Video: Detective gives insight on why you should exercise your right to remain silent

[Marswolf]

I think there is some confusion here about responses to posts and what those posts are responding too. Got that?

Anyway, I think it's refreshing to hear a LEO tell the public that yes, they do try to trick you. This is one of those videos that the general public should hear and play again every 3 months or so as a refresher.

[TGO David]

Yes, it was quite a generalization, but a generalization based on my own personal experiences. It's a generalization based on something that actually happened to me, and things that have openly happened to others. Is it a fair generalization? Maybe not, but I honestly don't think I'm all that far off.

Just remember that the vast majority of the time, members of the general public interact with police officers when they (the police) are doing their job. Usually that means that someone broke the law, and I'd wager that for most of us that means we got pulled over in traffic for some reason or another.

And just how happy are we to see the police then?

I tell my kids all the time that when they get in trouble with me, they can be mad about it all they want -- but they need to be mad at themselves for breaking the rules. Not mad at me for calling them on it.

Something to think about.

[G27]

I liked the part where the detective makes the point regarding Miranda: anything you say can be used against you, but not for you. I had never thought of that and it really kind of shook me - the system is set up so the police are the accused adversary.

That's not meant as a bash in any way, I'm just saying that in the courtroom, the police work for the government, who is your adversary. I guess I'd not ever put 1+1 together before he said that.

[TripleDigitRide]

Just remember that the vast majority of the time, members of the general public interact with police officers when they (the police) are doing their job. Usually that means that someone broke the law, and I'd wager that for most of us that means we got pulled over in traffic for some reason or another.

And just how happy are we to see the police then?

I tell my kids all the time that when they get in trouble with me, they can be mad about it all they want -- but they need to be mad at themselves for breaking the rules. Not mad at me for calling them on it.

Something to think about.

You are very correct, Sir.

Maybe I've been somewhat unlucky when it comes to the LEO's I've come in contact with. Is that any fault of my own? I'd say no.

Any time I've had contact with LEO's due to something I've done wrong, I deserved it, and was usually treated with a fair amount of respect. The one time I didn't deserve it, well, I'm still slightly pissed about that.

I guess it's that LEO-type swagger so many of them seem to have. It's kinda like that "I'm better than you" attitude. Or the "You will bow to me" attitude. Then there is the "brotherhood" thing going on. Instead of smacking the a-hole cop in the head for being a moron, let's just pretend it didn't happen. Well, until the news gets hold of the story, and we have no choice but to air the dirty laundry.

The stereotypical perception of truck drivers was brought up earlier. So many people think we are a bunch of uneducated, low life, drug addicts who sleep with lot lizards in every truck stop we get close to.

Long before I became a truck driver, I was well aware of this common perception. Are all truck drivers this way? No, but I'll be the first to admit, there sure is a whole lot of them on the road. I hear and see it every time I get in my truck. And this is why we as truck drivers get such a bad rap. Though some of you may consider me just another a-hole truck driver, I do all I can to seperate myself from the sterotype. And when I do come across one of those scumbag drivers who give us a bad rap, I don't pretend it doesn't exist. I'll give them a piece of my mind. I do whatever I can to help clean up the attitudes of some drivers. That doesn't mean they will change, but I'll feel better knowing that I'm not willing to simply sit back while not being heard.

On the other hand, I don't blame or get upset with those who lump me into the category with the bad apples. I fully understand why they have such a perception, and hope that in my own little way, I can help change their attitude towards most of us.

Fact is, the truck driver industry has done this to themselves, and have no one else to blame. After years and years of the same old crap, it's no wonder people feel the way they do.

In the end, I feel LEO's should be more willing to stand up to the bad apples, but within the brotherhood, that doesn't seem to happen nearly as much as it should. So many things seem to go covered up, unless they have almost no choice but to deal with it. I feel that if the good LEO's make a whole hearted effort to weed out the bad ones, such a perception likely wouldn't exist. Not nearly as much as it does anyway. As I think I stated in an earlier post, instead of being upset because some have this type of perception, channel that anger towards the bad apple.

With the countless news stories, and the instances that I've happened to be fairly close to, dealing with LEO corruption (for a lack of a better word) cases, it's not nearly as rare as some would like us to believe. It just so happens, they are too busy cleaning up everyone else backyard to worry about their own.

Again, this is nothing personal towards any of our LEO members, it's simply an observation as I see things with the LEO community as a whole. I've had no issues with any LEO members, but after voicing my opinions, I may have a few less Meet-n-Shoot pals. I just hope you can continue to love me, just like the LEO's in my family. They know how I feel as well.

If it helps matters any, I'm a supporter of the FOP.

Edited July 1, 2008 by TripleDigitRide

[Marswolf]

TDR, I actually agree with much that your wrote. There are quite a few LEOs I interact with both as friends and professionally. I tell them that they need to get rid of the bad eggs and insist on professional behavior. Of course, as Admin points out, much of the time the cops most folks interact with are acting professionally. It's just that when we get caught doing something we shouldn't do, we don't like it.

I have a real problem with LEOs who break the law or know other LEOs who break the law and say nothing. That is not professional behavior. It's fixable. If a chief were to tell his officers that they won't get their pensions if they speed when not authorized, for instance, the officers would quit speeding. And the profession would get a lot more respect from the public. I suspect the pay for LE folks would also increase.

[Guest Taurus Pro]

I for one have had both good and bad experiences with LEO'S , i have been in that small dank room and know 1st hand what the guy in the vid is talking about, I was picked up from work about 7 years ago because when i was driving a Person said they recognized me as someone who broke into the house next to them a week or so earlier. Of course i was out of town in Pittsburgh when this happened but until my proof got downtown i was almost confessing to something that i didn't even do.

Now with that said , i too know alot of LEO'S from the airsoft world and know that they are only doing there job and it is not personal to the at all.

I learned along time ago that when you get pulled over for speeding or other traffic stops that when the Leo ask you if you know how fast you were going say no and ask them how fast, also i dont know if it is true here in Tennessee But if they do not have radar or laser they can not write you a ticket and that if they say they were clocking your speed with there speed because in fact that would make them to be speeding as well.

This is only my 2 cents , take it as you will.

Lloyd

[Guest Todd@CIS]

The stereotypical perception of truck drivers was brought up earlier. So many people think we are a bunch of uneducated, low life, drug addicts who sleep with lot lizards in every truck stop we get close to.

Those were transexual lot lizards...

[TripleDigitRide]

Those were transexual lot lizards...

lol....Those are out there too. GROSS!