Don’t talk to the police

posted Jun 16th 2008 5:55pm by
filed under: misc hacks


As builders of improvised electronic devices, we’re worried that we may find ourselves running afoul of the law. Lucky for us, we’ve got the advice of Regent University Law Professor James Duane on using the 5th amendment. He runs through many examples where saying anything at all, truth or otherwise, can get you into trouble. Embedded below is the other side: Officer George Bruch discussing some of the interview techniques he uses.


[via Sean Bonner]



16 Responses to Don’t talk to the police

  • RT (Panzer Time!) says:
    June 16, 2008 at 7:18 pm

    Wow… this has been very informative.

    Reply Report comment
  • Carpespasm says:
    June 16, 2008 at 8:06 pm

    Those are all really great points that anyone in the US should know. Remember it though:
    1: Don’t talk to anyone related to the police.
    2: Don’t write anything at the suggestion or request of anyone related to the police.
    3: Don’t talk to anyone but your lawyer unless it’s during a trial if you’ve been detained (not just arrested).

    Reply Report comment
  • DigitalMind says:
    June 16, 2008 at 8:41 pm

    I’m actually pretty surprised there isn’t a slew of complaints cause this isn’t a “hack”. With that said, this was a very interesting and informative. I’m glad I saw it.

    Thanks Hack’a'Day !

    Reply Report comment
  • RT (Panzer Time!) says:
    June 16, 2008 at 8:46 pm

    It’ll always be a hassle to sit in the holding room at the airport for several hours and then have to talk to someone important (i.e. a judge or whatever), who will listen and understand and let you go, because you are speaking through your lawyer.

    it’ll always be more of a hassle to get held for several hours, talk to a judge or whatever, and be arrested and sent to guantanamo because you tried to explain your homemade steampunk coffee-bot or blinking usb dongle or wifi detector to an airport cop.

    lesson: police and juries are not the sharpest tools when it comes to diy tech. they’ll jump at any stray wire as a “device of destruction.” don’t talk to anybody, at all, except for your lawyer. chances are you’ll get off.

    and just for comedic effect, though i’m sure everyone here has already seen this: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/xkcd_goes_to_the_airport.png

    Reply Report comment
  • Capissen says:
    June 16, 2008 at 9:09 pm

    Absolutely incredible. I’ve just recommended both videos to everyone I know. Particularly useful for us subversives :-)

    Reply Report comment
  • VaBeachKevin says:
    June 16, 2008 at 10:25 pm

    This guy is from where I live. Good info.

    Reply Report comment
  • RT (Panzer Time!) says:
    June 16, 2008 at 10:42 pm

    really I’m surprised I never saw a textfile of this before. :)

    it would seem like the fake anarchists of the eighties would have stolen some tips from a phreak and written it up in bbs post about how to make skool more fun.

    Reply Report comment
  • cmholm says:
    June 16, 2008 at 11:45 pm

    A functional link to the officer’s comments: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08fZQWjDVKE&feature=related

    Reply Report comment
  • Daniel Rutter says:
    June 17, 2008 at 2:57 am

    On balance, I think Regent University law students (If You Watch CBN, You May Already Qualify For A Degree!) don’t need much more information about how to weasel out of going to jail for what they’ve done. They seem to be doing pretty well already.

    The first guy even throws in a nice little wink and nod about Monica Goodling. Which, I realise, doesn’t make him any less classy than a lot of other lawyers, but do bear in mind that this place is supposed to be just about the most Bible-believing college in the world.

    Reply Report comment
  • Sp4nk_OS says:
    June 17, 2008 at 3:43 am

    Last 50 minutes well spent. On the wrong site, but well spent.
    Reminded me of something I read a couple of years ago…:

    http://rapidshare.com/files/123018137/Dealing_With_Police.pdf

    Reply Report comment
  • PKM says:
    June 17, 2008 at 9:24 am

    The second video seems to have gone down so i don’t know if it addresses this problem, but-

    “You have the right to remain silent, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something that you later rely on in court”

    How does that fit with what fast-talking lawyer guy is saying?

    Reply Report comment
  • ChanMan says:
    June 17, 2008 at 10:01 am

    well this is a very good life hack reminds you that things can be a double edged sword

    Reply Report comment
  • vsnine says:
    June 17, 2008 at 10:31 am

    for anyone in Canada, this is very helpful:
    http://www.cleo.on.ca/english/pub/onpub/PDF/criminal/polpower.pdf

    Reply Report comment
  • DigitalMind says:
    June 19, 2008 at 5:25 pm

    Thanks for the link to the Canadian Laws VSNINE, I read it all. Very interesting. (I’m in Montreal, Quebec)

    Reply Report comment
  • gylu says:
    June 19, 2008 at 11:52 pm

    Do like

    Reply Report comment
  • steve says:
    March 4, 2011 at 3:53 am

    This is Awesome! I also found this, it’s how to properly deal with them http://howtohacklife101.blogspot.com/2011/01/f-police.html

    Reply Report comment

    • Leave a Reply

    XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title="" rel=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <pre> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

    Hack a Day serves up fresh hacks each day, every day from around the web as well as hacking related news.

    Send us your hacks










         



    Hacks

    Resources