This is a little long but it's great advice.

[Phoenix61]

I know there’s a lot of memes going around with comments about telling ICE/Police “no I don’t know anyone that’s undocumented” etc.

I want to offer while we all know you don’t know shit, we all need to be very careful interacting with police.

*Importantly, you never want to say anything to police that can be used against you or community members that you think you’re trying to protect.*

I know this is long, but if you are going to be doing things that may put you in contact with police, please read this.

So here is some general script guidelines for dealing with police.

If they come to your home:
DO NOT open the door. Completely ignore them. Do not speak to them. Nothing. Not one word.

Ignore them until they leave. If they scream through the door that they have a warrant:

You confirm by saying:
“If you have a warrant, please produce it.”

If you have a ring camera, DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR. Instead, tell them to “please produce the warrant at the ring camera.” If you have a front window, ask them to produce it at the window.

If they do not produce one, say:

“I do not consent to searches, please leave the property,” and SHUT UP. Not one single other word. Stick to the script, walk away.

They will attempt to get you to talk. They will say things like “we have some questions,” or “we need to speak with you.” They will say anything they can to scare you into opening your door and engaging with them. DO NOT engage. Period. Nothing. Not one word other than “I do not consent to any searches, please leave the property,” and walk away from your door.

If you are stopped on the street or you intervene in a stop of someone else on the street, DO NOT produce identification. They will tell you to, they will threaten you, you DO NOT have to produce idenfication for a consentual encounter with the police. So you say:

“I/we do not consent to speaking with you, am I/are we being detained or am I/are we free to go?”

If they say you are free to go, walk away. SHUT UP. Not one word. Just walk away.

If they respond that you are being detained this is no longer a “voluntary stop,” and is now what is called a “Terry stop.”

But you still DO NOT have to produce identification.

Because for a Terry Stop, they must have a ‘reasonable articulable suspicion’ that you either committed a crime, are in the process of, or about to commit a crime.

So, you say:

“I/we do not consent to speaking with you, please elaborate what am I being detained for.”

If the officer can not explain to you, clearly, what crime you are being detained for, you DO NOT have to produce identification. So DO NOT produce idenfication.

Some things to remember:

“Looking suspicious,” is not a crime.
Existing in a public space is not a crime.
“I just want to check your documentation status” is not reasonable suspicion you are committing a crime.

They will continue to demand your ID. They will say you legally have to produce it. They will lie to you and threaten you, they will scare you.

If they can not articulate a crime that you have/are/will do, you say:

“You have not articulated what crime I am being suspected of, I do not consent to speaking with you, I do not consent to searches, am I being detained or am I free to go?”

The goal of the officer will be to get you talking. They will frustrate you. They will lie to you. They will say or do anything to get you to talk.

DO NOT SAY ONE SINGLE WORD OTHER THAN THIS SCRIPT. Repeat as necessary. But say nothing else.

Just repeat over and over:

“I do not consent to speaking with you,”
“Am I being detained or am I free to go,”
“You have not articulated what crime I am being suspected of,”
“I do not consent to searches.”

*safety note*

If the office demands to search your person for ‘officer safety,’ you say:

“I do not consent to searches,” AND you put your arms above your head. Do not fight the cop as they search your pockets. They DO have a right during a Terry stop to frisk for weapons to ensure ‘officer safety,’ BUT you need to make clear, “I do not consent to searches,” so that if they find anything other than weapons that might be illegal, it will be harder for them to use it against you.

NEVER FOR ANY REASON, EVER consent to a search. If you know/feel the police are about to escalate to violence if you do not comply, you say: “I do not consent to searches” but do not resist.

If during a frisk the cop asks, “what’s this?”

SHUT UP. It doesn’t matter if it’s something as mundane as a quarter or a deck of cards, SHUT UP. Do not say what it is. Say absolutely nothing until the frisk is over.

*important note for those with conceal carry permits that may be carrying a concealed pistol. Check your state laws about what “duty to report” laws may apply to you.*

Otherwise SHUT UP.

It is the job of your lawyer to talk to the police and the courts. That’s what they do. Your job is to SHUT UP. The less you say, the more power your lawyer has. NEVER CONSENT to any encounter, searches, or questions to police. But DO NOT resist physically if violence is eminent.

Say nothing but the script, over and over until:
(1) they say you are free to go
(2) arrest you.

If you are arrested, you immediately say:

“I invoke my 5th amendment right to remain silent,” and you SHUT UP. Do not speak. Nothing. Not one single word other than:

“I want to speak with an attorney.”

When you get to the station, SHUT UP. Do not speak. Not one word other than “I want to speak with an attorney.”

Those are the only words that should come out of your mouth from the moment you are arrested until the moment you have spoken to your attorney. NEVER, FOR ANY REASON EVER waive your right to an attorney and interview with or make a statement to the police without a lawyer present that has informed you on what you should and should not say before the interview.

**Here is why sticking to this script is VITAL.**

It is the job of police to get you to snitch on yourself and others. That’s their job. They have the right to lie to you, and you do not have the right to lie to them.

The police are not your friends. They are not there to help you. They will not make things better for you if you confess or snitch on someone. Their job is to catch you in a lie or scare you into incriminating yourself or others, and to put human beings in a cage. That is their job. They are very good at their jobs.

The Miranda rights are very clear:

“Anything you say can and will be used against you.”

If you say “I don’t know any immigrants,” or “I didn’t see nothing I don’t know nothing” and the police arrest someone in your neighborhood, they can now come at you for obstruction and lying to a police officer (which is illegal). Say they pulled or got consent to pull footage from your neighbors ring camera. Or the camera on the stoplight, or one of a hundred cameras we pass everyday, and say they see you talking to their target. You are now facing charges.

So shut up. Not a word. Stick to the script. Give them
Absolutely nothing.

Stay safe.

[justaprogressive]

1. Don't talk to the police !!!!!

[MineralMan]

2. While that is good advice,

It really only applies to white people, frankly. They can usually get away with it and not be harmed. If you're a person of color, though, you're likely to be injured by the very police who are supposed to protect your rights.

It's still worth a try, but you may well find that your silence and those responses is going to end up with your being handled roughly.

Better to hope there are witnesses around you to watch and remember what is happening.

If you see such an encounter between police and someone, and if you have a phone with a camera, discreetly record what happens. That can be crucial if the police act beyond their authority. Discuss this with people you know and with whom you are typically found.

[brush]

5. Great points. Often times cops get furious at POCs having the nerve to state their rights.

[hunter]

8. I might not have survived my late teens and early twenties if I was black.

I never carried any identification with me, even when I was driving. I usually had a few hundred dollars stashed about and an ATM card from my bank that only had a number on it, no name. ( I don't know if banks still issue those on request. )

Paranoia is a frequent component of my own mental illness so I'd only give the police my name and my California Drivers License number whenever they decided to escalate. Usually they'd radio that in, chat with the dispatcher, and let me go.

Sometimes I was unwise and would say some smart-ass thing like "What are you going to do, shoot me?" which always led to further complications. I should have learned not to do that from my mom and her mom, they were very bad examples who would always argue with cops, but sometimes it would just bubble up inside me.

[MineralMan]

9. Yes, exactly.

That's why I don't like seeing posts like this, advising people how to deal with the police. It's fine for some to do that, but for others, it's a quick way to get dragged out of your car, cuffed, and maybe taking a beating.

It has happened so often that it should be common knowledge. Be safe. Don't be a smart-ass, unless you are among the group that can get away with smart-assery. If not, you can still keep your mouth shut, but be polite to LEOs. You might get arrested, but you won't get injured. Then, you can use your right to an attorney at the police station.

There's no way you can win by pissing off the cops. That really never works, except for some people. Not ever for many others, though.

[orangecrush]

3. A thousand recs.

[Lonestarblue]

4. Trump has said that ICE is authorized to enter schools and churches to arrest undocumented people.

Here are some other places that may be at risk. Public libraries and community centers often host ESL and citizenship classes. Even though people attending these classes likely are legal immigrants, will ICE honor their status? People housing such classes and those teaching them also need to be aware of what they should do if ICE invades and tries to take people away. Public schools and churches are already preparing, such as refusing to collect and keep data on which students or church attendees are undocumented.

[hlthe2b]

6. I never have ID unless driving... My dog and I are frequently all over town walking without ID--just an IPhone

which I certainly will not permit them to see--even though there is zero on there to be concerned about.

That said, I WILL engage with local police when lives and safety (for someone--or many) are at risk. I think that might warrant another post or at least a fairly lengthy addendum. If you need an example, on one of my daily pre-dawn walks around the lake with my dog and a couple of dog-owning friends, we saw two cars parked in the adjacent, but poorly lit parking--which we see somewhat often (people sometimes have to sleep somewhere, after all)... on this morning a physical fight had broken out among two individuals leading to one car peeling out, going extremely fast. When the one man collapsed, (though he was still semi-conscious and breathing without obvious bleeding), we of course called the police and EMTs. I have become pretty observant--especially at that time in the morning, so I could give all but the last number of the license plate that peeled out. It turned out to be a drug transaction gone bad--which happens fairly infrequently but we are not immune... Our "reward" was that police monitored this park and the surrounding open space much more and knew that we were likely to be out there every morning come snow, sleet, or bitter cold and made sure other police knew this as well.

So, yeah... sometimes talking to the police is common sense and a responsible thing to do. I'm reminded of the story in NYC of the woman accosted and left for dead in the street--as witnessed by countless people in the surrounding high rises--none who even bothered to call the police for fear of becoming "involved." As much as I also resent what is happening with Trump's immigration Gestapo, I want to find the common sense balance when dealing with law enforcement or Federal agents.

[usonian]

7. For visual thinkers.

Don't volunteer information. They'll beg it out of you.



And remember to

[Martin Eden]

10. "You have not articulated what crime I am being suspected of"

If the police articulate the crime of being in the US illegally and demand identification, do you have to produce it?

[dwayneb]

11. It's a good summary but

This approach only works when the police agency that you are dealing with respects your right to remain silent and to have an attorney present. Or even understands what those things mean. Out here in ruby red Trump country where I live many local "police" departments are nothing more than rural gangs. People that don't have the education or skills to find any other job.

Many of the people drawn to policing out here would LOVE the opportunity to rough up or even disappear one of the "pinko Liberal scumbags" that they have been taught to hate and fear. These people are ready, willing and able to do Trump's bidding should he decide to move to the next level of repression. Which of course is determining that those who dare to oppose him are "enemies of the people".

It is coming my friends.