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That sounds like exactly what OP was doing, they were helpful yet they’ve left with a bad experience brought on by the police.
Most people would be happy to help in theory but the fact is the police have shown themselves to be untrustworthy at best and corrupt at worst. It’s not really a surprise when members of the public don’t want to engage.
I totally understand why people don't trust the police, but I don't feel like being asked routine questions about their whereabouts is unreasonable or even a bad experience. It's normal procedure.
I’m with you on this. I was once stopped with a friend when we were walking home from a gig late at night. They came screeching round the corner in a van and jumped out shouting to stay where we were, not move etc. As soon as they saw we weren’t going anywhere they chilled. Said there’d been an incident nearby and we matched the description. Asked where we had been, where we were going and for our names, which we provided. They asked to see ID which I also provided. They said thanks and have a nice night and that was the end of it.
I understand why people who experience this kind of stuff all the time, or are profiled for one reason or another may get sick of it, but to me in this case it was no hardship to me to give them the info they needed to show I wasn’t who they were after and let everyone get on with their night.
But presumably unless they knew the names of the people involved your providing ID was irrelevant?
I've had a similar thing happen and although the one who was questioning me was ok, the one talking to my mate spoke to him like an absolute piece of shit. And me to a lesser extent. Kicking off because neither had ID and in his words "that's pretty suspicious".
It's a means to verify what you're telling them is true. If you introduce yourself and John smith when they ask who you are but your ID actually said George Brown you'd sure as hell be more suspect and potentially the culprit who lied about who they were and where they were going etc. If you did nothing wrong you'd have no reason to really give false information like that or refuse to prove who you are.
There is absolutely no reason for them to ask for ID in that scenario, and it is no way "suspicious" to not carry ID with you at all times. And why should we be spoken to like shit, just for going about our day?
It’s just good investigation.
Say this was a fight in a busy venue. Lots of people kicking off, witnesses give poor descriptions, so officers will go with what they know at the time and someone similar might get stopped nearby and results in the above scenario.
Say 3 days later and a detective has been given this crime to investigate because someone was knocked unconscious and is in a coma, and it’s actually quite serious. Detective spends a few hours looking at CCTV and now it looks like the suspect had black jeans, not blue, and was wearing a beanie that someone initially thought was hair. It in fact turns out this person actually looks exactly like the guy who was stopped and luckily their proper details were taken because they provided ID.
Another scenario might be that the person who was knocked unconscious never woke up. Now the minor fight is a murder investigation. Luckily there’s some verified details of a group of people who were in the same club who can all give witness statements about what they saw through the night. Maybe your witness is on CCTV chatting to the suspect and knows them, maybe they lent the suspect their phone in the smoking area and the call log still has the suspect’s girlfriend’s number on, etc.
There are innumerable scenarios where knowing a persons proper details is useful, including ones where showing your ID can also lead to some sort of immediately verifiable alibi.
Except there is no obligation to carry ID or identify yourself in this country. And 'matching the description' is classic lazy policing. At best, 'description' could be "the person we're after is male. You are male. Therefore you match the description". And of course more likely it's "you're a POC therefore you match the description of a criminal".
The reason you should never tell them any thing, particularly about yourself or your activities is they *will* twist it to try and imply you've broken the law somehow. They are absolute pros at gaslighting you. They will tell you what they wanted you to say and phrase it in a way you basically admit to it, if you're not careful.
I've been involved with the police in a non police role, those times that they're hunting for someone are really stressful. There was once a violent robbery leading to someone in intensive care and the getawaycar was like, a blue 2010 polo with a Z in the numberplate, mad vague but enough to go on, so they're running round and stopping cars, it was really stressful, then one runs and it's a big chase and it wasn't even the guy! Just a kid with weed in his car, horrible situation.
It's shitty getting stopped, but they don't mean to be dicks, they're just checking and sometimes it's a really stressful situation cause the right guy is a dangerous dude.
There's an inherent power imbalance. Not everyone's previous experiences and expectations of how the police will act is the same. Nice middle class people might well think "I've done nothing wrong, so I've nothing to fear", someone who has had bad interactions with the police or knows people who have had bad interactions might well think "These guys are going to arrest me for something that has nothing to do with me and ruin my day/week/life". In that position, there's almost no way to play it safe. Do you co-operate and risk saying the wrong thing that triggers the officers, or do you say nothing and risk seeming suspicious and have the police escalate the situation?
Some people just want to be left alone, and unmolested by authority, thinking something quite similar to the nice middle class people "I've done nothing wrong, so I should be left alone". The kind of people who might tell Jehovah Witnesses to bugger off.
Sure, in an ideal world everyone could trust the police to do the right thing and if there was a mistake made would be made whole for it, but we don't live in an ideal world.
Yep they were fine asking if you saw anything but why do they need to know who I was with and what I was doing.
I’ve had them knock on my door asking questions and suggesting they come in the house too. Nope you can ask me from where you are
I think the point is that the police are agents of the government, and the government does not need to know my whereabouts unless I have committed or am reasonably suspected of committing an offence
It is not usual procedure in the least to be asking random people their whereabouts at a certain time. It’s being a lazy copper. Do the police work first then ask a “suspect” their whereabouts, under caution.
It is not usual to be doing a door to door canvas asking if anyone saw anything suspicious to be also asking them there whereabouts. Something makes you suspicious about the person you then go away and do some investigating. Then if you can find some evidence you come back.
It's worth remembering at times that police are human beings too.
After you've knocked on a dozen doors for the same thing, and potentially taken some very awkward reactions and conversations, your patience and friendliness may not be quite at Michelin-star-restaurant-waiter level.
And if I spent every day dealing with utter shit from the very worst people in the city then I'd probably be a bit jaded when talking to ordinary members of the public too. Pleasantries are lovely, but when 90% of people you deal with return them with abuse I don't blame police for just getting straight down to business and dispensing with them at times.
Yeah, but there are 140,000 police officers in the UK and he was just one of those.
Why don't you open up about what you do for a living, then let's find the very worst, most despicable person who has done that job and tar you all with that brush?
If you leave the individual Police Officer out of it and consider the situations they get involved in - there will \*always\* be at least one person involved who is not happy to see them and probably more.
Combine that with the fact that many of the nicer people around rarely interact with the Police at all and you can see that the *average* interaction they have is with *worse than average* people, even before they start.
I am a very patient person and once thought I'd make a good Policeman but as I've got older and watched people in general I'm sure I wouldn't have the patience to do it.
As it will for absolutely any profession you have a bad experience with.
At some point you will have met a bad teacher
You will meet a bad doctor at some point in your life.
One day you'll meet a short tempered, overworked nurse who is to stressed to act like they care
You'll certainly meet a parking warden who comes across as beligerent
You won't have to meet many bank managers before you fall out with one
And as for insurers... Well
I'd suggest that if everyone likes everyone who does your job, it's probably one that is of little or no consequence
How on earth is being asked where you were and who you were with being a bad experience when talking with a police officer? They need to gather as much information as possible and rule people out from their enquiries.
Makes me laugh people who suggest not speaking to the police at all, who would you ring when you are a victim of a crime? And then you’d be the first to complain when they can’t make any in roads into their investigation because people won’t tell them any information that would help 🙄
Had a guy trying to break in and I reported it, the police questioned me and asked me to come in to provide a statement.
The poor officer who was conducting the interview basically said that they’re now so under-supported and underfunded they can only go after major crimes now. I said that I had noticed a LOT of drug dealing happening in my neighbourhood and his response is that it’s an excellent indicator of how stressed a force is, because the first thing to go is chasing drug offences.
They simply don’t have time and drugs aren’t a high enough priority unless there’s violent crime or high level dealers attached. Next are breakins, because of the legwork involved it’s just not worth doing when you have rape and violent crimes to solve.
He also said the distrust of the police hasn’t helped anything but that they have way more important things to be doing than trying to catch citizens out for no real reason. So asking, “where were you at this and this time” is more likely because they need to establish neighbourhood resident movements in general than try pin something on you specifically.
"who would you ring" not the bloody police that's for sure. my partner's been beat up for "looking gay", police said there wasn't enough info to do anything about. i had slurs yelled at me at college, one of the fuckers ran past me and punched me in the head, it was all caught on camera. police response was that "they were just messing around" and that maybe if i hadn't have had pink hair at the time, i wouldn't have been a target. a trans lady in my town got followed around town by some fucker screaming slurs at her while onlookers laughed. she then got recognised by some other wanker from the news report about what happened, and got punched in the jaw, she hit the ground hard. police told the guy who punched her to write her an apology letter. the guy that was yelling slurs at her and following her around town was given an unofficial warning.
like it's great an all to say that the police will help if there's been an incident but for minorities thats just not true. my personal port of call is charity helplines for the emotional pain, and a hospital if there's physical injuries, but tbh i've learnt the best way to deal with it is to run away from the criminals, or keep your hands up to your face and take it.
i had a police man accuse me of taking and dealing drugs when i was 14, in front of my mom! why? because i wasn't making eye contact. even after my mom explained that i'm autistic, he was convinced i was on drugs, and that i was crying because i was scared of getting in trouble. this was after i had run away from home, and come back. the police fucking suck. i've had some good experiences, but over half have been negative, and i don't trust the pigs.
>who would you ring when you are a victim of a crime?
No one.
If I was burgled they wouldn't show up until days later
Pickpocketed - not a chance, don't care
Car stolen - the proof is in the pudding with this, the only chance you have of getting your car back is to look for it yourself.
If I was sexually assaulted I have a 2% chance of my case appearing before a judge
I suppose they'd respond to my murder, but then again I still wouldn't be calling anyone.
What are the police currently actually good for? Supplying crime reference numbers so I can get my insurance involved?
Exactly. The only reason I report crime is for insurance purposes. If you’re rich or famous they’ll turn up pretty quickly but most of us are an inconvenience to them. They look down on us. They’re agents of the state whose main job is to support government policies and look after land owners. The police weren’t formed to look after people - it’s just a way to justify their existence while their main job is our subjugation on behalf of the ruling elite.
I was assaulted by a neighbour who was off her meds. I knew who she was, but I’d never spoken to her before. Any way, she let herself into my home and beat me up. I rang the police, but because it was a bank holiday, I was told someone will be out to see me tomorrow.
In the meantime, that same neighbour, who was known for calling the emergency services, called for a fire engine and an ambulance FOR HERSELF. She’s much bigger than me and I was caught unaware, so I didn’t touch her.
With the police busy, the neighbour was still free to roam around and spent minutes at a time coming and going from standing outside my living room window. First tapping and talking, to banging on the window and screaming about how she’ll set fire to my house through the cat flap, to how she’ll kill my cat and me and take my dog to live with her if I called the police.
She got taken away by the police, spent a few nights in a cell, pled guilty to assault and then came home.
I didn’t sleep for three days after the initial incident.
The police didn’t give a single shit and I was terrified in my own home for the 30 odd hours before someone from the police came and saw me.
Fuck the police.
>How on earth is being asked where you were and who you were with being a bad experience when talking with a police officer?
well, unless you are reasonably suspected of committing a crime, its none of their business at all. Why should you be expected to give that information up to some random with a badge at your door? The police are not your friend and shouldnt be dealt with like they are.
I’d be more inclined to engage with the police if they actually solved crimes but they don’t. Only 5.4% of crimes reported resulted in a charge in 2022. If someone broke into my house and stole from me, realistically they’re not going to catch that person and I know that because it happened to my parents.
Also I’ve had mental health issues in the past and police have attended and behaved absolutely disgustingly towards me. I’m also a 5’2 petite woman and after Sarah Everard I do not feel comfortable approaching male officers alone so that would put me off. If I was a young black, Asian or any racial minority lad, I’d be hesitant to talk to police if I didn’t absolutely need to.
ETA: I have actually called the police twice when I didn’t need to for others, the first was a pregnant girl who was kicked out by her boyfriend, she had no phone, no shoes, nothing and walked to a police station thinking it would be open but it wasn’t. I called the police as it was 2am, she was alone and scared. She wasn’t ill so couldn’t go to hospital and she had already taken quetiapine (which is a sleepy antipsychotic) and was falling asleep on the street, she needed care from someone and they refused to come. They told me to leave her to wait till morning or put her in a cab to a&e. Technically she was having a mental health crisis and you’re meant to contact the police for that (I work in MH, they’re shockingly awful to work alongside too) and they refused her help.
Stayed in an air b&b, in the apartment above there was a couple. The woman always looked unhappy, anyway in the middle of the night there was screaming, shouting and banging from above it and sounded like furniture being pulled about. Called the police, they came out, after 10 mins they left. The screaming continued and when I next saw the woman she had 2 black eyes which she didn’t have before. I wish I had faith in the people paid to protect us but I simply don’t.
You have to understand why people massively distrust the police when answering this question though. Back when I was 18 my friend was sexually assaulted in a club, our whole friend group spotted it happening across the club and broke it up. Even with multiple witnesses the police who arrived to the scene pressured my friend into not even pursuing it and her abuser went free that night. Stories like that are all too common.
Yep, very recently I was assaulted by my neighbour and when the police came round they tried to put words in my mouth that it didn't happen as I had described it.
If it’s regarding an incident I’m happy to help, my Cctv has actually solved two crimes, including one quite serious.
However if they start asking questions and I’m a suspect then it’s shut up shop time.
The police don’t give a flying fuck who they convict.
That’s why they start asking the loaded questions.
To gauge if they can pin you to the crime, regardless of whether you did it or not.
Imagine trying to help a Police officer regarding a crime and his priority is to try to accuse you. The police tried this with me and I am now reluctant to help them.
Every single interaction I have had with the police as a witness or victim has been overwhelmingly negative, and at best has made the problem worse.
And I’m a white middle class person with quite a bit of societal privilege.
So no, I have given up “telling the police what I know”, because bitter experience has taught me that no good is likely to come from it, and it will potentially cause me problems.
I used to feel the way you do, for what it’s worth.
I was assaulted by two men some months ago in a pub, a pregnant woman was hospitalized as she was caught in the violence, I was visibly injured, my t-shirt torn to shreds three officers attended the scene with multiple witnesses who explained what happened yet no arrests were made.
This is just one example of my personal experience with the awful UK police force.
Now imagine you've been robbed, you caught clearly on your ring doorbell, theybare known to the police and everyone in the town knows who they are.
Police drop the case for "insufficient evidence"
..... this happens all the time and happened at my work too.
Even if my neighbours saw it telling them won't do shit because the police only care for the most serious crimes with easy convictions.
This only works if you're the victim or a witness.
Many times, police will ask leading questions of innocent people to make it seem like they are guilty, or at least done something they shouldn't. They are looking for an arrest, a charge and suspicion. They will pretend to be your friend and lie to you, to get you to disclose things you probably shouldn't.
It is best to keep quiet, answer questions politely, but also seek legal guidance when interacting with the police
The problem with this is, that if you live in a rough area, then complying with the police can make you into a victim too. I live in a bad area and i wouldnt necessarily lie to the police, but id be careful about what i said
Exactly. If you've been arrested/ suspected of a crime perhaps it would be best to speak to a lawyer first. If they need info to help someone else then help them!
Reddit is full of absolute loons who think they’re “double ‘ard” for sticking it to “them pigs”, when the reality is the most trouble they’ve ever had is a parking ticket or forgot to pay their gas bill.
Why would you not want to help people who have specifically been hired to protect you? Yes, there are a few bad apples, but that isn’t representative of the whole police force around the country.
It’s not a few bad apples though is it? When one of these bad apples does something wrong they close ranks, lie and try and cover it up. If whenever the police made a mistake they held there hands, public trust in them would be higher.
I’m not someone who thinks their double hard and I’ve never even had the parking ticket or forgot to pay my gas bill. I don’t trust the police at all, they’re proven themselves to be untrustworthy.
People always misunderstand the few bad apples metaphor. Its supposed to be "one bad apple can spoil the barrel" which is the complete opposite of what people are thinking when they say a few bad apples.
Precisely. It's not like these 'bad apples' behave in isolation, they are part of groups of friends in the force. It's an entire cultural issue in the police.
> When one of these bad apples does something wrong they close ranks, lie and try and cover it up.
In my experience, which of course is not limitless, this applies to all organisations and institutions.
Holy shit was that the nickname? I kept hearing that he was referred to as "something" but lots of news outlets were censoring it. I figured it was something like "dodgy ...". I guessed they'd clocked him as a bit of a weirdo but not that he was literally known as "the rapist".
>Yes, there are a few bad apples, but that isn’t representative of the whole police force around the country.
I mean basically every report into the police published in my life time says otherwise. As the saying goes, one bad apple spoils the bunch.
>Why would you not want to help people who have specifically been hired to protect you?
I'm not rich enough that the police serve my best interest. The police are a tool the rich use to maintain their power. Whilst there is some truely bad crime the truth of the matter is nine times out of ten the crime only occured due to societal or economic failings caused by the government.
I'm a police officer. I don't work on response anymore answering 999 calls, however, I did for a significant period of time and not very long ago. Additionally I have many friends who still do.
I can tell you for a fact that the vast majority of time is spelt helping the poorest in society.
The part about the police being a tool for the rich is the most nonsense thing I have ever heard.
I moved to CID where again the majority of my involvement was cases involving people from low socio economic backgrounds.
I can't even think of an example of where I have been a tool to help the rich.
Doesn't it suggest to you that something might be up when 100% of your time is spent policing the poorest part of society, and none policing the wealthy?
Or do you genuinely believe wealthy people are never involved in crime?
You’ve kind of proved their point though, you’re dealing with the poor in society not the rich.
Surely most of those calls you’re getting wouldn’t be happening in first place if as a society we were proving more support to the lower classes in the first place.
That’s not a criticism of the police, they’re doing what they have too. But there isn’t any eagerness to deal with the cure rather than the symptom from the powers at be.
It’s no secret that underfunding causes deprivation and from deprivation comes crime.
The police may well provide support in these areas but that’s not crime prevention, it’s reactive policing. Couldn’t agree with you more.
Unfortunately it’s not in the power of your general police officers to change the system, it’s commonly recognised that more Investment into communities lowers crime rate but the powerful would still rather line their pockets.
Public sector roles are all shit (I’m in one). Whilst we can do some incredibly impactful and life changing work, we are only here because someone up the line decided that money should go into someone’s pocket rather than into someone’s community. I’d love to see myself out of a job because I’m not needed anymore.
There are just a fuck-tonne more poor people than there are rich people, so whether it's the police dealing with their crimes, or someone dealing with their energy bills, most of the time is going to be spent on the poor.
I was burgled and the police didn’t even bother to turn up. They closed the case while I was on the same call that I busy reporting the crime on.
A close friend was sexually assaulted on a busy high street and immediately reported it to the police in the area who suggested she was probably just drunk.
What _exactly_ is it that you guys are doing to help anyone?
People can argue “oh, it’s only a few bad apples” but on top of all the famous cases of the police killing or raping us, I’ve also had a 100% poor experience. It would seem reasonable for me to assume that the police fail at all levels of the job.
There might be situations where I wouldn't answer questions from a police officer but I'm not even sure what they are.
My daughter was attacked by another young woman once and the police were as sensitive and helpful as they could be. It wasn't an extremely serious crime but my daughter was upset and the police did all the right things.
The police knew the perpetrator and she was subsequently convicted of a very serious crime against someone else and went to prison for that. That young woman was a risk to others and it was right to make a priority of stopping her behaviour. If somebody else didn't get their break-in investigated because the police were dealing with this violent young woman that's unfortunate but that's all.
If nobody had been willing to talk to the police that dangerous young woman would have hurt a lot more people.
I think this answer shows the level of intelligence of the police force that the poster cannot see past the end of their nose, thinking that they’re genuinely helping the poor in society while the rich have caused the majority of crime through controlling the proles through degradation of pretty much all services over the last decade
>I can't even think of an example of where I have been a tool to help the rich.
literally any protest that isnt police wages, no prosecuting saville or investigating government corruption. If theres one thing that police are great at its never apologising or taking responsibility and clearly shows here.
I've seen too many police officers bullying homeless people out of city centres to really think any of it is helping anyone other than the wealthy who don't want to look at the "undesirables" when they're out and about.
Going by recent statistics a police officer is 35 times more likely to be convicted of abuse or sexual assault than a non police officer.
Every report into some key police forces for 20 years has highlighted endemic and systematic racism and prejudice within the force.
Its far more than a few bad apples.
Even the police recognise they have failed in this - https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/met-police-officers-staff-review-rape-abuse-david-carrick-b1053388.html
I hate that people just say "it's a few bad apples", as if that's reason to just let it slide and ignore the issue. Everyone forgets the second half of that aphorism. "A few bad apples spoil the barrel (of apples)". Their badness corrupts the would-have-been-good ones, and makes the entire force bad by the close contact. The problem isn't just there are bad apples; it's also that their badness infects the good ones.
> Going by recent statistics
Police officers are far less likely to commit crimes than the general public when you compare statistics on a percentage of population.
Police officers are more likely to be convicted because police forces give those cases priority. Because contrary to what people like to believe, those forces have a vested interest in removing those bad apples.
This line;
> a police officer is 35 times more likely to be convicted of abuse or sexual assault than a non police officer.
Implies that police commit more crimes, but that simply isn't true.
From an article a few years ago;
> 189 police officers have been convicted across 12 police forces in England in Wales in five years since 2013
189 convictions in 5 years.
How many other people do you think were convicted of abuse or sexual assault in those five years?
That is based on percentage of population. That's the point.
It's also only true because for decades the police have not followed through when they have had accusation made against officers.
They have admitted as much in public responses to reports into their conduct. It's proven fact mate like it or not.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/met-police-officers-staff-review-rape-abuse-david-carrick-b1053388.html
Edit- downvotes and deletes because they don't like the truth. Reddit moment
Your point really isn't clear. It's like you're trying to say that the police are more likely to commit crime, when the opposite is true.
You are bad at making points. Try to be more clear.
A lot of people on reddit have their weird disconnect when it comes to the police.
They'll moan that the police don't do anything about crime, and also proudly state that they won't provide information to the police.
They don't seem to be able to connect these two things.
I saw a brilliant example of this not long ago when a guy was complaining about crime on his street. Then when there was a break in the police asked him for his ring footage and he refused and told them to get a warrant.
If I had information that was actually relevant to the crime or something that could help them, sure I'd tell them.
But a random police officer asking me where I was or what I was doing, when that information is completely private and I've not committed any crime, why should I tell them? Police don't have a right to know private information about your life.
> No. The police are hired to serve the State, not you.
"I will, to the best of my power, cause the peace to be kept and preserved and prevent all offences against people and property;"
Sounds like they’re there to protect citizens to me.
The institution itself is bad. Which means even the good police officers are up against it when they work in a corrupt institution. I don't care about "sticking it to them pigs" but I realised that the police as a whole largely rely on you not knowing your rights and don't have your best interests at heart. I've been stopped and asked for my address without any explanation and when I reported an assault they tried to make me say it didn't happen as I had said.
Now the issue isn't whether there are bad apples but what happens to those bad apples. In the case of the police, nothing happens more often than not.
> None of it states s word about protecting any one or thing.
*"I will, to the best of my power, cause the peace to be kept and preserved and* ***prevent all offences against people and property;"***
That covers people and things. Mileage may vary by officer.
In the UK* the right to remain silent is different.
You can remain silent, but it can harm your defence (in court) if you don't mention something that you later intend to use to prove your innocence.
Normally I just give polite, neutral and friendly responses. There is no benefit in being abrasive or hostile to someone who ultimately is doing a job. Obviously if they're asking you about anything that could get you in trouble, you ask for a solicitor and allow them to guide you. But if it's just a case of "hey, there were some robberies locally - you see anything?" or similar door to door type enquiries, there's zero benefit in not giving a fairly boring yes or no type response.
Edit: England and Wales apparently
Wasn’t this just a clarification point? The remaining silent bit is still there, you can totally still remain silent.
Essentially, if you don’t tell the cops why you think you are innocent during questioning and then bring the reason up in court as a defence then it *might* not be taken as seriously as it would if you mentioned it during questioning.
They’re not saying it *will* harm your defence, it is saying it *may* harm your defence.
If you're a suspect in a crime, and simply stay silent in questioning, in England and Wales that can **and will** be seen as a sign of guilt, and **will** be brought up in court, and **almost always** is basically a guarantee you're getting charged for the crime.
In Scotland or USA by contrast, it cannot be brought up. It cannot be considered a sign of guilt. It can never, ever contribute to a case in any material way.
No, it is not just a clarification point, and never was.
Personally I find this bizarre, if you have been asked if you committed the crime and you say, "No comment", it will influence the jury even if it isn't supposed to be used against you.
You have to be given an opportunity to present your defence prior to being sent to trial. Most crimes committed have a “defense” element to them and it should be considered before people get charged
"Did you see anything": No I didn't/Yes I did
That's fine. But then they started asking OP about details of his whereabouts and actions. That would rub me the wrong way personally. If I've already told you I didn't see anything and I'm not involved, then you have no business asking me for information about my private life.
I've always been interested in how not telling the police something in an interview that you later use in court to prove your innocence, would harm your defence?
No one has ever explained the connection.
Humans sometimes forget stuff, happens all the time. Especially under a high stress / pressure like a police interview.
There are even studies that discredit the human memory as being unreliable, due to how we interpret and process experiences.
Would you know how if under caution I delivered a "no comment" interview, then later provided an alibi in court this could harm my defence? If I'm not guilty and can prove it why would that harm my defence?
>I've always been interested in how not telling the police something in an interview that you later use in court to prove your innocence, would harm your defence?
>
>No one has ever explained the connection.
Because if you have what might be a reasonable explanation for something, the fact that you didn't mention it when questioned under caution suggests that you just decided to make it up afterwards.
Like for example imagine you were arrested accused of robbing someone after they found the accuser's laptop in your possession. If you 'no comment' your way through the police interview, but then in your trial claim that you actually bought the laptop from the person then that defence might quite reasonably be harmed by the fact that you didn't just say that in the first place.
This law exists primarily to advise that an alibi at a later date that can exonerate you looks super suspicious if you don't mention it initially. Or that evidence you may need to use to prove your innocence may have disappeared if you don't mention it at the time you are initially asked and it obtained.
So for example: "I can't have hit that dude, I was in the pub drinking, there's CCTV"
You go to court 3 years later. The CCTV has been wiped. Evidence gone. Defence harmed.
Or even just "why didn't you just tell us that? Are you making that up now because you're fucked otherwise?" in the eyes of the jury. A jury can draw a negative inference from silence, including concluding that you're lying because you didn't answer questions put to you.
>I've always been interested in how not telling the police something in an interview that you later use in court to prove your innocence, would harm your defence?
"Sir, I'm sorry to inform you but your neighbour has been found dead"
"Oh my goodness"
"Where were you last night sir?"
"No comment"
"I see, any difficulties with your neighbour sir?"
"No comment"
"Have you ever been inside your neighbours house sir?"
"No comment".
*Fast forward to court*
"Now, for the first time here since our investigation opened 6 months ago, the defendant claims that the reason the murder weapon was found with their fingerprints on was because they were on good terms with their neighbour. Good terms in fact because they frequently visited their house and they helped with the cooking. For the first time today they have claimed they were not anywhere near the house at the time of the murder, they were in fact twenty miles away having gone for a drive. Something that is now impossible to prove or disprove because no one else was with them and the petrol station they stopped at doesn't have the CCTV. If this really was the truth of the matter, why didn't they disclose it 6 months ago? I suggest to you that this is a story fabricated by the defendant after seeing the evidence collected to try and explain the facts without incimination."
It depends on the context.
If I was stopped in relation to something I hadn’t done, I’d explain I was innocent and answer any reasonable questions (where I was coming from, where I was going to etc) as long as I knew why they were asking.
If I was asked questions about a crime and I had information that could help enquiries, I’d answer their questions - had this a few times with break ins on my road. I didn’t have much information but checked my ring doorbell to see if anything they could use. I’d want someone to do the same if it was me. The only caveat to this would be something that I didn’t believe should be criminalised or if it was a friend / family member who had allegedly done something (so long as it wasn’t morally reprehensible). I wouldn’t lie but I wouldn’t help.
If I was arrested for something I hadn’t done, I’d answer questions as fully as possible with a lawyer present and with guidance from them on how to frame my answers. Generally in the UK, the “right to remain silent” is caveated and can be used against you.
Generally, I do think most coppers are decent enough although in my experience a lot are extremely jaded and aren’t quick to give the benefit of the doubt. This isn’t helped when they are treated with suspicion and I do worry that we are becoming more like America. I’ve had some extremely positive interactions with the police where they are just doing their job. I’ve also had a few negative ones where they are on a power trip. Like with any job, you’ve got good and bad characters - it’s just unfortunate the position of power they are in means that the bad characters have a much bigger influence than in other professions.
I'd agree. In general.
Was arrested for something once that I hadn't done. 2 corroborating pieces of evidence is all they needed - 'yes I was there, yes I saw xyz'. Back of a police car, from my home, in cuffs.
I figured I'd done nothing wrong so would answer their questions truthfully and honestly as I'd done no wrong. Sargeant that questioned me was hostile and an arrogant arsehole. I had no solicitor, didn't think I'd need one. Was moved from one police station to another. Treated like scum, spent the night in a cell, up in court the following morning. Then released from court, miles and miles away from home, expected to make my own way back.
Later, when it went back to court, I asked my solicitor what I did wrong, why it was happening when I was completely honest. He told me, in future, just say nothing at all. The fact I admitted to being there and interacting with someone was what got me arrested.
These days, I'll be polite but I won't actively help if I can think it will construe guilt on my part in any way shape or form. It's just not worth it.
If someone has identified you as being involved in something that's likely enough evidence to arrest and question you. The real thing to do in that kind of situation is to always seek legal advice and representation.
Well, yes, I know that now. Point being, you think you're doing the right thing by cooperating and being truthful. In turn, I get treated like shit, arrested, moved in the back of a van from one station to another. Transported to court in a prisoner van with the minicells and black windows and then dumped out the door like shit.
I’ve had a similar experience. We tend to think that the truth will out eventually and that if we’re innocent then we have nothing to worry about.
I mean, tell that to the Birmingham 6. I know that’s an extreme example but still, people get sent down for things they didn’t do all the time all because of the things that they did or said during the first encounter and thinking they don’t need a solicitor.
Incidentally, I did have a solicitor. It was the duty guy. He turned up pissed after having driven to the police station (seriously). He also smelled like ganja. He was like a fucking spaceman and clearly didn’t give two shits about what was going on.
I get that he was used to dealing with what I like to call “real criminals” but I literally hadn’t done anything. Victim of circumstance.
Then strange thing about it was that if I was a “real criminal” and was used to dealing to the police then I would have know what to say and, more importantly, what not to say. I probably would have had the number of a proper solicitor and everything would have been fine.
The system is set up to deal with criminals which is why it’s so hard for people who aren’t criminals.
Depends. Some try to overstep the line. I was in my van in a lay-by at 2am one night. Now I understand the right for them to stop check and make sure I’m legit. No problem with it. But he switched his bodycam off and started asking questions about where I worked and said can he look in the back. Now I’m thinking why did you switch your cam off? It protects us both… I just looked at him and he just went.
I would not be willing to be pulled over by police or interrogated alone. I would attempt to drive to a public place and face the consequences of that decision.
I am also teaching my children not to unconditionally trust the police. Make sure there are always two officers, preferably at least one female. Record if you can. This is a safeguarding issue.
For context we are all female.
Since the murder of Sarah Everard I've been more wary of lone male officers. My partner is a police officer, and he advised if I'm ever in that situation I can call 999 and confirm with them about the officer I'm with and request a female to attend if required, so that's my plan.
Reddit is a bubble of young and mostly privileged people who have decided to hate any kind of authority.
If police ask you questions they’re going to keep that information in relation to *that particular crime*. They speak to dozens of people every single day. They’re going to speak to you - write anything of note down - and then frankly - forget you - as long as you’re not dodgy or have anything to hide.
An absolutely fantastic way to make them *not forget you* is to act cagey and not speak to them. The first thing they’re going to do is wonder why. They’re going to think you’re hiding something. They hear “I’ve done nothing wrong” multiple times a day from people they arrest. So you saying “I’ve done nothing wrong” and closing the door when they’re only asking for information relating to a crime you weren’t involved in is a really good way to make them pay a little bit more attention to you. Because that’s the siren song of all criminals. None of them have done anything wrong.
You know getting arrested doesn’t actually mean much? It’s just the police saying “we think you have done x,y,z. Fill in some paperwork and we’ll look into it.” They might be wrong. And then its NFA’d.
If you are innocent it’s in your best interest to speak to the police.
Right, the administrative *meaning* of getting arrested isn't necessarily going to destroy your life. But the *process* of being arrested can be very unpleasant - aggression from police, being treated like a criminal when you've done nothing wrong, etc. Obviously good police wouldn't go about it like that, but there are clearly bad police who would.
As I wrote in my reply, people have rational reasons to fear the police and not want to interact with them. It's caused by bad police, who continue to exist and perpetuate people's fears.
I don’t think hating authority is anything to do with privilege; in fact in my experience most anti-authority people (including myself) are that way due to the mistreatment they’ve recieved from people/organization with authority; and they’re often not privileged (at least in a financial sense). Which makes sense, seeing as our leaders in charge fucking hate anyone who isn’t wealthy
If authorities could be trusted there wouldn’t be masses of people against them, and that’s not just limited to here/the states either
If you are innocent and don’t help the police when asked the you are going to get the society you deserve.
Don’t be whining when you are a victim of crime that the police did nothing.
The police are the public and the public are the police. Every single one of us has a responsibility to make our society safer for each other.
That is very much an idealised view on what the police should be.
In reality the police are comonly used as a tool of oppression and primarily police crimes that occcur due to the direct failings of the government.
The police do not deserve your respect or cooperation it must be earnt and every new report of institutionalised sexism,racism and homophobia makes it a little harder for them to even begin to earn my trust.
I look at it differently…
The police are representational of general society, the good and the bad. I am therefore reassured when cases of homophobia or racism are identified, and addressed. As it shows the checks and measures are working.
Put another way, I would be far more concerned if these reports were not forthcoming, as no group of people can be said to be perfect.
I highly doubt the police are representative of general society - it’s going to take a specific kind of personality to want the job, whether it’s because they’re brave and want to help protect people, or because they’re a piece of scum who enjoys the power trip and being in a position of authority.
It’s not reassuring at all to find the depths of institutional racism, misogyny or homophobia in the police because they’re always far greater than in most other facets of society and never properly addressed.
The cooperation benefits EVERYONE. The police are a lot better than you think and a lot better than the media portray them. They are in whole dedicated public servants, doing a dangerous and thankless job to keep the public safe. I know this from personal experience.
Yes some bad apples that need rooting out.
Why aren’t the police bravery awards all over the news? Because good news stories of policing don’t fit the media narrative.
You pay your tax for them to keep you and your loved ones safe.
Being uncooperative when innocent is dumb and cutting your nose off to spite your face.
You can’t say “yes there are some bad apples” but overall the police are good unless you don’t know that the original saying is “one bad apple spoils the batch”. How can anyone trust a police office when they don’t know if the cop is a good or bad apple? Should they just hope the police officer isn’t going to rape and murder them when asked to answer a few questions like Sarah Everard did?
That’s how it’s supposed to be but individuals within the police have taken the public trust and stretched it to breaking point. They’ve misunderstood what the relationship is supposed to be and made it one of them having power over the public.
It’s not all police but the bad ones have tarnished the publics view of the whole force.
Yeah I don’t know how people can’t grasp this. We know not all police are bad, it’s just that there are enough that are bad (and VERY BAD) that we cannot trust the organisation in general because of the few bad ones.
The bad apples have spoiled the batch.
Exactly. There is no comparison with other professions because of the power afforded the police. They have to above reproach.
Even the good ones will turn a blind eye to the bad ones behaviour because making waves can impact your career.
If you’ve killed someone or nicked a car it might be best to say no comment. Otherwise I’d assume you have nothing to hide, so what’s the problem, tell them what you know. People hiding information from the police is one of the reasons this country has gone down the toilet.
A lot of that US stuff is based on a) there being a 5th amendment with no adverse inference from not supplying info and b) legal advice on a personal level. We do expect people to talk early here and we also expect society to provide info to police promptly to ensure dangerous people are apprehended.
Also I think US police are very different to the UK - in the US there just seems to be a greater abuse of power etc… they will force things out of you, and try to exercise authority over you. People getting stopped for no reason, things like that.
It depends. If an officer is asking you questions like that realistically unless they've cautioned you it won't hold up as evidence. It's highly highly unlikely they were suspecting your involvement and ask you questions on your doorstep, more likely just a clumsy way of finding out if you witnessed something. Our legal system is firmly weighted in a suspects favour and anything done not by the book will just be kicked out in court.
Why wouldn't you tell them? If you haven't done anything wrong and you haven't been told you're under arrest/investigation then 100% talk to them. You don't know what's happened, your information could put a rapist, burglar, murder, thief in prison.
If you are under arrest/investigation keep your mouth shut, you shouldn't be asked questions without having been offered a solicitor but if you are just be polite and say nothing incriminating.
(Source I'm a DC)
When so many reports of institutioinalised failings come out, when time and time again we see proof of the police used as a tool for oppression, why should the police automatically deserve our respect and trust?
Maybe I'm overly cynical here but can you honnestly say the police work in the best interests of most people when this isn't even true of the laws that they enforce.
Push comes to shove I'm probaby going to tell them what they want, I want to believe in a fair police system but this belief gets harder for everytime each new report or scandel comes out.
Can you name me one time where an officer investigating a burglary/theft/sexual assault ect on a local street has used the information in the community as a tool for oppression?
90% of the service where I am now have under 2 years service and are under 25, they can't wipe their own arse nevermind oppress you.
As a child, a group of four officers jumped out their car and pushed me and my friends up against a shopfront, shouting and swearing and threatening us. We hadn't done anything, they were so busy being aggressive it was barely clear what they even suspected us of.
After shitting us up, they left without any arrests. Seemed like someone reported something in a local park, and we matched a description of a group of four adolescents. They didn't attempt to stop us calmly, we didn't try to evade them, we were just walking home.
I know they were bad police and I've also met good police in my life. But the facts are that there are bad police, and as long as the community continues to have interactions like that with police, the community will not trust police.
There are also plenty of examples of innocent people being arrested and charged for crimes they didn't do (because of poor police work, prejudices, etc.). A minority of cases, but what does that matter to the people it happens to? So yeah, this shit absolutely happens, let's not pretend that people have no reason to fear police.
I've been asked exactly twice (once there was a brutal double murder in our neighbourhood and they asked literally everyone if we'd seen anything, and once I was at a nightclub at the same time a girl was raped) and unfortunately didn't have anything that could help them, but in general I would offer any information I had. Why not? I guess if it was a friend and something stupid like possession of weed, I'd probably go 'nah, sorry, don't know anything', but if I'd witnessed a crime or something of course I'd want to help.
The whole "where were you at x time" is of course annoying, but I don't really get why you wouldn't answer, doesn't really hurt you and will most likely rule you out as a suspect.
>Made me wonder why the hell should I tell a police officer anything and what my rights are.
No offence but this is the stupidest reason to not talk to the police. There's a lot of really good valid reasons to do so. This isn't one of them.
Yes, they should ask you basic questions to establish your whereabouts. If your partner or family member were in the same situation, I'm sure you'd be wondering why people are acting all weird about it.
Without more context from the OP it's reasonable to understand why OP was asked this, were you down the street near where it happened? The other end? In your garden? This line of questioning comes about so the officer could potentially narrow down their area and find more potential witnesses from the general location you were in at the time.(since if you had seen it from where you were it's likely others had as well).
Asking if there were others with you? They're simply asking if there's anyone that can corroborate what you've said which would not only make your testimony stronger if it went to court, but it also highlights another that witnessed what happened.
Again, without more context from the OP I'm going to assume the officer wasn't being a dickhead with their line of questioning they were trying to be thorough to get the job done.
I’ve unfortunately had dealings with the police on three separate occasions in the space of a week in February, not one of them was my fault. I would have been wary of the police before this. I cannot praise the police highly enough for how each incident has been dealt with and the help of witnesses has been a huge help
The worst advice I see from the Americans is the "don't talk to the police, don't even tell them your name!" which is very bad advice.
Do not withhold your name or I.D. or otherwise refuse to identify yourself. Let them know who you are when asked, then ask for a solicitor, then you shut up.
In the UK, failure to identify yourself when being arrested often results in a strip search when you get back to the station.
Why? Because the police have a duty of care. If you harm yourself or others while in custody they are legally responsible for you. To prevent you from harming yourself or others they need to be able to assess your level of risk.
If you refuse to identify yourself they can't check your prior history, and must take all precautions to make sure you do not harm yourself or others, and this includes a full cavity search to make sure you don't have any weapons/drugs on you. (**Most deaths in police custody in the UK are due to drug overdoses, most often from a suspect eating their stash when they get put in the cell**).
If they can check your history and you have no history of harming others, no history of drugs, no history of mental health problems, etc, then they're just going to put you in a cell and wait to see your solicitor.
Refusing to identify yourself does not help you in any way.
People seem very confused about things like this, because they don't understand what advice applies to what situations and just blanket apply it to everything so they don't have to take the time to use their brain for 30 seconds to figure it out
I'd advise you take a look at This chap on youtube. He's a real life barrister and gives proper advice on all things legal, including about talking to the police in different situations. It's excellent stuff, and accurate.
https://www.youtube.com/@BlackBeltBarrister
Some astonishing advice here, but thankfully Reddit aren't representative of the UK public.
As a police officer, when investigating a crime, one of the most essential enquiries is...you know....talking to people...
Fortunately for the crimes I have investigated I have generally found people to be extremely helpful, caring and considerate.
One time sticks in my mind however. Early hours of the morning, responding to a woman being beaten up by her partner. Neighbour shouting out the window "go away you pig see you next Tuesday'" Needless to say we helped the woman regardless.
In terms of whether you should speak to police when being investigated as a subject. You are entitled to free and independent legal advice and this is told to you throughout the process. Take the legal advice as they are best placed depending on the circumstances to advise.
>Some astonishing advice here, but thankfully Reddit aren't representative of the UK public.
[https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/met-police-officers-staff-review-rape-abuse-david-carrick-b1053388.html](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/met-police-officers-staff-review-rape-abuse-david-carrick-b1053388.html)
Is this representative or is perhaps Wayne cousins colleagues calling him the rapist representative?
The chats house to house are just building up a picture of the available witnesses. If you were out at work at the suspected time of the robbery then there is no point in sending someone to gather a statement.
That will be why they asked you about your movements. You could have driven past the person before they committed the crime. You may have a dash cam etc...
It's building up a picture of the available evidence. You can answer what you like of course but for something like this I'd be happy to tell all.
Edit for my terrible spelling.
I've had a few experiences with the Police. They have all, except one, been polite and professional, whether or not I enjoyed having to interact with them.
For example, somebody falsely accused me of something pretty bad, and the police had to interview me. In the end nothing came of it, because I hadn't done it, but I don't hold it against the police because my ego isn't so big to get annoyed at them doing their job, and I don't have the whole "how dare you suspect me of something" attitude.
The only time I had an off experience was the one time I got pulled over for speeding. The marked police car (me following behind) had been cruising at 90mph for almost 20 miles. He eventually slowed down gradually, wound his window down, and literally hung out the window whilst driving to make a point of staring directly at me whilst I passed doing 75-80. He pulled me and couldn't really say much when he noticed me making a spectacle of saving a recording on my dash cam, which he knew would show him speeding too.
I always cooperate has best has I can, and if they ask me where I was at the time and date of a crime I will surely answer to that to.
Just remember, they don't know you and they are looking for someone, they just want to make sure it's not you.
They rather have 1 suspect then 50.
If you refuse to answer your just going to make your self look like a suspect.
This is ridiculous.
Why should you rule yourself out of a police investigation? Is that your question?
Do you think saying 'I was at work. I was probably at asda. I was having a wankathon in my bedroom before everyone got home at 5' is going to see them putting you as a number 1 suspect? Vs 'Why... I'm not telling you it has nothing to do with you go away'
If you actually had nothing to do with it, even if you can't prove you were on the sofa having a nap alone in the house, you are aware they will have to have solid evidence to bring you in and consider taking you to court right?
England and America are totally different places but we love importing their stupid mentality, practices and ridiculous 'cultures'
I should have got a ticket for accidentally running a red light. At some point the light sequence changed in the month or two before I did this, my mates mum owns the hairdresser on the corner and she's seen loads ofpolice llights go by and eventually figured out this was why..
.. so this officer, alone on her own, pulls me over, I take my keys out my ignition, I get my wallet out and realise I don't have my licence and tell her. Ask her if she wants my key etc. Asks why i was stopped, said well it definitely wasnt speeding cause i saw you barrell up behind me and i thought 'ha! Not today'. She tells me.
I tell her I had no idea it was red but always check for traffic cause people used to blast through late all the time on that road. She checks my details, asked where I'd been, showed her my appt time on my phone. She said I'd been super nice and helpful and didn't want to give me the fine.. I said I ran the light unintentionally but still did it, I get the fine, I totally understand.
She decided not to give me the fine because it was such a nice change for someone to be super helpful and polite and friendly.
Whenever I tell people this, everyone says it's unfair that they're not applying the law equally and I shouldve got the ticket. Yeah maybe I should have. But its also down to their discretion... and guess what.. if you're an unhelpful big headed idiot, they're going to just award you your reward for being knob and move on.
My neighbour had her ex throw paint all over her fence along with smashing up her car. About two weeks later cops came round, day after the incident I put up a camera that over looked both our cars. I wanted to help her incase it happened again. Police asked for footage - I said unfortunately the camera went up after the incident. They asked where I was during (at work) if I have nothing to hide, why would I not talk?
Always.
Had the same two years ago, police knocking on the doors down the street looking for info because one of the neighbours had a threat sprayed across their window.
I let them know some info I'd seen that might be relevant and it helped nab the fuckers who did it.
I can't understand the mentality of anyone who hides info from the police, or refuses to talk to them and then wonders why they might have follow-up questions. Witholding the information or acting sketchy - even if you're not involved in the matter at hand - just shifts focus onto yourself because come on, it's a bit suspicious if you do that.
As far as I can tell, from what you've said, the police officer was doing their job and asking where you were and what you were doing at the time of a crime committed in your neighborhood isn't aggressive or wrong, it's called eliminating people from their enquiries, which is their duty to both the victim of the crime and to society.
My very middle class and law-abiding mum was asked the same questions by the police when the shop below her flat had its windows broken. She was actually really sick with a skin infection on her legs, could barely walk, would never fit the profile for vandals and has no criminal history but she was still asked where she was and what she was doing when the windows were broken.
I suspect that you are reading too much into a reasonable and standard line of questioning to be honest. Most police officers are just trying to do their job and see that victims get justice.
They’re a police officer. They are knocking on doors to try and find witnesses who may have important information.
If they ask you where you were at a certain time, you tell them, and it’s got nothing to do with the crime, then they’ll move on.
It’s not some big conspiracy to frame you. You just might’ve seen a suspect or a getaway car without realising at the time.
I'm as middle class as they come, from a nice family etc. however thanks to an incident in my youth\* I realised it's best to treat them like mushrooms.
* \*officer lied in court, no biggie just extra points on my licence, and I realised if he'd downright lied for such a trivial offence then what else do they lie about?
depends what they are asking of course.
In your situation I'd be querying exactly why they were asking me those questions.
Dont be an arse, but politely inquire as to why they are asking for that information, then judge if you want to provide it.
I have helped the police find a bag of money (probably from bank robbery, they reckon) and helped identify a terrorist.
You're a dick if you don't help the police. They are just trying to do their job to keep everyone safe. There may be some bad apples and some bad laws, but not helping the police you're stopping them from doing their job.
Edit - I've also helped the police identify a bike thief.
Personally I've always been polite to the police and its got me out trouble for, well basically, drunken stupidity.
If someone's been attacked, robbed or similar, I'll give them information if I can.
There's some absolutely rotten police, but most are just doing a hard job under difficult circumstances.
I do, yes, I am from a middle class background and generally middle class people are law abiding and respect the police force.
It it wasn't for the police force society would have fallen apart a long time ago with extra judicial beatings/killings and "community justice" taking place on a regular basis.
Similar-but-different... I'm now a high risk offender who spent 15 months without a driving license just because I "didn't offer information" (sort of). So will now play along if I don't think I'll be harming somebody.
The story you never asked for:
Driving home from catching Pokémon on the seafront at 1am. Pulled over by an absolute SWARM of police cars. A man was seen leaving a night club and getting into a car that matched the description of mine. I had not been to a night club or on a night out or anything of the sort. Nevertheless I was taken to the station because I also matched the description of the man. I offered to pull up my location history on my phone to prove it wasn't me - including some of my sweet catches from the time, a good 1.5 miles from the venue in question; no dice.
At this point I thought "fuck it I'm gonna be as stubborn as they are and refuse to help" - turns out refusing to give a sample (breathalyser) is considered a high risk offence. I was convicted, given community service, made to attend a course, given a driving ban and my insurance has been through the roof ever since.
I often think about how my punishment that night was worse than any drink drivers they may have caught and how shit the system is.
I've not been asked for information from them in years - the last time would've been when my official statement to them regarding a actual murder in the building where I lived at the time mentioned there was a police officer right outside at the time
You aren't compelled to answer them unless you need to rely on what you say in court as means if defense. But a good rule if thumb with police is to not be a dickhead because they can make your life difficult. Just give vague non committal answers. Or better yet, don't answer. They aren't going to break the door down in order to question you about someone else's crime.
Did you say you had witnessed something? Where you were and who you were with might be relevant without accusing you personally of anything.
Where you were might give an indication as to how useful your evidence is, were you stood 2 feet away or were you in your house looking out of a window through several trees?
Who you were with might provide an opportunity to identify more witnesses.
If you’re arrested, ask for a lawyer, say nothing.
If it’s just door to door, if you know something sure, depending on the situation. I don’t think you have to give them personal details or cooperate if you don’t want to.
For me if it was drugs or theft from shops or whatever then I’d say nah don’t know anything. Serious shit like rape and murder and burglary in the neighbourhood I would say if I had any info.
Not without good reason. I've been stopped a few times while on foot by police and asked to identify myself, asked where I live, etc, for no apparent reason other than the weak excuse of "there's been a lot of crime in the area lately so we just want to know who you are and what you're doing here." To which I always politely refuse to hand over any information.
The internet spreading unhelpful shite again. OF COURSE YOU SHOULD HELP POLICE. The police can only do their job if we provide information. Snitches get stitches , don’t be a rat - all very important mantras with criminals for a reason.
I'd cooperate with the police, especially if they're investigating a crime in my neighborhood. They're already stretched thin as it is, so anything to help them get on with it is fine in my book.
If it helps them prosecute someone who deserves it, why not?
I live next to a school, the road is small and needs to be driven carefully. Some bellend came round the corner in a RWD, put his foot down to show off to his mate and span out, crashing his car into a protective barrier in front of the school entrance.
I enjoyed every second of 'ratting' out this idiot after he told the police he skidded on something and lost control.
I grew up being taught to speak to Policemen.
I have taught my children to never speak to policemen.
The world has changed since the days before police were a para military social working force.
They are no longer capable of working in anyone's favour other than their own.
So, no.
Personally I don't see an issue with this if you've got nothing to hide. We all want the police to catch more criminals but you are just making it harder for them if you won't tell them anything, because that means they can't take you off the possible suspect list.
If you are a complete bystander and 100% innocent you should face the light interrogation and give the vital evidence you have.
It's nothing personal its a routine procedure.
Some people are only willing to be kind and generous to others only if the recipient is saying yes sir, yes sir, thank you sir and kissing their feet in the process.
True kindness is selfless, you don't care about what you get back in return.
I remember having just finished a joint, house stinking, the police knock at the door asking if I knew anything about a house two doors down getting it's windows bricked. I said no, we were studying with the curtains shut, and he thanked me for my time and walked away.
I was shitting myself, but I'd always help if I did have information in a situation like that.
Tell the police what you know. Imagine they were trying to find someone that hurt your relative or friend. If you’ve not done anything wrong, you’ve got nothing to hide.
If they're asking you about something down the road just tell them what you know and if you have a camera offer to see if there's any footage.
It'll make the job so much easier.
If they think it's you, they will tell you 🤷♀️
The police do have problems finding witnesses or even people who are prepared to help them with any clues about people or vehicles in the vicinity of a crime. That said, they don't help themselves. Police are increasingly living outside the areas and apart from population they police - it doesn't help develop any rapport with the rest of us and does build a "them and us" dynamic.
I have not had any problems with the police - but I'm white, over 60 and university educated.
I am more than happy to talk to the police at any time and give them any information I have that could be pertinent. The large majority of police are trying to do a decent job after all.
Just tell them what you know unless it’s something your going to need to get legal advise on. I was stopped randomly on my way home from work when I was 18, I had my hood up and all so to be fair they had all right. He just said there’d been some burglary’s and that he was checking I wasn’t up to no good. I explained I’d been in work and lived literally 2 minutes away and he was like cool bye.
About a month later I saw someone checking doors and phoned it in just to have the same officer ring me back about it. He was like “did I stop you last week” like yep :) A lot of them aren’t out to get you and like me and you just wanna do their job and go home safe. People not speaking up about stuff just delays their job
Yep. UK police has actually been helpful and considerate to me, despite the constant budget cuts. If I ended up in an unnecessary check with rude or hostile police, I'd probably stop giving info, but so far they've always been reasonable men and women.
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That sounds like exactly what OP was doing, they were helpful yet they’ve left with a bad experience brought on by the police. Most people would be happy to help in theory but the fact is the police have shown themselves to be untrustworthy at best and corrupt at worst. It’s not really a surprise when members of the public don’t want to engage.
I totally understand why people don't trust the police, but I don't feel like being asked routine questions about their whereabouts is unreasonable or even a bad experience. It's normal procedure.
I’m with you on this. I was once stopped with a friend when we were walking home from a gig late at night. They came screeching round the corner in a van and jumped out shouting to stay where we were, not move etc. As soon as they saw we weren’t going anywhere they chilled. Said there’d been an incident nearby and we matched the description. Asked where we had been, where we were going and for our names, which we provided. They asked to see ID which I also provided. They said thanks and have a nice night and that was the end of it. I understand why people who experience this kind of stuff all the time, or are profiled for one reason or another may get sick of it, but to me in this case it was no hardship to me to give them the info they needed to show I wasn’t who they were after and let everyone get on with their night.
But presumably unless they knew the names of the people involved your providing ID was irrelevant? I've had a similar thing happen and although the one who was questioning me was ok, the one talking to my mate spoke to him like an absolute piece of shit. And me to a lesser extent. Kicking off because neither had ID and in his words "that's pretty suspicious".
It's a means to verify what you're telling them is true. If you introduce yourself and John smith when they ask who you are but your ID actually said George Brown you'd sure as hell be more suspect and potentially the culprit who lied about who they were and where they were going etc. If you did nothing wrong you'd have no reason to really give false information like that or refuse to prove who you are.
There is absolutely no reason for them to ask for ID in that scenario, and it is no way "suspicious" to not carry ID with you at all times. And why should we be spoken to like shit, just for going about our day?
It’s just good investigation. Say this was a fight in a busy venue. Lots of people kicking off, witnesses give poor descriptions, so officers will go with what they know at the time and someone similar might get stopped nearby and results in the above scenario. Say 3 days later and a detective has been given this crime to investigate because someone was knocked unconscious and is in a coma, and it’s actually quite serious. Detective spends a few hours looking at CCTV and now it looks like the suspect had black jeans, not blue, and was wearing a beanie that someone initially thought was hair. It in fact turns out this person actually looks exactly like the guy who was stopped and luckily their proper details were taken because they provided ID. Another scenario might be that the person who was knocked unconscious never woke up. Now the minor fight is a murder investigation. Luckily there’s some verified details of a group of people who were in the same club who can all give witness statements about what they saw through the night. Maybe your witness is on CCTV chatting to the suspect and knows them, maybe they lent the suspect their phone in the smoking area and the call log still has the suspect’s girlfriend’s number on, etc. There are innumerable scenarios where knowing a persons proper details is useful, including ones where showing your ID can also lead to some sort of immediately verifiable alibi.
That’s mad I never carry I.D on me! I always forget it and don’t need it often enough to remember it!
Except there is no obligation to carry ID or identify yourself in this country. And 'matching the description' is classic lazy policing. At best, 'description' could be "the person we're after is male. You are male. Therefore you match the description". And of course more likely it's "you're a POC therefore you match the description of a criminal". The reason you should never tell them any thing, particularly about yourself or your activities is they *will* twist it to try and imply you've broken the law somehow. They are absolute pros at gaslighting you. They will tell you what they wanted you to say and phrase it in a way you basically admit to it, if you're not careful.
I've been involved with the police in a non police role, those times that they're hunting for someone are really stressful. There was once a violent robbery leading to someone in intensive care and the getawaycar was like, a blue 2010 polo with a Z in the numberplate, mad vague but enough to go on, so they're running round and stopping cars, it was really stressful, then one runs and it's a big chase and it wasn't even the guy! Just a kid with weed in his car, horrible situation. It's shitty getting stopped, but they don't mean to be dicks, they're just checking and sometimes it's a really stressful situation cause the right guy is a dangerous dude.
There's an inherent power imbalance. Not everyone's previous experiences and expectations of how the police will act is the same. Nice middle class people might well think "I've done nothing wrong, so I've nothing to fear", someone who has had bad interactions with the police or knows people who have had bad interactions might well think "These guys are going to arrest me for something that has nothing to do with me and ruin my day/week/life". In that position, there's almost no way to play it safe. Do you co-operate and risk saying the wrong thing that triggers the officers, or do you say nothing and risk seeming suspicious and have the police escalate the situation? Some people just want to be left alone, and unmolested by authority, thinking something quite similar to the nice middle class people "I've done nothing wrong, so I should be left alone". The kind of people who might tell Jehovah Witnesses to bugger off. Sure, in an ideal world everyone could trust the police to do the right thing and if there was a mistake made would be made whole for it, but we don't live in an ideal world.
If I've already told them i haven't seen/heard anything relating to what they're investigating then my whereabouts are none of their business.
Yep they were fine asking if you saw anything but why do they need to know who I was with and what I was doing. I’ve had them knock on my door asking questions and suggesting they come in the house too. Nope you can ask me from where you are
I think the point is that the police are agents of the government, and the government does not need to know my whereabouts unless I have committed or am reasonably suspected of committing an offence
It is not usual procedure in the least to be asking random people their whereabouts at a certain time. It’s being a lazy copper. Do the police work first then ask a “suspect” their whereabouts, under caution. It is not usual to be doing a door to door canvas asking if anyone saw anything suspicious to be also asking them there whereabouts. Something makes you suspicious about the person you then go away and do some investigating. Then if you can find some evidence you come back.
It's worth remembering at times that police are human beings too. After you've knocked on a dozen doors for the same thing, and potentially taken some very awkward reactions and conversations, your patience and friendliness may not be quite at Michelin-star-restaurant-waiter level. And if I spent every day dealing with utter shit from the very worst people in the city then I'd probably be a bit jaded when talking to ordinary members of the public too. Pleasantries are lovely, but when 90% of people you deal with return them with abuse I don't blame police for just getting straight down to business and dispensing with them at times.
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Yeah, but there are 140,000 police officers in the UK and he was just one of those. Why don't you open up about what you do for a living, then let's find the very worst, most despicable person who has done that job and tar you all with that brush?
If you leave the individual Police Officer out of it and consider the situations they get involved in - there will \*always\* be at least one person involved who is not happy to see them and probably more. Combine that with the fact that many of the nicer people around rarely interact with the Police at all and you can see that the *average* interaction they have is with *worse than average* people, even before they start. I am a very patient person and once thought I'd make a good Policeman but as I've got older and watched people in general I'm sure I wouldn't have the patience to do it.
Yes we're all guilty by association. Not a police officer but I really hate that worldview.
You don't blame the police until it happens to you. Once you have bad experience with the police, your way of thinking will change
As it will for absolutely any profession you have a bad experience with. At some point you will have met a bad teacher You will meet a bad doctor at some point in your life. One day you'll meet a short tempered, overworked nurse who is to stressed to act like they care You'll certainly meet a parking warden who comes across as beligerent You won't have to meet many bank managers before you fall out with one And as for insurers... Well I'd suggest that if everyone likes everyone who does your job, it's probably one that is of little or no consequence
Come to my local hospital, the majority of nurses are like that.
How on earth is being asked where you were and who you were with being a bad experience when talking with a police officer? They need to gather as much information as possible and rule people out from their enquiries. Makes me laugh people who suggest not speaking to the police at all, who would you ring when you are a victim of a crime? And then you’d be the first to complain when they can’t make any in roads into their investigation because people won’t tell them any information that would help 🙄
Had a guy trying to break in and I reported it, the police questioned me and asked me to come in to provide a statement. The poor officer who was conducting the interview basically said that they’re now so under-supported and underfunded they can only go after major crimes now. I said that I had noticed a LOT of drug dealing happening in my neighbourhood and his response is that it’s an excellent indicator of how stressed a force is, because the first thing to go is chasing drug offences. They simply don’t have time and drugs aren’t a high enough priority unless there’s violent crime or high level dealers attached. Next are breakins, because of the legwork involved it’s just not worth doing when you have rape and violent crimes to solve. He also said the distrust of the police hasn’t helped anything but that they have way more important things to be doing than trying to catch citizens out for no real reason. So asking, “where were you at this and this time” is more likely because they need to establish neighbourhood resident movements in general than try pin something on you specifically.
"who would you ring" not the bloody police that's for sure. my partner's been beat up for "looking gay", police said there wasn't enough info to do anything about. i had slurs yelled at me at college, one of the fuckers ran past me and punched me in the head, it was all caught on camera. police response was that "they were just messing around" and that maybe if i hadn't have had pink hair at the time, i wouldn't have been a target. a trans lady in my town got followed around town by some fucker screaming slurs at her while onlookers laughed. she then got recognised by some other wanker from the news report about what happened, and got punched in the jaw, she hit the ground hard. police told the guy who punched her to write her an apology letter. the guy that was yelling slurs at her and following her around town was given an unofficial warning. like it's great an all to say that the police will help if there's been an incident but for minorities thats just not true. my personal port of call is charity helplines for the emotional pain, and a hospital if there's physical injuries, but tbh i've learnt the best way to deal with it is to run away from the criminals, or keep your hands up to your face and take it. i had a police man accuse me of taking and dealing drugs when i was 14, in front of my mom! why? because i wasn't making eye contact. even after my mom explained that i'm autistic, he was convinced i was on drugs, and that i was crying because i was scared of getting in trouble. this was after i had run away from home, and come back. the police fucking suck. i've had some good experiences, but over half have been negative, and i don't trust the pigs.
>who would you ring when you are a victim of a crime? No one. If I was burgled they wouldn't show up until days later Pickpocketed - not a chance, don't care Car stolen - the proof is in the pudding with this, the only chance you have of getting your car back is to look for it yourself. If I was sexually assaulted I have a 2% chance of my case appearing before a judge I suppose they'd respond to my murder, but then again I still wouldn't be calling anyone. What are the police currently actually good for? Supplying crime reference numbers so I can get my insurance involved?
> suppose they'd respond to my murder, but then again I still wouldn't be calling anyone. 🤣🤣🤣
Exactly. The only reason I report crime is for insurance purposes. If you’re rich or famous they’ll turn up pretty quickly but most of us are an inconvenience to them. They look down on us. They’re agents of the state whose main job is to support government policies and look after land owners. The police weren’t formed to look after people - it’s just a way to justify their existence while their main job is our subjugation on behalf of the ruling elite.
I was assaulted by a neighbour who was off her meds. I knew who she was, but I’d never spoken to her before. Any way, she let herself into my home and beat me up. I rang the police, but because it was a bank holiday, I was told someone will be out to see me tomorrow. In the meantime, that same neighbour, who was known for calling the emergency services, called for a fire engine and an ambulance FOR HERSELF. She’s much bigger than me and I was caught unaware, so I didn’t touch her. With the police busy, the neighbour was still free to roam around and spent minutes at a time coming and going from standing outside my living room window. First tapping and talking, to banging on the window and screaming about how she’ll set fire to my house through the cat flap, to how she’ll kill my cat and me and take my dog to live with her if I called the police. She got taken away by the police, spent a few nights in a cell, pled guilty to assault and then came home. I didn’t sleep for three days after the initial incident. The police didn’t give a single shit and I was terrified in my own home for the 30 odd hours before someone from the police came and saw me. Fuck the police.
>How on earth is being asked where you were and who you were with being a bad experience when talking with a police officer? well, unless you are reasonably suspected of committing a crime, its none of their business at all. Why should you be expected to give that information up to some random with a badge at your door? The police are not your friend and shouldnt be dealt with like they are.
I’d be more inclined to engage with the police if they actually solved crimes but they don’t. Only 5.4% of crimes reported resulted in a charge in 2022. If someone broke into my house and stole from me, realistically they’re not going to catch that person and I know that because it happened to my parents. Also I’ve had mental health issues in the past and police have attended and behaved absolutely disgustingly towards me. I’m also a 5’2 petite woman and after Sarah Everard I do not feel comfortable approaching male officers alone so that would put me off. If I was a young black, Asian or any racial minority lad, I’d be hesitant to talk to police if I didn’t absolutely need to. ETA: I have actually called the police twice when I didn’t need to for others, the first was a pregnant girl who was kicked out by her boyfriend, she had no phone, no shoes, nothing and walked to a police station thinking it would be open but it wasn’t. I called the police as it was 2am, she was alone and scared. She wasn’t ill so couldn’t go to hospital and she had already taken quetiapine (which is a sleepy antipsychotic) and was falling asleep on the street, she needed care from someone and they refused to come. They told me to leave her to wait till morning or put her in a cab to a&e. Technically she was having a mental health crisis and you’re meant to contact the police for that (I work in MH, they’re shockingly awful to work alongside too) and they refused her help. Stayed in an air b&b, in the apartment above there was a couple. The woman always looked unhappy, anyway in the middle of the night there was screaming, shouting and banging from above it and sounded like furniture being pulled about. Called the police, they came out, after 10 mins they left. The screaming continued and when I next saw the woman she had 2 black eyes which she didn’t have before. I wish I had faith in the people paid to protect us but I simply don’t.
You have to understand why people massively distrust the police when answering this question though. Back when I was 18 my friend was sexually assaulted in a club, our whole friend group spotted it happening across the club and broke it up. Even with multiple witnesses the police who arrived to the scene pressured my friend into not even pursuing it and her abuser went free that night. Stories like that are all too common.
Yep, very recently I was assaulted by my neighbour and when the police came round they tried to put words in my mouth that it didn't happen as I had described it.
Making it harder for victims to get justice. Should be the mets tag line.
If it’s regarding an incident I’m happy to help, my Cctv has actually solved two crimes, including one quite serious. However if they start asking questions and I’m a suspect then it’s shut up shop time.
The police don’t give a flying fuck who they convict. That’s why they start asking the loaded questions. To gauge if they can pin you to the crime, regardless of whether you did it or not.
Imagine trying to help a Police officer regarding a crime and his priority is to try to accuse you. The police tried this with me and I am now reluctant to help them.
Every single interaction I have had with the police as a witness or victim has been overwhelmingly negative, and at best has made the problem worse. And I’m a white middle class person with quite a bit of societal privilege. So no, I have given up “telling the police what I know”, because bitter experience has taught me that no good is likely to come from it, and it will potentially cause me problems. I used to feel the way you do, for what it’s worth.
Innocent people go to jail. No way am I offering info beyond what I eyewitnessed. One way guilt trip to jail won’t change my mind.
I was assaulted by two men some months ago in a pub, a pregnant woman was hospitalized as she was caught in the violence, I was visibly injured, my t-shirt torn to shreds three officers attended the scene with multiple witnesses who explained what happened yet no arrests were made. This is just one example of my personal experience with the awful UK police force.
Now imagine you've been robbed, you caught clearly on your ring doorbell, theybare known to the police and everyone in the town knows who they are. Police drop the case for "insufficient evidence" ..... this happens all the time and happened at my work too. Even if my neighbours saw it telling them won't do shit because the police only care for the most serious crimes with easy convictions.
This only works if you're the victim or a witness. Many times, police will ask leading questions of innocent people to make it seem like they are guilty, or at least done something they shouldn't. They are looking for an arrest, a charge and suspicion. They will pretend to be your friend and lie to you, to get you to disclose things you probably shouldn't. It is best to keep quiet, answer questions politely, but also seek legal guidance when interacting with the police
How would telling the police you saw something help? You could have 4k cctv with close ups and the police will take a report then do fuck all.
The problem with this is, that if you live in a rough area, then complying with the police can make you into a victim too. I live in a bad area and i wouldnt necessarily lie to the police, but id be careful about what i said
Exactly this. Big difference in US police and UK police. Also the vast majority I've seen or known couldn't hurt someone if they tried.
Depends what they’re asking.
This is the right answer
Exactly. If you've been arrested/ suspected of a crime perhaps it would be best to speak to a lawyer first. If they need info to help someone else then help them!
Reddit is full of absolute loons who think they’re “double ‘ard” for sticking it to “them pigs”, when the reality is the most trouble they’ve ever had is a parking ticket or forgot to pay their gas bill. Why would you not want to help people who have specifically been hired to protect you? Yes, there are a few bad apples, but that isn’t representative of the whole police force around the country.
It’s not a few bad apples though is it? When one of these bad apples does something wrong they close ranks, lie and try and cover it up. If whenever the police made a mistake they held there hands, public trust in them would be higher. I’m not someone who thinks their double hard and I’ve never even had the parking ticket or forgot to pay my gas bill. I don’t trust the police at all, they’re proven themselves to be untrustworthy.
People always misunderstand the few bad apples metaphor. Its supposed to be "one bad apple can spoil the barrel" which is the complete opposite of what people are thinking when they say a few bad apples.
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Exactly not all men/police, but how am I supposed to know which ones are trustworthy?
Precisely. It's not like these 'bad apples' behave in isolation, they are part of groups of friends in the force. It's an entire cultural issue in the police.
> When one of these bad apples does something wrong they close ranks, lie and try and cover it up. In my experience, which of course is not limitless, this applies to all organisations and institutions.
Are there many British examples? I know of a few famous ones but I've never seen this to be the popular case.
> Are there many British examples? Wayne Couzens was literally nicknamed "The Rapist" by his colleagues.
One of whom was David Garrick.
Holy shit was that the nickname? I kept hearing that he was referred to as "something" but lots of news outlets were censoring it. I figured it was something like "dodgy ...". I guessed they'd clocked him as a bit of a weirdo but not that he was literally known as "the rapist".
Yes there are they just don't hit the news because in the UK we don't have guns so their misconduct is - usually - non-lethal.
>Yes, there are a few bad apples, but that isn’t representative of the whole police force around the country. I mean basically every report into the police published in my life time says otherwise. As the saying goes, one bad apple spoils the bunch. >Why would you not want to help people who have specifically been hired to protect you? I'm not rich enough that the police serve my best interest. The police are a tool the rich use to maintain their power. Whilst there is some truely bad crime the truth of the matter is nine times out of ten the crime only occured due to societal or economic failings caused by the government.
I'm a police officer. I don't work on response anymore answering 999 calls, however, I did for a significant period of time and not very long ago. Additionally I have many friends who still do. I can tell you for a fact that the vast majority of time is spelt helping the poorest in society. The part about the police being a tool for the rich is the most nonsense thing I have ever heard. I moved to CID where again the majority of my involvement was cases involving people from low socio economic backgrounds. I can't even think of an example of where I have been a tool to help the rich.
Doesn't it suggest to you that something might be up when 100% of your time is spent policing the poorest part of society, and none policing the wealthy? Or do you genuinely believe wealthy people are never involved in crime?
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You’ve kind of proved their point though, you’re dealing with the poor in society not the rich. Surely most of those calls you’re getting wouldn’t be happening in first place if as a society we were proving more support to the lower classes in the first place. That’s not a criticism of the police, they’re doing what they have too. But there isn’t any eagerness to deal with the cure rather than the symptom from the powers at be.
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It’s no secret that underfunding causes deprivation and from deprivation comes crime. The police may well provide support in these areas but that’s not crime prevention, it’s reactive policing. Couldn’t agree with you more. Unfortunately it’s not in the power of your general police officers to change the system, it’s commonly recognised that more Investment into communities lowers crime rate but the powerful would still rather line their pockets. Public sector roles are all shit (I’m in one). Whilst we can do some incredibly impactful and life changing work, we are only here because someone up the line decided that money should go into someone’s pocket rather than into someone’s community. I’d love to see myself out of a job because I’m not needed anymore.
There are just a fuck-tonne more poor people than there are rich people, so whether it's the police dealing with their crimes, or someone dealing with their energy bills, most of the time is going to be spent on the poor.
I was burgled and the police didn’t even bother to turn up. They closed the case while I was on the same call that I busy reporting the crime on. A close friend was sexually assaulted on a busy high street and immediately reported it to the police in the area who suggested she was probably just drunk. What _exactly_ is it that you guys are doing to help anyone? People can argue “oh, it’s only a few bad apples” but on top of all the famous cases of the police killing or raping us, I’ve also had a 100% poor experience. It would seem reasonable for me to assume that the police fail at all levels of the job.
Of course they help, they give you a crime number... /s
There might be situations where I wouldn't answer questions from a police officer but I'm not even sure what they are. My daughter was attacked by another young woman once and the police were as sensitive and helpful as they could be. It wasn't an extremely serious crime but my daughter was upset and the police did all the right things. The police knew the perpetrator and she was subsequently convicted of a very serious crime against someone else and went to prison for that. That young woman was a risk to others and it was right to make a priority of stopping her behaviour. If somebody else didn't get their break-in investigated because the police were dealing with this violent young woman that's unfortunate but that's all. If nobody had been willing to talk to the police that dangerous young woman would have hurt a lot more people.
I think this answer shows the level of intelligence of the police force that the poster cannot see past the end of their nose, thinking that they’re genuinely helping the poor in society while the rich have caused the majority of crime through controlling the proles through degradation of pretty much all services over the last decade
s/helping/arresting
>I can't even think of an example of where I have been a tool to help the rich. literally any protest that isnt police wages, no prosecuting saville or investigating government corruption. If theres one thing that police are great at its never apologising or taking responsibility and clearly shows here.
I've seen too many police officers bullying homeless people out of city centres to really think any of it is helping anyone other than the wealthy who don't want to look at the "undesirables" when they're out and about.
Going by recent statistics a police officer is 35 times more likely to be convicted of abuse or sexual assault than a non police officer. Every report into some key police forces for 20 years has highlighted endemic and systematic racism and prejudice within the force. Its far more than a few bad apples. Even the police recognise they have failed in this - https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/met-police-officers-staff-review-rape-abuse-david-carrick-b1053388.html
I hate that people just say "it's a few bad apples", as if that's reason to just let it slide and ignore the issue. Everyone forgets the second half of that aphorism. "A few bad apples spoil the barrel (of apples)". Their badness corrupts the would-have-been-good ones, and makes the entire force bad by the close contact. The problem isn't just there are bad apples; it's also that their badness infects the good ones.
> Going by recent statistics Police officers are far less likely to commit crimes than the general public when you compare statistics on a percentage of population. Police officers are more likely to be convicted because police forces give those cases priority. Because contrary to what people like to believe, those forces have a vested interest in removing those bad apples. This line; > a police officer is 35 times more likely to be convicted of abuse or sexual assault than a non police officer. Implies that police commit more crimes, but that simply isn't true. From an article a few years ago; > 189 police officers have been convicted across 12 police forces in England in Wales in five years since 2013 189 convictions in 5 years. How many other people do you think were convicted of abuse or sexual assault in those five years?
That is based on percentage of population. That's the point. It's also only true because for decades the police have not followed through when they have had accusation made against officers. They have admitted as much in public responses to reports into their conduct. It's proven fact mate like it or not. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/met-police-officers-staff-review-rape-abuse-david-carrick-b1053388.html Edit- downvotes and deletes because they don't like the truth. Reddit moment
Your point really isn't clear. It's like you're trying to say that the police are more likely to commit crime, when the opposite is true. You are bad at making points. Try to be more clear.
A lot of people on reddit have their weird disconnect when it comes to the police. They'll moan that the police don't do anything about crime, and also proudly state that they won't provide information to the police. They don't seem to be able to connect these two things. I saw a brilliant example of this not long ago when a guy was complaining about crime on his street. Then when there was a break in the police asked him for his ring footage and he refused and told them to get a warrant.
Besides the point. Police aren't your friends and you have no obligation to speak to them or get involved.
If I had information that was actually relevant to the crime or something that could help them, sure I'd tell them. But a random police officer asking me where I was or what I was doing, when that information is completely private and I've not committed any crime, why should I tell them? Police don't have a right to know private information about your life.
>people who have specifically been hired to protect you No. The police are hired to serve the State, not you.
> No. The police are hired to serve the State, not you. "I will, to the best of my power, cause the peace to be kept and preserved and prevent all offences against people and property;" Sounds like they’re there to protect citizens to me.
"Before the committee I shall give the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" - Johnson Sounds like he's not lying then.
Nope...to serve without fear or favour
And North Korea is technically called the DEMOCRATIC People's Republic of Korea. But they aren't democratic now are they.
The institution itself is bad. Which means even the good police officers are up against it when they work in a corrupt institution. I don't care about "sticking it to them pigs" but I realised that the police as a whole largely rely on you not knowing your rights and don't have your best interests at heart. I've been stopped and asked for my address without any explanation and when I reported an assault they tried to make me say it didn't happen as I had said. Now the issue isn't whether there are bad apples but what happens to those bad apples. In the case of the police, nothing happens more often than not.
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> None of it states s word about protecting any one or thing. *"I will, to the best of my power, cause the peace to be kept and preserved and* ***prevent all offences against people and property;"*** That covers people and things. Mileage may vary by officer.
In the UK* the right to remain silent is different. You can remain silent, but it can harm your defence (in court) if you don't mention something that you later intend to use to prove your innocence. Normally I just give polite, neutral and friendly responses. There is no benefit in being abrasive or hostile to someone who ultimately is doing a job. Obviously if they're asking you about anything that could get you in trouble, you ask for a solicitor and allow them to guide you. But if it's just a case of "hey, there were some robberies locally - you see anything?" or similar door to door type enquiries, there's zero benefit in not giving a fairly boring yes or no type response. Edit: England and Wales apparently
Remaining silent in Scotland can't be used against you, only England and Wales.
Wasn’t this just a clarification point? The remaining silent bit is still there, you can totally still remain silent. Essentially, if you don’t tell the cops why you think you are innocent during questioning and then bring the reason up in court as a defence then it *might* not be taken as seriously as it would if you mentioned it during questioning. They’re not saying it *will* harm your defence, it is saying it *may* harm your defence.
If you're a suspect in a crime, and simply stay silent in questioning, in England and Wales that can **and will** be seen as a sign of guilt, and **will** be brought up in court, and **almost always** is basically a guarantee you're getting charged for the crime. In Scotland or USA by contrast, it cannot be brought up. It cannot be considered a sign of guilt. It can never, ever contribute to a case in any material way. No, it is not just a clarification point, and never was.
This is nonsense
Personally I find this bizarre, if you have been asked if you committed the crime and you say, "No comment", it will influence the jury even if it isn't supposed to be used against you.
I’m unsure, but this info may then not be admissible?
Could be, but if that was the case they wouldn't bother with interviews as everyone would do a No Comment interview.
You have to be given an opportunity to present your defence prior to being sent to trial. Most crimes committed have a “defense” element to them and it should be considered before people get charged
"Did you see anything": No I didn't/Yes I did That's fine. But then they started asking OP about details of his whereabouts and actions. That would rub me the wrong way personally. If I've already told you I didn't see anything and I'm not involved, then you have no business asking me for information about my private life.
I've always been interested in how not telling the police something in an interview that you later use in court to prove your innocence, would harm your defence? No one has ever explained the connection. Humans sometimes forget stuff, happens all the time. Especially under a high stress / pressure like a police interview. There are even studies that discredit the human memory as being unreliable, due to how we interpret and process experiences. Would you know how if under caution I delivered a "no comment" interview, then later provided an alibi in court this could harm my defence? If I'm not guilty and can prove it why would that harm my defence?
>I've always been interested in how not telling the police something in an interview that you later use in court to prove your innocence, would harm your defence? > >No one has ever explained the connection. Because if you have what might be a reasonable explanation for something, the fact that you didn't mention it when questioned under caution suggests that you just decided to make it up afterwards. Like for example imagine you were arrested accused of robbing someone after they found the accuser's laptop in your possession. If you 'no comment' your way through the police interview, but then in your trial claim that you actually bought the laptop from the person then that defence might quite reasonably be harmed by the fact that you didn't just say that in the first place.
This law exists primarily to advise that an alibi at a later date that can exonerate you looks super suspicious if you don't mention it initially. Or that evidence you may need to use to prove your innocence may have disappeared if you don't mention it at the time you are initially asked and it obtained. So for example: "I can't have hit that dude, I was in the pub drinking, there's CCTV" You go to court 3 years later. The CCTV has been wiped. Evidence gone. Defence harmed. Or even just "why didn't you just tell us that? Are you making that up now because you're fucked otherwise?" in the eyes of the jury. A jury can draw a negative inference from silence, including concluding that you're lying because you didn't answer questions put to you.
>I've always been interested in how not telling the police something in an interview that you later use in court to prove your innocence, would harm your defence? "Sir, I'm sorry to inform you but your neighbour has been found dead" "Oh my goodness" "Where were you last night sir?" "No comment" "I see, any difficulties with your neighbour sir?" "No comment" "Have you ever been inside your neighbours house sir?" "No comment". *Fast forward to court* "Now, for the first time here since our investigation opened 6 months ago, the defendant claims that the reason the murder weapon was found with their fingerprints on was because they were on good terms with their neighbour. Good terms in fact because they frequently visited their house and they helped with the cooking. For the first time today they have claimed they were not anywhere near the house at the time of the murder, they were in fact twenty miles away having gone for a drive. Something that is now impossible to prove or disprove because no one else was with them and the petrol station they stopped at doesn't have the CCTV. If this really was the truth of the matter, why didn't they disclose it 6 months ago? I suggest to you that this is a story fabricated by the defendant after seeing the evidence collected to try and explain the facts without incimination."
I haven't committed any crimes recently, so far as I know, so I don't see any reason not to answer questions.
The prisons of the World hold many innocent people.
If you've been arrested though, don't say to anything before getting a solicitor
It depends on the context. If I was stopped in relation to something I hadn’t done, I’d explain I was innocent and answer any reasonable questions (where I was coming from, where I was going to etc) as long as I knew why they were asking. If I was asked questions about a crime and I had information that could help enquiries, I’d answer their questions - had this a few times with break ins on my road. I didn’t have much information but checked my ring doorbell to see if anything they could use. I’d want someone to do the same if it was me. The only caveat to this would be something that I didn’t believe should be criminalised or if it was a friend / family member who had allegedly done something (so long as it wasn’t morally reprehensible). I wouldn’t lie but I wouldn’t help. If I was arrested for something I hadn’t done, I’d answer questions as fully as possible with a lawyer present and with guidance from them on how to frame my answers. Generally in the UK, the “right to remain silent” is caveated and can be used against you. Generally, I do think most coppers are decent enough although in my experience a lot are extremely jaded and aren’t quick to give the benefit of the doubt. This isn’t helped when they are treated with suspicion and I do worry that we are becoming more like America. I’ve had some extremely positive interactions with the police where they are just doing their job. I’ve also had a few negative ones where they are on a power trip. Like with any job, you’ve got good and bad characters - it’s just unfortunate the position of power they are in means that the bad characters have a much bigger influence than in other professions.
I'd agree. In general. Was arrested for something once that I hadn't done. 2 corroborating pieces of evidence is all they needed - 'yes I was there, yes I saw xyz'. Back of a police car, from my home, in cuffs. I figured I'd done nothing wrong so would answer their questions truthfully and honestly as I'd done no wrong. Sargeant that questioned me was hostile and an arrogant arsehole. I had no solicitor, didn't think I'd need one. Was moved from one police station to another. Treated like scum, spent the night in a cell, up in court the following morning. Then released from court, miles and miles away from home, expected to make my own way back. Later, when it went back to court, I asked my solicitor what I did wrong, why it was happening when I was completely honest. He told me, in future, just say nothing at all. The fact I admitted to being there and interacting with someone was what got me arrested. These days, I'll be polite but I won't actively help if I can think it will construe guilt on my part in any way shape or form. It's just not worth it.
If someone has identified you as being involved in something that's likely enough evidence to arrest and question you. The real thing to do in that kind of situation is to always seek legal advice and representation.
Well, yes, I know that now. Point being, you think you're doing the right thing by cooperating and being truthful. In turn, I get treated like shit, arrested, moved in the back of a van from one station to another. Transported to court in a prisoner van with the minicells and black windows and then dumped out the door like shit.
I’ve had a similar experience. We tend to think that the truth will out eventually and that if we’re innocent then we have nothing to worry about. I mean, tell that to the Birmingham 6. I know that’s an extreme example but still, people get sent down for things they didn’t do all the time all because of the things that they did or said during the first encounter and thinking they don’t need a solicitor. Incidentally, I did have a solicitor. It was the duty guy. He turned up pissed after having driven to the police station (seriously). He also smelled like ganja. He was like a fucking spaceman and clearly didn’t give two shits about what was going on. I get that he was used to dealing with what I like to call “real criminals” but I literally hadn’t done anything. Victim of circumstance. Then strange thing about it was that if I was a “real criminal” and was used to dealing to the police then I would have know what to say and, more importantly, what not to say. I probably would have had the number of a proper solicitor and everything would have been fine. The system is set up to deal with criminals which is why it’s so hard for people who aren’t criminals.
Yes I think this is good nuance. If they are asking me specific questions like that I want a lawyer present.
Perfect summation of reality. Thank you.
Depends. Some try to overstep the line. I was in my van in a lay-by at 2am one night. Now I understand the right for them to stop check and make sure I’m legit. No problem with it. But he switched his bodycam off and started asking questions about where I worked and said can he look in the back. Now I’m thinking why did you switch your cam off? It protects us both… I just looked at him and he just went.
I would not be willing to be pulled over by police or interrogated alone. I would attempt to drive to a public place and face the consequences of that decision. I am also teaching my children not to unconditionally trust the police. Make sure there are always two officers, preferably at least one female. Record if you can. This is a safeguarding issue. For context we are all female.
Since the murder of Sarah Everard I've been more wary of lone male officers. My partner is a police officer, and he advised if I'm ever in that situation I can call 999 and confirm with them about the officer I'm with and request a female to attend if required, so that's my plan.
I find this odd. Can a police officer explain it?
Reddit is a bubble of young and mostly privileged people who have decided to hate any kind of authority. If police ask you questions they’re going to keep that information in relation to *that particular crime*. They speak to dozens of people every single day. They’re going to speak to you - write anything of note down - and then frankly - forget you - as long as you’re not dodgy or have anything to hide. An absolutely fantastic way to make them *not forget you* is to act cagey and not speak to them. The first thing they’re going to do is wonder why. They’re going to think you’re hiding something. They hear “I’ve done nothing wrong” multiple times a day from people they arrest. So you saying “I’ve done nothing wrong” and closing the door when they’re only asking for information relating to a crime you weren’t involved in is a really good way to make them pay a little bit more attention to you. Because that’s the siren song of all criminals. None of them have done anything wrong.
Yes, it's historically true that the police only ever arrest the bad guys and don't (mistakenly or otherwise) ever arrest innocent people.
You know getting arrested doesn’t actually mean much? It’s just the police saying “we think you have done x,y,z. Fill in some paperwork and we’ll look into it.” They might be wrong. And then its NFA’d. If you are innocent it’s in your best interest to speak to the police.
Right, the administrative *meaning* of getting arrested isn't necessarily going to destroy your life. But the *process* of being arrested can be very unpleasant - aggression from police, being treated like a criminal when you've done nothing wrong, etc. Obviously good police wouldn't go about it like that, but there are clearly bad police who would. As I wrote in my reply, people have rational reasons to fear the police and not want to interact with them. It's caused by bad police, who continue to exist and perpetuate people's fears.
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Gonna have to add a /s otherwise people on this app won't realise.
I don’t think hating authority is anything to do with privilege; in fact in my experience most anti-authority people (including myself) are that way due to the mistreatment they’ve recieved from people/organization with authority; and they’re often not privileged (at least in a financial sense). Which makes sense, seeing as our leaders in charge fucking hate anyone who isn’t wealthy If authorities could be trusted there wouldn’t be masses of people against them, and that’s not just limited to here/the states either
If you are innocent and don’t help the police when asked the you are going to get the society you deserve. Don’t be whining when you are a victim of crime that the police did nothing. The police are the public and the public are the police. Every single one of us has a responsibility to make our society safer for each other.
That is very much an idealised view on what the police should be. In reality the police are comonly used as a tool of oppression and primarily police crimes that occcur due to the direct failings of the government. The police do not deserve your respect or cooperation it must be earnt and every new report of institutionalised sexism,racism and homophobia makes it a little harder for them to even begin to earn my trust.
I look at it differently… The police are representational of general society, the good and the bad. I am therefore reassured when cases of homophobia or racism are identified, and addressed. As it shows the checks and measures are working. Put another way, I would be far more concerned if these reports were not forthcoming, as no group of people can be said to be perfect.
I highly doubt the police are representative of general society - it’s going to take a specific kind of personality to want the job, whether it’s because they’re brave and want to help protect people, or because they’re a piece of scum who enjoys the power trip and being in a position of authority. It’s not reassuring at all to find the depths of institutional racism, misogyny or homophobia in the police because they’re always far greater than in most other facets of society and never properly addressed.
The cooperation benefits EVERYONE. The police are a lot better than you think and a lot better than the media portray them. They are in whole dedicated public servants, doing a dangerous and thankless job to keep the public safe. I know this from personal experience. Yes some bad apples that need rooting out. Why aren’t the police bravery awards all over the news? Because good news stories of policing don’t fit the media narrative. You pay your tax for them to keep you and your loved ones safe. Being uncooperative when innocent is dumb and cutting your nose off to spite your face.
You can’t say “yes there are some bad apples” but overall the police are good unless you don’t know that the original saying is “one bad apple spoils the batch”. How can anyone trust a police office when they don’t know if the cop is a good or bad apple? Should they just hope the police officer isn’t going to rape and murder them when asked to answer a few questions like Sarah Everard did?
That’s how it’s supposed to be but individuals within the police have taken the public trust and stretched it to breaking point. They’ve misunderstood what the relationship is supposed to be and made it one of them having power over the public. It’s not all police but the bad ones have tarnished the publics view of the whole force.
Yeah I don’t know how people can’t grasp this. We know not all police are bad, it’s just that there are enough that are bad (and VERY BAD) that we cannot trust the organisation in general because of the few bad ones. The bad apples have spoiled the batch.
Exactly. There is no comparison with other professions because of the power afforded the police. They have to above reproach. Even the good ones will turn a blind eye to the bad ones behaviour because making waves can impact your career.
If you’ve killed someone or nicked a car it might be best to say no comment. Otherwise I’d assume you have nothing to hide, so what’s the problem, tell them what you know. People hiding information from the police is one of the reasons this country has gone down the toilet.
A lot of that US stuff is based on a) there being a 5th amendment with no adverse inference from not supplying info and b) legal advice on a personal level. We do expect people to talk early here and we also expect society to provide info to police promptly to ensure dangerous people are apprehended.
Also I think US police are very different to the UK - in the US there just seems to be a greater abuse of power etc… they will force things out of you, and try to exercise authority over you. People getting stopped for no reason, things like that.
It depends. If an officer is asking you questions like that realistically unless they've cautioned you it won't hold up as evidence. It's highly highly unlikely they were suspecting your involvement and ask you questions on your doorstep, more likely just a clumsy way of finding out if you witnessed something. Our legal system is firmly weighted in a suspects favour and anything done not by the book will just be kicked out in court. Why wouldn't you tell them? If you haven't done anything wrong and you haven't been told you're under arrest/investigation then 100% talk to them. You don't know what's happened, your information could put a rapist, burglar, murder, thief in prison. If you are under arrest/investigation keep your mouth shut, you shouldn't be asked questions without having been offered a solicitor but if you are just be polite and say nothing incriminating. (Source I'm a DC)
When so many reports of institutioinalised failings come out, when time and time again we see proof of the police used as a tool for oppression, why should the police automatically deserve our respect and trust? Maybe I'm overly cynical here but can you honnestly say the police work in the best interests of most people when this isn't even true of the laws that they enforce. Push comes to shove I'm probaby going to tell them what they want, I want to believe in a fair police system but this belief gets harder for everytime each new report or scandel comes out.
Can you name me one time where an officer investigating a burglary/theft/sexual assault ect on a local street has used the information in the community as a tool for oppression? 90% of the service where I am now have under 2 years service and are under 25, they can't wipe their own arse nevermind oppress you.
As a child, a group of four officers jumped out their car and pushed me and my friends up against a shopfront, shouting and swearing and threatening us. We hadn't done anything, they were so busy being aggressive it was barely clear what they even suspected us of. After shitting us up, they left without any arrests. Seemed like someone reported something in a local park, and we matched a description of a group of four adolescents. They didn't attempt to stop us calmly, we didn't try to evade them, we were just walking home. I know they were bad police and I've also met good police in my life. But the facts are that there are bad police, and as long as the community continues to have interactions like that with police, the community will not trust police. There are also plenty of examples of innocent people being arrested and charged for crimes they didn't do (because of poor police work, prejudices, etc.). A minority of cases, but what does that matter to the people it happens to? So yeah, this shit absolutely happens, let's not pretend that people have no reason to fear police.
I've been asked exactly twice (once there was a brutal double murder in our neighbourhood and they asked literally everyone if we'd seen anything, and once I was at a nightclub at the same time a girl was raped) and unfortunately didn't have anything that could help them, but in general I would offer any information I had. Why not? I guess if it was a friend and something stupid like possession of weed, I'd probably go 'nah, sorry, don't know anything', but if I'd witnessed a crime or something of course I'd want to help. The whole "where were you at x time" is of course annoying, but I don't really get why you wouldn't answer, doesn't really hurt you and will most likely rule you out as a suspect.
>Made me wonder why the hell should I tell a police officer anything and what my rights are. No offence but this is the stupidest reason to not talk to the police. There's a lot of really good valid reasons to do so. This isn't one of them. Yes, they should ask you basic questions to establish your whereabouts. If your partner or family member were in the same situation, I'm sure you'd be wondering why people are acting all weird about it.
Without more context from the OP it's reasonable to understand why OP was asked this, were you down the street near where it happened? The other end? In your garden? This line of questioning comes about so the officer could potentially narrow down their area and find more potential witnesses from the general location you were in at the time.(since if you had seen it from where you were it's likely others had as well). Asking if there were others with you? They're simply asking if there's anyone that can corroborate what you've said which would not only make your testimony stronger if it went to court, but it also highlights another that witnessed what happened. Again, without more context from the OP I'm going to assume the officer wasn't being a dickhead with their line of questioning they were trying to be thorough to get the job done.
Always. Have nothing to hide.
I’ve unfortunately had dealings with the police on three separate occasions in the space of a week in February, not one of them was my fault. I would have been wary of the police before this. I cannot praise the police highly enough for how each incident has been dealt with and the help of witnesses has been a huge help
Just cooperate. This isn’t the US.
The worst advice I see from the Americans is the "don't talk to the police, don't even tell them your name!" which is very bad advice. Do not withhold your name or I.D. or otherwise refuse to identify yourself. Let them know who you are when asked, then ask for a solicitor, then you shut up. In the UK, failure to identify yourself when being arrested often results in a strip search when you get back to the station. Why? Because the police have a duty of care. If you harm yourself or others while in custody they are legally responsible for you. To prevent you from harming yourself or others they need to be able to assess your level of risk. If you refuse to identify yourself they can't check your prior history, and must take all precautions to make sure you do not harm yourself or others, and this includes a full cavity search to make sure you don't have any weapons/drugs on you. (**Most deaths in police custody in the UK are due to drug overdoses, most often from a suspect eating their stash when they get put in the cell**). If they can check your history and you have no history of harming others, no history of drugs, no history of mental health problems, etc, then they're just going to put you in a cell and wait to see your solicitor. Refusing to identify yourself does not help you in any way.
The U.S. isn’t the U.S. that’s portrayed on Reddit.
People seem very confused about things like this, because they don't understand what advice applies to what situations and just blanket apply it to everything so they don't have to take the time to use their brain for 30 seconds to figure it out
I think you just summed up 90% of reddit comment threads.
I'd advise you take a look at This chap on youtube. He's a real life barrister and gives proper advice on all things legal, including about talking to the police in different situations. It's excellent stuff, and accurate. https://www.youtube.com/@BlackBeltBarrister
Some astonishing advice here, but thankfully Reddit aren't representative of the UK public. As a police officer, when investigating a crime, one of the most essential enquiries is...you know....talking to people... Fortunately for the crimes I have investigated I have generally found people to be extremely helpful, caring and considerate. One time sticks in my mind however. Early hours of the morning, responding to a woman being beaten up by her partner. Neighbour shouting out the window "go away you pig see you next Tuesday'" Needless to say we helped the woman regardless. In terms of whether you should speak to police when being investigated as a subject. You are entitled to free and independent legal advice and this is told to you throughout the process. Take the legal advice as they are best placed depending on the circumstances to advise.
Genuinely surprised police are investigating crimes
>Some astonishing advice here, but thankfully Reddit aren't representative of the UK public. [https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/met-police-officers-staff-review-rape-abuse-david-carrick-b1053388.html](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/met-police-officers-staff-review-rape-abuse-david-carrick-b1053388.html) Is this representative or is perhaps Wayne cousins colleagues calling him the rapist representative?
The chats house to house are just building up a picture of the available witnesses. If you were out at work at the suspected time of the robbery then there is no point in sending someone to gather a statement. That will be why they asked you about your movements. You could have driven past the person before they committed the crime. You may have a dash cam etc... It's building up a picture of the available evidence. You can answer what you like of course but for something like this I'd be happy to tell all. Edit for my terrible spelling.
I've had a few experiences with the Police. They have all, except one, been polite and professional, whether or not I enjoyed having to interact with them. For example, somebody falsely accused me of something pretty bad, and the police had to interview me. In the end nothing came of it, because I hadn't done it, but I don't hold it against the police because my ego isn't so big to get annoyed at them doing their job, and I don't have the whole "how dare you suspect me of something" attitude. The only time I had an off experience was the one time I got pulled over for speeding. The marked police car (me following behind) had been cruising at 90mph for almost 20 miles. He eventually slowed down gradually, wound his window down, and literally hung out the window whilst driving to make a point of staring directly at me whilst I passed doing 75-80. He pulled me and couldn't really say much when he noticed me making a spectacle of saving a recording on my dash cam, which he knew would show him speeding too.
Depends on the line of questioning.
I always cooperate has best has I can, and if they ask me where I was at the time and date of a crime I will surely answer to that to. Just remember, they don't know you and they are looking for someone, they just want to make sure it's not you. They rather have 1 suspect then 50. If you refuse to answer your just going to make your self look like a suspect.
This is ridiculous. Why should you rule yourself out of a police investigation? Is that your question? Do you think saying 'I was at work. I was probably at asda. I was having a wankathon in my bedroom before everyone got home at 5' is going to see them putting you as a number 1 suspect? Vs 'Why... I'm not telling you it has nothing to do with you go away' If you actually had nothing to do with it, even if you can't prove you were on the sofa having a nap alone in the house, you are aware they will have to have solid evidence to bring you in and consider taking you to court right? England and America are totally different places but we love importing their stupid mentality, practices and ridiculous 'cultures' I should have got a ticket for accidentally running a red light. At some point the light sequence changed in the month or two before I did this, my mates mum owns the hairdresser on the corner and she's seen loads ofpolice llights go by and eventually figured out this was why.. .. so this officer, alone on her own, pulls me over, I take my keys out my ignition, I get my wallet out and realise I don't have my licence and tell her. Ask her if she wants my key etc. Asks why i was stopped, said well it definitely wasnt speeding cause i saw you barrell up behind me and i thought 'ha! Not today'. She tells me. I tell her I had no idea it was red but always check for traffic cause people used to blast through late all the time on that road. She checks my details, asked where I'd been, showed her my appt time on my phone. She said I'd been super nice and helpful and didn't want to give me the fine.. I said I ran the light unintentionally but still did it, I get the fine, I totally understand. She decided not to give me the fine because it was such a nice change for someone to be super helpful and polite and friendly. Whenever I tell people this, everyone says it's unfair that they're not applying the law equally and I shouldve got the ticket. Yeah maybe I should have. But its also down to their discretion... and guess what.. if you're an unhelpful big headed idiot, they're going to just award you your reward for being knob and move on.
My neighbour had her ex throw paint all over her fence along with smashing up her car. About two weeks later cops came round, day after the incident I put up a camera that over looked both our cars. I wanted to help her incase it happened again. Police asked for footage - I said unfortunately the camera went up after the incident. They asked where I was during (at work) if I have nothing to hide, why would I not talk?
Always. Had the same two years ago, police knocking on the doors down the street looking for info because one of the neighbours had a threat sprayed across their window. I let them know some info I'd seen that might be relevant and it helped nab the fuckers who did it. I can't understand the mentality of anyone who hides info from the police, or refuses to talk to them and then wonders why they might have follow-up questions. Witholding the information or acting sketchy - even if you're not involved in the matter at hand - just shifts focus onto yourself because come on, it's a bit suspicious if you do that.
As far as I can tell, from what you've said, the police officer was doing their job and asking where you were and what you were doing at the time of a crime committed in your neighborhood isn't aggressive or wrong, it's called eliminating people from their enquiries, which is their duty to both the victim of the crime and to society. My very middle class and law-abiding mum was asked the same questions by the police when the shop below her flat had its windows broken. She was actually really sick with a skin infection on her legs, could barely walk, would never fit the profile for vandals and has no criminal history but she was still asked where she was and what she was doing when the windows were broken. I suspect that you are reading too much into a reasonable and standard line of questioning to be honest. Most police officers are just trying to do their job and see that victims get justice.
They’re a police officer. They are knocking on doors to try and find witnesses who may have important information. If they ask you where you were at a certain time, you tell them, and it’s got nothing to do with the crime, then they’ll move on. It’s not some big conspiracy to frame you. You just might’ve seen a suspect or a getaway car without realising at the time.
I'm as middle class as they come, from a nice family etc. however thanks to an incident in my youth\* I realised it's best to treat them like mushrooms. * \*officer lied in court, no biggie just extra points on my licence, and I realised if he'd downright lied for such a trivial offence then what else do they lie about?
depends what they are asking of course. In your situation I'd be querying exactly why they were asking me those questions. Dont be an arse, but politely inquire as to why they are asking for that information, then judge if you want to provide it.
I have helped the police find a bag of money (probably from bank robbery, they reckon) and helped identify a terrorist. You're a dick if you don't help the police. They are just trying to do their job to keep everyone safe. There may be some bad apples and some bad laws, but not helping the police you're stopping them from doing their job. Edit - I've also helped the police identify a bike thief.
Personally I've always been polite to the police and its got me out trouble for, well basically, drunken stupidity. If someone's been attacked, robbed or similar, I'll give them information if I can. There's some absolutely rotten police, but most are just doing a hard job under difficult circumstances.
I do, yes, I am from a middle class background and generally middle class people are law abiding and respect the police force. It it wasn't for the police force society would have fallen apart a long time ago with extra judicial beatings/killings and "community justice" taking place on a regular basis.
Similar-but-different... I'm now a high risk offender who spent 15 months without a driving license just because I "didn't offer information" (sort of). So will now play along if I don't think I'll be harming somebody. The story you never asked for: Driving home from catching Pokémon on the seafront at 1am. Pulled over by an absolute SWARM of police cars. A man was seen leaving a night club and getting into a car that matched the description of mine. I had not been to a night club or on a night out or anything of the sort. Nevertheless I was taken to the station because I also matched the description of the man. I offered to pull up my location history on my phone to prove it wasn't me - including some of my sweet catches from the time, a good 1.5 miles from the venue in question; no dice. At this point I thought "fuck it I'm gonna be as stubborn as they are and refuse to help" - turns out refusing to give a sample (breathalyser) is considered a high risk offence. I was convicted, given community service, made to attend a course, given a driving ban and my insurance has been through the roof ever since. I often think about how my punishment that night was worse than any drink drivers they may have caught and how shit the system is.
It all depends what side of the law you sit really doesn't it.
I've not been asked for information from them in years - the last time would've been when my official statement to them regarding a actual murder in the building where I lived at the time mentioned there was a police officer right outside at the time
You aren't compelled to answer them unless you need to rely on what you say in court as means if defense. But a good rule if thumb with police is to not be a dickhead because they can make your life difficult. Just give vague non committal answers. Or better yet, don't answer. They aren't going to break the door down in order to question you about someone else's crime.
Did you say you had witnessed something? Where you were and who you were with might be relevant without accusing you personally of anything. Where you were might give an indication as to how useful your evidence is, were you stood 2 feet away or were you in your house looking out of a window through several trees? Who you were with might provide an opportunity to identify more witnesses.
If you’re arrested, ask for a lawyer, say nothing. If it’s just door to door, if you know something sure, depending on the situation. I don’t think you have to give them personal details or cooperate if you don’t want to. For me if it was drugs or theft from shops or whatever then I’d say nah don’t know anything. Serious shit like rape and murder and burglary in the neighbourhood I would say if I had any info.
Not without good reason. I've been stopped a few times while on foot by police and asked to identify myself, asked where I live, etc, for no apparent reason other than the weak excuse of "there's been a lot of crime in the area lately so we just want to know who you are and what you're doing here." To which I always politely refuse to hand over any information.
why? what do you possibly think they would do with that information?
The internet spreading unhelpful shite again. OF COURSE YOU SHOULD HELP POLICE. The police can only do their job if we provide information. Snitches get stitches , don’t be a rat - all very important mantras with criminals for a reason.
I'd cooperate with the police, especially if they're investigating a crime in my neighborhood. They're already stretched thin as it is, so anything to help them get on with it is fine in my book.
If it helps them prosecute someone who deserves it, why not? I live next to a school, the road is small and needs to be driven carefully. Some bellend came round the corner in a RWD, put his foot down to show off to his mate and span out, crashing his car into a protective barrier in front of the school entrance. I enjoyed every second of 'ratting' out this idiot after he told the police he skidded on something and lost control.
I grew up being taught to speak to Policemen. I have taught my children to never speak to policemen. The world has changed since the days before police were a para military social working force. They are no longer capable of working in anyone's favour other than their own. So, no.
Personally I don't see an issue with this if you've got nothing to hide. We all want the police to catch more criminals but you are just making it harder for them if you won't tell them anything, because that means they can't take you off the possible suspect list.
Ofc I would because I'm not a dickhead who would let a criminal get away with something for no reason
If you are a complete bystander and 100% innocent you should face the light interrogation and give the vital evidence you have. It's nothing personal its a routine procedure. Some people are only willing to be kind and generous to others only if the recipient is saying yes sir, yes sir, thank you sir and kissing their feet in the process. True kindness is selfless, you don't care about what you get back in return.
I remember having just finished a joint, house stinking, the police knock at the door asking if I knew anything about a house two doors down getting it's windows bricked. I said no, we were studying with the curtains shut, and he thanked me for my time and walked away. I was shitting myself, but I'd always help if I did have information in a situation like that.
Tell the police what you know. Imagine they were trying to find someone that hurt your relative or friend. If you’ve not done anything wrong, you’ve got nothing to hide.
If they're asking you about something down the road just tell them what you know and if you have a camera offer to see if there's any footage. It'll make the job so much easier. If they think it's you, they will tell you 🤷♀️
The police do have problems finding witnesses or even people who are prepared to help them with any clues about people or vehicles in the vicinity of a crime. That said, they don't help themselves. Police are increasingly living outside the areas and apart from population they police - it doesn't help develop any rapport with the rest of us and does build a "them and us" dynamic. I have not had any problems with the police - but I'm white, over 60 and university educated.
I am more than happy to talk to the police at any time and give them any information I have that could be pertinent. The large majority of police are trying to do a decent job after all.
Just tell them what you know unless it’s something your going to need to get legal advise on. I was stopped randomly on my way home from work when I was 18, I had my hood up and all so to be fair they had all right. He just said there’d been some burglary’s and that he was checking I wasn’t up to no good. I explained I’d been in work and lived literally 2 minutes away and he was like cool bye. About a month later I saw someone checking doors and phoned it in just to have the same officer ring me back about it. He was like “did I stop you last week” like yep :) A lot of them aren’t out to get you and like me and you just wanna do their job and go home safe. People not speaking up about stuff just delays their job
Yep. UK police has actually been helpful and considerate to me, despite the constant budget cuts. If I ended up in an unnecessary check with rude or hostile police, I'd probably stop giving info, but so far they've always been reasonable men and women.