The vast majority of Californians will never have an occasion to interact with one or more law enforcement officers. If and when they do, it will most likely be in connection with a traffic violation or collision. In some cases, of course, the interaction will be the result of having become the victim of, or witness to, a crime.
Most important among the things to remember, when being contacted by an officer, is to be truthful. Officers rely on citizens giving them factual and accurate information that is as detailed as possible. The statements made to an officer will determine his or her initial action following the obtaining of that information. Even when the contact is the result of a minor traffic violation, being honest may result in the officer giving a verbal warning instead of a citation to appear in court.
Intentionally lying to an officer has many serious consequences. First of all, it may delay or prevent the apprehension of the person(s) responsible for the crime and cause additional harm to the original victim. Additionally, when the capture of any criminal is delayed or prevented, there is a real likelihood that there will be subsequent victims of that same person. Numerous movies and television programs deal with the investigation of 'cold cases'. It is not uncommon that those cases could have been solved muh earlier if victims and witnesses had truthfully provided all the information they were aware of at the time of the crime. Everyone needs to realize that intentionally lying or withholding information from the police can result in criminal charges being filed against them.
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