So, the police are investigating a crime, and in the course of their investigation, they come to chat with you about what you know or may have seen. You've done nothing wrong, so you have no objections to sitting down with the investigating officers and telling what little you may know. But the questioning becomes more intense, you find yourself stumbling over facts that don't seem important to you, but have the police pricking up their ears. And suddenly you realize that you're not just a helpful witness; now you're a suspect.
What did you do wrong?
The answer, unfortunately, is that you talked yourself into trouble -- yes, even innocent people can do that. You've probably heard that before from your paranoid brother-in-law, or a lawyer friend, but you didn't do anything. Who would have believed that your life could be turned upside down by a few words?
Prof. James Duane of the Regent University School of Law is one of the people who does believe that loose lips sink ... well, not ships, but reputations and even lives. In an engaging and lively 27-minute lecture (I know, I know -- but it's worth watching), without assuming any malice on the part of the police, he explains just how you can talk yourself into trouble, and why you shouldn't talk to the police at all when suspicion wanders in your direction.
Note an important issue addressed early in the video: There are now so many laws on the books that even the government can't tell you the number. The chance that you unknowingly broke a law or two is very high -- as is the likelihood that you just may confess to a crime that you never knew existed.
But Prof. Duane is a lawyer -- and an academic one at that. What do the police themselves think of the wisdom of spilling your guts in an interview with law-enforcement officers? Well, as it so happens, in the very same classroom, just after Prof. Duane finishes, Officer George Bruch of the Virginia Beach Police Department steps up to the podium and says ... well ... that Prof. Duane is basically right. In fact, Officer Bruch fills in a lot of important details about how people get themselves into trouble. Watch and learn.
Comments
it's true. it's so funny that almost 2 years ago I lived in the region where this lecture was held for the past decade and this truly hit's me in my heart because i talked to cops and they nailed me to the wall with some pot while nailing my good friend with a lb. of it & a illegal gun charge. he told the cops my weed was his weed despite dicks picked it out of my pocket. i love that man. in court one lied saying "he was asking for weed in the apt. hallway", and im thinking "why would i blow my boys spot up like that?". i just knew D was in trouble and i simply got caught knocking on the door. goto ratemycop, look up hampton virginia. you'll find dt. cooper. i live in hawaii now, it's great. everyone just cause ones a dick, doesnt mean their all asholes. cops should still be respected because they do the job we couldn't and they take the pigs comments personally because we are all human.
ian eleu makana makama'e allison-arnott
(i like ian, it's short)
i forgot to mention, my friend with the gun charge and the pound of pot got off on charges due to poor policing. i got a years probation for a couple grams with a huge fine & lot's of time off from smoking... nah, i aced my community service within a week and a probation officer let me off very early. hmm, any lawyers think i have a case?
haha, apparently i haven't learned anything from these videos and yet i agree with every word in them. aloha!
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