Cooperate, But Don’t Compromise
Video Transcript: Okay, so what are my rights? What should I do if a police stops and wants to talk to me? Okay. Hi, I’m Ty Smith, an Oklahoma lawyer with Wirth Law. And let’s say you’re walking down the street and a cop in uniform wants to speak with you.
Okay, what are my rights? What should I do? Off the top, let’s just lay down some ground rules. Number one, always stay calm. Don’t run. Don’t resist. Don’t obstruct this anything that’s done. Don’t lie. Don’t give false information.
Always keep your hands where the police can see them. I’ve heard a lot of people like to cross their arms because look, these hands are right up here. A lot of the business, if you’re going to do something dangerous would be down here. So keep them hands where the cop can see them.
First, this is just a general ground rule. So the question is, do I have to actually comply and stop? Yeah. Look, if the cop’s going to stop and talk to you, technically you can ask them, am I being detained for questioning? And if you’re being detained for questioning, the cop’s got to have a good reason for that.
You know, he suspects you’ve done something but a lot of times that can escalate the situation. If you feel you are not free to go, you’re probably not free to go.
If the cop’s asking you questions like, “Hey, where have you been tonight?” They can question you. Now, you don’t have to answer. You are not… No one can really force you to talk to a government official, except a judge, really. All right? A judge can technically force you to. But if a cop asks, “Hey, where are you going tonight?” You can say, “I am choosing to exercise my Fifth Amendment right, to again, self-incrimination.” I wouldn’t use those words. I would just say, “I exercise my right to remain silent.” And that’s it. They can keep questioning you, but you really don’t have to answer.
In some states, and this maybe wouldn’t be a bad idea, in general, you can, if they ask you for identification, ask you who you are and ask for proof of your identification, that you have to provide in certain states. It would be a good idea if they asked for it to just do that anyways, to provide that point.
But then after that, ensure that you know, and that the cop knows, that you’re choosing not to answer their questions and they can’t really force you to okay? Now, let’s say they want to patch you down. Do they want to search you? They ask, “Hey, do you mind if I search your person?” You can say, “No.” That’s perfectly fine. You might say, “Well, Ty, doesn’t that look suspicious?” Who cares? They have to have a good reason to want to search you, unless they’re suspicious that you’ve done something bad or they have probable cause to believe you’ve done something criminal, they can’t. You can consent to it, but that just means if they’re asking you to do that. That normally means that they don’t have probable cause and they’re just trying to see if you know your rights or not really.
The cop, however, can pat you down, if they suspect that you have a weapon of some type. They can pat down and just to make sure that they’re safe, because they’re concerned for their safety as well. They’re allowed to pat you down to make sure that you don’t have a weapon of any type on you. If they feel that weapon, they may ask to remove that from you, because if you were within your rights to have that, they may remove that weapon from you during the course of the conversation and then give that back to you. But once more, a lot of times they’ll actually ask you if you have a weapon on you before they pat you down.
Once more, you don’t have to answer that, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to say, to give, to be candid with them on that, but they can pat it down. You need to make it obvious and clear to them if you don’t consent to a bodily search. Say, “I do not consent to your searching of my person.” And it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to slow them down for any of that stuff, but you need to make sure it’s known.
Now, that’s some of the more basic things. We’re trying to keep my videos short and to the point. This one’s running a little long. Every situation with a police officer, it’s very amorphous. Very fluid. Remember to always do the things that I said at the very beginning. That’s why I said I’m first. I’m going to say it again. Stay calm. Be cooperative.
There’s no point in trying to escalate the situation. Relax. They step on your constitutional rights, that can be fixed later. Now is not the time. Go along with it, and if you feel as if your constitutional rights have been stamped upon, that’s something your attorney will help you with.
Now, if you want to talk to an attorney about this, I’d be glad to be that one. Once more, I’m OKC criminal defense attorney Ty Smith. You can find me at the Oklahomacityattorney.com, or you can call my office at (405) 888-5400, and I’d be glad to speak to you about some of these matters.
