By Brandon Dunford

Okay, I want want to talk about a couple of things involving our constitutional rights, as United States citizens, and how those rights pertain to interacting with police. Hopefully some people can learn a few things when dealing with police and avoid having their constitutional rights violated, and exercised properly.

Everyone, everywhere, deserves the right and is afforded it by the United States constitution not to be bothered by police if they’ve done nothing wrong.

“Those that trade Liberty for security lose both, and deserve neither.”
-Benjamin Franklin

While I appreciate what our police do, I have seen many abuses of power in authority in regard to this, and believe it my duty to inform others how to handle these situations.

Firstly, when a police officer asks you for identification or id, you do not have to provide that information if there is no reasonable suspicion of a crime being committed or about to be committed. This is called the 4th amendment, and it protects against unreasonable search and seizure. This amendment also protects our papers or documents on our person, which includes our ID, and our own personal selves.

If a cop randomly asks you for ID or for you to provide your name, social, date of birth or address, if there is no suspicion that you’ve committed a crime, you are not required by law to provide it no matter how badly a cop tries to intimidate or threaten you with arrest, and it is illegal for them to force you to do so. Alternately, if you do not give consent to search a vehicle, this is also within your rights, and in refusing by stating “I do not consent to searches”, is in no way reasonable suspicion or probable cause under constitutionally protected law. Never EVER consent to any unwarranted search. In doing so you are freely giving up a right granted to you by the constitution, and you are putting yourself at risk by offering the officer information that “Can and will be used against you, in a court of law”, even if and especially if no wrong doing has taken place at all by you.

When dealing with police, I always suggest recording the encounter “For your protection and theirs” and state clearly you are doing so. Police may tell you to turn off the camera and may even cite a law stating that they must consent to to being recorded and might even try to arrest you for it. However this is untrue, and is a constitutionally protected right as A., You may openly record audio and video in public for the purposes of research or investigative journalism, and B., The highest courts in the land that decide party consent for recording audio and video say it does not apply to police officers in the process of completing their duties as a peace officer. Recording protects you as an individual from police improperly authorizing authority over you and holds them accountable, and provides proof in court if they should violate your protected rights as a citizen of the United States by arresting you for it, or for other unconstitutional reasons, which will hold up in court. In many cases, with a simple motion from your lawyer, judges will be compelled to suppress evidence or even dismiss cases in your favor if you can prove an officer violated your constitutional rights.

Also, I should go into more depth about “What you say or do, can and will be used against you, in a court of law”. Basically this means if you say anything or do anything, it can be used in a court as evidence against you to convict you. In these cases, especially when being questioned for ANY reason, it is best to tell the officer “You invoke and refuse to waive your 5th and 6th amendment rights under the constitution”. Basically what you’re saying when you cite this is you don’t have to, and aren’t going to answer any questions the officer may ask, and will continue to refuse to respond until you may consult with and be represented by an attorney. This IS NOT any admission of guilt, and not speaking or answering any law enforcement question CANNOT be used against you in any way, nor is it grounds for reasonable suspicion or probable cause (Just like refusing a search isn’t reasonable suspicion or probable cause).

Finally, when there is no reasonable suspicion of a crime being committed by you or probable cause for holding you, you should invoke another right by asking the police officer “Am I being detained, or am I free to go?” Legally they are obligated to answer, and if they do not tell you that you are being detained, legally you are free to walk away without hindrance and without answering ANY questions. If a police officer should tell you that you are not free to leave, or are being detained, the police officer MUST have reasonable suspicion that you’ve committed a crime or probable cause to detain you. If they do not, it is in fact illegal for them to do so. Police must have a reason to detain you, and simply holding you to ask you questions is not good enough under constitutional law.

However, with all this said, use common sense. While all of these are your right, it will likely invoke a reaction from police that involves them threatening to arrest you (for no reason) or just simply give you a hard time. Don’t back down. A cop may legally lie to you to trick you or bully you into submission, but knowing your rights will only help you.

Always be polite and courteous. Never be aggressive, put your hands in your pockets (or take them off the steering wheel unless asked) and never EVER touch a police officer. Never curse or use profanity and never threaten violence or do anything that may otherwise land you a different charge (like disorderly conduct for example).

I highly advise people to educate themselves with the constitution in this day and age. It is still VERY important, and not knowing what your rights are could be sacrificing some very important freedoms provided to you by constitutional law which supersedes any state law or local ordinance.

The purpose of this isn’t to give police officers a hard time. It’s to make people realize that if they don’t want to be bothered by police, and have genuinely done nothing wrong, that they have the power to not be bothered. This isn’t a police state, it’s the United States of America, and one of the many reasons I love this country.

Know your rights. Share this wherever it’s needed, this is originally written content by me, and I wholly and expressly give my permission to reproduce this content for the purposes of education.

#knowyourrights

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