How to stand up to cops

[Eulogy]

The thread on bullying got me thinking about a serious problem: those in authority positions trying to abuse their power. Does anyone here know how to resolve encounters with cops and government workers without getting bullshit charges tacked on or losing everything? Tips are appreicated.

[Mr. Coffee]

Depends on what you mean by "stand up to cops"? If you mean "be a snotty, arrogant, argumentative dickcheese" all I can say I hope you like the taste of pepperspray. If you mean "Politely and respectfully assert your actual civil rights while complying as best you can with lawfully given orders from the Cop" then all you really need to is be aware of whatever laws are applicable to the stop, what rights you have that apply to the situation, be polite (yes, sir/no,sir ect.), and don't be a dick about it. May or may not work, but it'll usually end without you doing a squeal to "Don't Taze Me, Bro".

[Big Phil]

I've had roughly a dozen encounters with police over the years, ranging from being a dorm while the officer on duty was having a guy pour out beer, to traffic violations, to painting a house when the security alarm went off. In none of those encounters were the police aggressive, angry, dickheads, etc. They were generally professional, occasionally friendly, and once crabby (the cop making the guy pour out beer in the dorm).

The one scenario where I could have seen the police being aggressive was when I was painting a house, opened a door to paint the trim, and the alarm went off. The police showed up about 20 minutes later to find me up on a ladder in the backyard, painting the siding. They were courteous and reasonably friendly; we had about a 10 minute chat before they decided that I wasn't a burglar and left me to finish the job. Of course, I was also polite and respectful... I can only imagine how that might have gone if I'd started screaming at them about my constitutional rights or some stupidity like that.

I know there are cops who act like assholes, but I've never encountered one of them... oddly enough, the people who seem to run into these asshole cops are themselves often being assholes or doing something illegal.

[Zaune]

I guess it depends which country you happen to be in. In my home country there is basically no point in standing up to the police at all, because they have honest-to-Armok quotas for crimes detected and solved and will get their budgets slashed if they don't meet them, so are under extreme pressure to charge you with something and never mind the letter of the law. I think we have a very loose approximation of the 4th Amendment, but then again if the arresting officer simply invents some probable cause out of whole cloth after the fact, who is the jury going to believe? After all, you wouldn't be in the dock if you weren't a bad sort.

Though since criminal records in this country are basically ineradicable and ex-cons are about as employable as Roma gypsies or practicing Muslims, I suppose you might as well try.

[TheFeniX]

This post only applies to America and certain states at that. You should find websites/legal sources specializing in your area.

1. Keep answers short and polite: "Yes, sir" "No, sir."
2. State your answers to questions and desire to speed things up clearly and loud enough to not be misunderstood. If you find yourself at a loss at what to say, just state "Sir, is that all?"
3. If pressed, on say a search you don't feel is warranted, clearly state "No, I'd rather you not." If they try and press the issue, such as "If you have nothing to hide, why not let me search?" Again state, "I'd still rather you not." It's also illegal (at least in Texas) for an officer to hold you without cause while he waits for a police dog to sniff your car. Inform the officer of this if he decides to try, but do not resist either physically or verbally. Continue to express you are not consenting to the search.
4. In many states, a police officer cannot arrest you on your property or place of residence without a warrant or probably cause. Never let a police officer in your home if you can avoid it. If you do invite them in and you need to leave their sight (maybe to get ID, etc), tell them politely to not move from the entry-way. If they move from there and find something, it's an illegal search.

Depending on the state, you have numerous rights to protect you on your own property. Many of these rights extend to your front-lawn. However, the entry way to your apartment is not considered your property. Refuse to exit your property at all costs. Example: if you're drunk, them asking you to step outside your apartment and you doing so can then lead to you being arrested for public intoxication. A judge in Houston a while back claimed it wasn't entrapment because the occupant should have known he could have refused......

If pressed at your home, clearly state "No, I'm shutting the door now, come back with a warrant if you want anything else" and shut the door. If they decide to enter without cause after that, it's actually considered a home invasion (not like they'd get charged or anything). Take your licks and get a lawyer.

4. Remain professional and polite at all times even if the officer isn't. NEVER argue with a police officer. It's pointless.

An issue my brother had when he let an officer search his car and the guy ransacked it by dumping out his cassette drawer, pulling out his speaker box, etc was "He consented." Make sure you at all times make it clear you are not consenting to this search.

4. At no point resist the officer physically or even make a motion like you are going to stop him from affecting an arrest or detaining you. The only exception is if the officer decides to use excessive force in detaining you, which is legal grounds to resist arrest. It's also stupid as a cop doing this is likely corrupt enough to lethal force: take your licks, stay polite/non-combative, and get a lawyer.

Just never give a cop any information other than "yes" or "no" if you can avoid it when you're a "person of interest." Any statements to police should be done in the presence of your attorney. Decide how far you want to take a case if your rights are violated. The state is notorious for doing everything they can to drag out a court case to get you to fold. Since they have effectively unlimited money and public defenders are also underfunded, you'll be ice-skating uphill.

The best thing is to avoid confrontation. Dress respectably, be polite, keep your vehicle, person, and/or property clean and give the officer no excuse to fuck with you. Sometimes that doesn't even matter. A good friend of mine who happens to be an Iraq war vet was jogging in front of a school (during summer-time) and was hassled by a cop for 15-20 minutes for the crime of "Being Hispanic in Public."

Also: Comedy Option. Still hilarious.

[Alferd Packer]

Expanding a bit on the above, if they ask you any questions, politely decline to respond. Example: you get pulled over for speeding.

Officer: "Do you know how fast you were going?"
You: "Sir, I respectfully exercise my Fifth Amendment rights and will not answer any questions which could implicate me in any way."

The officer will probably shrug his shoulders and write you the ticket without another word. The advantage to this will be, then, if you want to fight the ticket in court. All records will show that you, at no time, made any statement regarding your guilt or innocence, and thus the only evidence that will enter into consideration will be, say, the officer's radar gun, or whatever method they used to decide you were breaking the law. The disadvantage, then, is that where you might have been able to talk your way out of receiving the ticket in the first place if you were friendly/contrite with the officer, you're pretty much guaranteeing yourself the ticket by clamming up.

[TheFeniX]

I forgot: know when cops are fucking with you in order to get a response. If they ask you stupid questions or semi-accuse you of something, they are trying to illicit a response from you and it works fairly well against the guilty. But it can also fuck you if you're innocent and just nervous as Hell.

I saw an episode of COPS where a police officer asked these two guys if they had any "guns, drugs, knives, rocket launchers, ICBMs." Most people would laugh. Their reaction of "no, sir" while nervously looking around tipped him off. He then searched the car and found drugs and guns.

A personal one was me pulling into a Whataburger at 2am one night. The only reason I stopped was I saw the 3 cop cars out front: safest fast food in the country. As I pulled around for my order, a police officer handed me my drink then asked where I had been. I answered and he said "Well, a vehicle matching your description was described leaving the scene of a burglary. 2 Cases of beer were stolen from a gas station."

I informed him that I don't drink beer, wouldn't have to steal it if I did, and I would have to be brain dead to commit a crime like that in my truck as it's likely the most conspicuous vehicle in the state. He responded with, "I just wanted to let you know." He was fishing for information from me, but I (unknowingly) didn't give him anything because I was more incredulous that someone could in any way mistake my truck with a different one.

So, know when cops are fishing and avoid the bait. Stay calm.

[Eulogy]

I guess it depends which country you happen to be in. In my home country there is basically no point in standing up to the police at all, because they have honest-to-Armok quotas for crimes detected and solved and will get their budgets slashed if they don't meet them, so are under extreme pressure to charge you with something and never mind the letter of the law. I think we have a very loose approximation of the 4th Amendment, but then again if the arresting officer simply invents some probable cause out of whole cloth after the fact, who is the jury going to believe? After all, you wouldn't be in the dock if you weren't a bad sort.

Though since criminal records in this country are basically ineradicable and ex-cons are about as employable as Roma gypsies or practicing Muslims, I suppose you might as well try.

How has the state not rotted away? Every non-policeman would eventually either have a criminal record (screwing them out of gainful employment) or have gotten the fuck out. At which point, only crime pays the bills and the police department has literally made a state full of (ex-)convicts.

If you mean "Politely and respectfully assert your actual civil rights while complying as best you can with lawfully given orders from the Cop"

This. If all cops were honest and good I wouldn't hear nearly so many stories of crimes committed by police. But I don't like the thought of there being NOTHING you can do to avoid being fucked over by the kind of "cops" Zaune describes.

[Purple]

How has the state not rotted away? Every non-policeman would eventually either have a criminal record (screwing them out of gainful employment) or have gotten the fuck out. At which point, only crime pays the bills and the police department has literally made a state full of (ex-)convicts.

That assumes that the people can actually get out. Countries like that usually have either repressive or apathetic governments, belong to the 2nd or even 3rd world and generally don't offer their people that much immigration opportunities. At best they will just be looked down on and ignored (think Balkan and north African states) and at worst they will be under outright sanctions (think Nork). No one wants to import some dude from genericdistantthirdworldistan when they have plenty of their own people to worry about. After all, one of the chief perquisites for widespread corruption like that is that the people can not fight back and have nowhere to go. If they can do either of those things the government has incentive to shape up.

[Zaune]

How has the state not rotted away? Every non-policeman would eventually either have a criminal record (screwing them out of gainful employment) or have gotten the fuck out. At which point, only crime pays the bills and the police department has literally made a state full of (ex-)convicts.

If the police had the resources to prosecute every single crime they detected then it would have, but they're as understaffed, poorly-paid and demoralised as every other public sector employee in Britain. When they don't have performance-indicator boxes to tick they'll pretend not to notice the low-level stuff, or hand out Fixed Penalty Notices (which I think are left out of a standard criminal record check) where strictly speaking they ought to be making an arrest. (Several senior judges do not like this, I might add, not least because you don't get to choose between accepting the FPN or arguing your case in court.)
And that's if you're unlucky enough to be caught in the first place; I remember hearing somewhere that when the London Met first experimented with static license-plate recognition cameras around the city, one car in ten was setting off an alert for no insurance, no tax etc. These are offences that can't be dealt with by simply issuing a summons or fine by mail, as the police are obliged to confiscate the vehicle if you can't prove it's a screwup on the part of their database, so a policy decision was quickly made to only divert the nearest patrol car for vehicles that had been stolen or reported as used in a robbery.

That assumes that the people can actually get out. Countries like that usually have either repressive or apathetic governments, belong to the 2nd or even 3rd world and generally don't offer their people that much immigration opportunities. At best they will just be looked down on and ignored (think Balkan and north African states) and at worst they will be under outright sanctions (think Nork).

That describes us pretty well, actually, though we're not quite Third World yet. You can also add the generally abysmal state of foreign-language teaching in the UK to the list of problems with emigration, at least outside of private schools.

[Knife]

You 'stand up to cops' by doing what you're told during the stop or whatever, and if you feel you've been wronged, get a lawyer after, or make an official complaint after. Or both. You don't win arguments with cops on the side of the road.

[Starglider]

That describes us pretty well, actually, though we're not quite Third World yet.

Mmmyeah. Of the thousands of people I've known in the UK none of them would agree with Zaune's assessment. I suspect some major disappointment when he finally emigrates to the US / Canada / wherever and discovers that things are pretty much the same. Personally all my encounters with the UK police have been very positive, on several occassions they were willing to overlook minor infractions by myself or people I was with, on 'common sense' grounds.

If the police had the resources to prosecute every single crime they detected then it would have, but they're as understaffed, poorly-paid and demoralised as every other public sector employee in Britain.

That would be the public sector that has undergone a rapid, continous expansion for the last fifteen years and which now beats the private sector in both pay and benefits.

[Alyeska]

Expanding a bit on the above, if they ask you any questions, politely decline to respond. Example: you get pulled over for speeding.

Officer: "Do you know how fast you were going?"
You: "Sir, I respectfully exercise my Fifth Amendment rights and will not answer any questions which could implicate me in any way."

The officer will probably shrug his shoulders and write you the ticket without another word. The advantage to this will be, then, if you want to fight the ticket in court. All records will show that you, at no time, made any statement regarding your guilt or innocence, and thus the only evidence that will enter into consideration will be, say, the officer's radar gun, or whatever method they used to decide you were breaking the law. The disadvantage, then, is that where you might have been able to talk your way out of receiving the ticket in the first place if you were friendly/contrite with the officer, you're pretty much guaranteeing yourself the ticket by clamming up.

Thats pretty stupid. They will quite likely take the cops word for it. I was pulled over for doing 25 MPH over the limit. The cop asked me what I was doing and I admitted the speeding. He asked me if I deserved a ticket and I said yes. I got a warning.

When it comes to traffic violations the truth will set you free. That and be very polite.

[Zaune]

Mmmyeah. Of the thousands of people I've known in the UK none of them would agree with Zaune's assessment. I suspect some major disappointment when he finally emigrates to the US / Canada / wherever and discovers that things are pretty much the same.

Actually, I'm expecting it to be considerably worse, not least because I'll be an immigrant and thus a target for the same irrational fear/hatred that gets Polish people into bar brawls with skinheads. On the plus side, I won't be in constant danger of getting sent down for two years for carrying a knife.

[Darth Tanner]

On the plus side, I won't be in constant danger of getting sent down for two years for carrying a knife.

Have you thought about not carrying a concealed weapon in the first place? I don’t think that many countries tolerate it if you’re that committed to going around with a blade.

That describes us pretty well, actually, though we're not quite Third World yet.

To describe Britain as a third world country suffering the level of oppression that Purple was talking about is rather ignorant and offensive. You wouldn't happen to read the Daily Mail would you?

You can also add the generally abysmal state of foreign-language teaching in the UK to the list of problems with emigration, at least outside of private schools.

Learning one additional language is still compulsory as far as I know; the fact that few take this further or succeed at it is hardly evidence of some state led conspiracy to control emigration when English is the international language anyway. Indeed massive numbers of English emigrate every year, with over 200,000 last year! Many of these even go to countries that... don’t speak English!

As to the OP, just stay respectful and honest. If a policeman is going to be an arsehole to you there is nothing you can do at that time, just either consult your lawyer or make a complaint later through the official channels.

[PeZook]

Wait, emigrating from the UK is hard now?

Seriously? I can't believe anybody can say that with a straight face. All you have to do is board a train for fuck's sake, and go to anywhere within the Schengen Zone. Go to a local magistrate/place of government to see what requirements there are for residents, rent a place find a job and you're done.

[Kamakazie Sith]

This post only applies to America and certain states at that. You should find websites/legal sources specializing in your area.

1. Keep answers short and polite: "Yes, sir" "No, sir."
2. State your answers to questions and desire to speed things up clearly and loud enough to not be misunderstood. If you find yourself at a loss at what to say, just state "Sir, is that all?"
3. If pressed, on say a search you don't feel is warranted, clearly state "No, I'd rather you not." If they try and press the issue, such as "If you have nothing to hide, why not let me search?" Again state, "I'd still rather you not." It's also illegal (at least in Texas) for an officer to hold you without cause while he waits for a police dog to sniff your car. Inform the officer of this if he decides to try, but do not resist either physically or verbally. Continue to express you are not consenting to the search.

Good advice.

4. In many states, a police officer cannot arrest you on your property or place of residence without a warrant or probably cause. Never let a police officer in your home if you can avoid it. If you do invite them in and you need to leave their sight (maybe to get ID, etc), tell them politely to not move from the entry-way. If they move from there and find something, it's an illegal search.

In the entire United States a police officer can't arrest you without a warrant or probable cause that you've committed an arrestable offense regardless if you're inside your home or walking on the street or inside a police station.

Depending on the state, you have numerous rights to protect you on your own property. Many of these rights extend to your front-lawn. However, the entry way to your apartment is not considered your property. Refuse to exit your property at all costs. Example: if you're drunk, them asking you to step outside your apartment and you doing so can then lead to you being arrested for public intoxication. A judge in Houston a while back claimed it wasn't entrapment because the occupant should have known he could have refused......

In most areas simply being drunk isn't enough to arrest someone. You need to be drunk AND a danger to yourself and others.

If pressed at your home, clearly state "No, I'm shutting the door now, come back with a warrant if you want anything else" and shut the door. If they decide to enter without cause after that, it's actually considered a home invasion (not like they'd get charged or anything). Take your licks and get a lawyer.

4. Remain professional and polite at all times even if the officer isn't. NEVER argue with a police officer. It's pointless.

An issue my brother had when he let an officer search his car and the guy ransacked it by dumping out his cassette drawer, pulling out his speaker box, etc was "He consented." Make sure you at all times make it clear you are not consenting to this search.

Good advice but not appropriate in all situations. For example, in my city if we get called to your home on a loud party and I can hear your music 50ft away from your property then I already have enough to cite you. If you play like you're not there then you will absolutely get a citation and it is simply forwarded to the owner of the home. In other words I don't have to talk with anyone.

4. At no point resist the officer physically or even make a motion like you are going to stop him from affecting an arrest or detaining you. The only exception is if the officer decides to use excessive force in detaining you, which is legal grounds to resist arrest. It's also stupid as a cop doing this is likely corrupt enough to lethal force: take your licks, stay polite/non-combative, and get a lawyer.

This is generally bad advice. Police carry weapons and will use them if faced with a physically resisting individual. If a police officer used excessive force to arrest me I'd just suck it up and then get a lawyer. Fighting back will just get you hurt and could damage your chances for justice because it shows that you resisted arrest.

Just never give a cop any information other than "yes" or "no" if you can avoid it when you're a "person of interest." Any statements to police should be done in the presence of your attorney. Decide how far you want to take a case if your rights are violated. The state is notorious for doing everything they can to drag out a court case to get you to fold. Since they have effectively unlimited money and public defenders are also underfunded, you'll be ice-skating uphill.

The best thing is to avoid confrontation. Dress respectably, be polite, keep your vehicle, person, and/or property clean and give the officer no excuse to fuck with you. Sometimes that doesn't even matter. A good friend of mine who happens to be an Iraq war vet was jogging in front of a school (during summer-time) and was hassled by a cop for 15-20 minutes for the crime of "Being Hispanic in Public."

Also: Comedy Option. Still hilarious.

Again, good advice.

[Norade]

I was drinking at a pub with a large group of friends and when I came home we all walked in on a party my 18 year old roomie was having. As we were taking a piss/grabbing more booze to move to another friends house with the cops came. They let the people throwing the party go, even though the guy throwing it was a renter. One of the idiot kids threw a wait at the cops so I was yelled out by a cop finger her gun. Bylaw were the ones who grabbed and fined the actual problem. Then, when I came home the kids, upset at the fine had smashed the windows out of my house, I called the cops and they said they had wasted enough resources on the house and wouldn't do anything. Also, even though under rental law I had the legal right to evict the guy who did it, they refused to help me evict him. Yet earlier that same month they helped me evict another room mate who had done lass damage and owed me less money on back rent and bills.

In the case when I was drunk, only bylaw saved me from the fine.

[Alferd Packer]

Thats pretty stupid. They will quite likely take the cops word for it. I was pulled over for doing 25 MPH over the limit. The cop asked me what I was doing and I admitted the speeding. He asked me if I deserved a ticket and I said yes. I got a warning.

When it comes to traffic violations the truth will set you free. That and be very polite.

Undoubtedly stupid, but refusing to answer any questions concerning your guilt or innocence is, realistically, the only way you can 'stand up' to cops without getting arrested for assaulting an officer.

Consider the following situation: you get pulled over for speeding, and you admit such to the officer. He issues you your citation and sends you on your way. He then goes back to his car and writes down an account of everything you said and did, including your admission of guilt.

Now, let's say you, for whatever reason, decide to fight the ticket. Maybe there was a legitimate emergency you had to attend to, or some other extenuating circumstances. Maybe you have a friend who's a lawyer and she owes you a favor. When you get to court, the officer will say that you admitted to breaking the law, and that will be that. Had you made no such admission, your options open up. Your attorney could show that the radar gun the officer used had not been calibrated in 6 months, calling the accuracy of the reading in question. She could demonstrate that the officer had not been certified (or recertified) in the radar gun's use. I'm sure there are other tactics she could use, but the point is simple: without your admission of guilt, you are free to fight the ticket as you see fit.

Personally, I think that being contrite and friendly will get you better results on average, but there are definitely situations where it will bite you on the ass.

[RogueIce]

Undoubtedly stupid, but refusing to answer any questions concerning your guilt or innocence is, realistically, the only way you can 'stand up' to cops without getting arrested for assaulting an officer.

Consider the following situation: you get pulled over for speeding, and you admit such to the officer. He issues you your citation and sends you on your way. He then goes back to his car and writes down an account of everything you said and did, including your admission of guilt.

Now, let's say you, for whatever reason, decide to fight the ticket. Maybe there was a legitimate emergency you had to attend to, or some other extenuating circumstances. Maybe you have a friend who's a lawyer and she owes you a favor. When you get to court, the officer will say that you admitted to breaking the law, and that will be that. Had you made no such admission, your options open up. Your attorney could show that the radar gun the officer used had not been calibrated in 6 months, calling the accuracy of the reading in question. She could demonstrate that the officer had not been certified (or recertified) in the radar gun's use. I'm sure there are other tactics she could use, but the point is simple: without your admission of guilt, you are free to fight the ticket as you see fit.

Personally, I think that being contrite and friendly will get you better results on average, but there are definitely situations where it will bite you on the ass.

Yeah, but isn't that tangential to the OP, which is asking about abuses of power? It's not exactly "standing up to the cops" to try and get out of a valid ticket issued for a legitimate infraction by means of a technicality. Unless you (the generic you, not you in specific) think that you should just fight anything the police do, regardless of its legitimacy. Which, to me, would indicate a default adversarial attitude when it comes to dealings with the police, and is a great way to get yourself in trouble one day (and certainly does nothing to make the "us vs them" mentality better on either side of the Thin Blue Line).

The best advice, if you think they're abusing their power (and no, issueing speeding tickets because "they have nothing better to do, why can't they go catch some real criminals" doesn't count) is to make a complaint later or take it to court. As I've heard it said, you won't win your fight on the street, so take it to the courtroom. And be as polite and courteous as possible.

To make an example, of the whole "resist excessive force/an illegal arrest" (the latter I've seen people advocate on here before): if you do that, and the Bad Cop calls backup, the responding officer could be the most morally upstanding police officer on the face of the planet, and he'll still pepper spray/tase you. Because he has no idea about excessive force or the legality of the attempted arrest; he sees you resisting with force against another officer, and will respond appropriately. And you'll just make things worse for yourself.

So yeah, the best way to "stand up" is to make an official complaint or fight it in court. Because you really aren't going to win on the street by making a big show of arguing with the cop. Maybe if you politely request a supervisor and can make your case to him/her, or a second officer happens to show up, you explain things to them and they take your side. But you shouldn't count on that, because the situation will not always present itself. Your best bet, as said, is to address it later in a formal, calm proceeding, not the 'heat of the moment'.

[cosmicalstorm]

There is a lecture given to a group of law students on youtube, which I've watched two or three times, concerning how to deal with police officers in the US. The second part where a former police officers reveals some of the trade secrets is especially flabbergasting, even to a real cynic like myself.

Part 1


Part 2

[PeZook]

Wait, so if I get this straight...a police officer can testify against you (He said he owned the axe) but not for you (He said the axe was stolen the night before) because the latter is hearsay?

Is that true?

[Kamakazie Sith]

I was drinking at a pub with a large group of friends and when I came home we all walked in on a party my 18 year old roomie was having. As we were taking a piss/grabbing more booze to move to another friends house with the cops came. They let the people throwing the party go, even though the guy throwing it was a renter. One of the idiot kids threw a wait at the cops so I was yelled out by a cop finger her gun. Bylaw were the ones who grabbed and fined the actual problem. Then, when I came home the kids, upset at the fine had smashed the windows out of my house, I called the cops and they said they had wasted enough resources on the house and wouldn't do anything. Also, even though under rental law I had the legal right to evict the guy who did it, they refused to help me evict him. Yet earlier that same month they helped me evict another room mate who had done lass damage and owed me less money on back rent and bills.

In the case when I was drunk, only bylaw saved me from the fine.

Everytime I read your story I'm amazed by it. Parties are probably some of the easiest calls for service period. You identify the home owner or host of the party then you deal with them. Makes me wonder if there's more to your story then you're aware of. However, the other possibility is that the cops in your area are suffering from serious lack of training issues. They wouldn't last a night in my city.

[Rahvin]

In California, when an officer takes your statement, you aren't even permitted to read and verify what he/she actually wrote down.

I was recently the "victim" in a nonexistent crime, but the officer who took my statement made it sound like a crime had been committed simply because the order of events in his summary of my statement was slightly off. If I had been permitted to read over and certify the statement as accurate, an awful lot of hassle and money could have been saved. I didn't even see the statement until weeks later when I requested a copy of the police report, after charges had already been filed. To make matters worse, the police lied to me in order to ensure I would give my statement. Talking to the police can be dangerous even if you are not the suspect, and should be done with care.

[Kamakazie Sith]

In California, when an officer takes your statement, you aren't even permitted to read and verify what he/she actually wrote down.

I was recently the "victim" in a nonexistent crime, but the officer who took my statement made it sound like a crime had been committed simply because the order of events in his summary of my statement was slightly off. If I had been permitted to read over and certify the statement as accurate, an awful lot of hassle and money could have been saved. I didn't even see the statement until weeks later when I requested a copy of the police report, after charges had already been filed. To make matters worse, the police lied to me in order to ensure I would give my statement. Talking to the police can be dangerous even if you are not the suspect, and should be done with care.

Interesting. Sounds like the officer wasn't paying attention.

If you don't mind sharing what was your story and how did the officers differ. Also, what charges were filed?