Friday, April 09, 2010

Free Legal Advice

Radley Balko has posted links and an embedded video: 10 Rules For Dealing With Police. Good advice, generally common sense -- which can be elusive under stress.

Unsurprisingly, Rule One could be paraphrased as "Don't panic." Be calm and talk nice; it costs you nothing, it's one of the very few parts of the situation under your control and will make a big difference in how things turn out. Even if you are innocent as a lamb, all Officer Friendly's got to work from is your demeanor in the moment. And you can be sure he or she will.

It's a good video. I don't care for the theme music but hey, it's free.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great video!

Highly recommended.

Shootin' Buddy

Roberta X said...

Tsk, reading blogs when you otta be racing to the sound of distant machine-gunnery? ;)

Montie said...

Roberta,

Having been a police officer for the last 24 years, I often view videos like this with a jaundiced eye, as they often put out erroneous information, but I have to say that after watching all 4 of the series, that I highly recommend them to anyone who might be interested in not only smoothing over any contact that they might have with the police, but also those who might be interested in preserving their rights in an encounter with officers who might not be inclined to follow the rules as closely as they should.

While many officers dislike this sort of information being disseminated, thinking it makes their job harder, in fact if the public at large had the knowledge that is put out in these videos, it would make our job easier. That is, if you are doing your job in a way that protects the rights of the citizens you are sworn to protect and to serve.

Roberta X said...

Montie, I figured Rule One alone made the series worthwhile.

I found his realistic assessment refreshing. Too many people simply assume the officer is either their buddy or their enemy, and are wrong either way.

Anonymous said...

just remember:
Free Advice is worth what you paid for it...




Bruce Edwards
crankyoldmanwithgun@yahoo.com

rickn8or said...

Good advice, when combined with this.

rickn8or said...

Or better, this.

My html-fu seems a little weak to day.