime. The moment you say anything you make yourself vulnerable to someone else’s memory and perception. In America, you are not required to be a witness against yourself.
He anecdotally outlines some different ways you can incriminate yourself even if innocent; and he answers some good questions that everyone usually asks about the Fifth Amendment, like “won’t pleading the fifth make me seem guilty in court?” (Answer: no)
The most important point taught in this video is that anything you tell an officer cannot be used FOR you in court. There is nothing to gain from talking to the police.
The second half of this platform is given to Officer George Bruch of the Virginia Beach Police Department. Bruch is expected to rebut Duane but instead agrees wholeheartedly and expands on how ruthless officers are in gaining a confession. Even so, Bruch reminds the audience that in America interrogation is a psychological game whereas in most other countries it starts with violence and presumption.
This is what baffles me about people who hate cops. A police officer’s job is to collect evidence for court. And the one outlet they aren’t allowed to gather evidence from is YOU. Unless you decide to let them.
So what’s left to resent about them? That they eat too many donuts? Stop running your mouth and maybe your quality of life will improve.
I’ll even say that I love cops. Once I began to understand their role in the judicial system and my own, I started to respect them. That was around the end of high school. Since then I’ve hired off duty cops three times and had one Cocoa Beach cop chase down a championship Kansas City high school baseball team. Now years later I grandiosely feel like I know enough to have my own personal military on call.
