THE POLICE PROBLEM
The police problem is that police are policed by the police. Cops are accountable only to other cops, which is no accountability at all.
99.9999% of police brutality, corruption, and misconduct is never investigated, never punished, never makes the news, so it's not on this page.
When cops are caught breaking the law, they're investigated by other cops. Details are kept quiet, the officers' names are withheld from public knowledge, and what info is eventually released is only what police choose to release — often nothing at all.
When police are fired — which is all too rare — they leave with 'law enforcement experience' and can easily find work in another police department nearby. It's called "Wandering Cops."
When police testify under oath, they lie so frequently that cops themselves have a joking term for it: "testilying." Yet it's almost unheard of for police to be punished or prosecuted for perjury.
Cops can and do get away with lawlessness, because cops protect other cops. If they don't, they aren't cops for long.
The legal doctrine of "qualified immunity" renders police officers invulnerable to lawsuits for almost anything they do. In practice, getting past 'qualified immunity' is so unlikely, it makes headlines when it happens.
All this is a path to a police state.
In a free society, police must always be under serious and skeptical public oversight, with non-cops and non-cronies in charge, issuing genuine punishment when warranted.
Police who break the law must be prosecuted like anyone else, promptly fired if guilty, and barred from ever working in law-enforcement again.
That's the solution.
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Our definition of ‘cops’ is broad, and includes prison guards, probation officers, shitty DAs and judges, etc — anyone who has the authority to fuck over people’s lives, with minimal or no oversight.
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RULES
① Real-life decorum is expected. Please don't say things only a child or a jackass would say in person.
② If you're here to support the police, you're trolling. Please exercise your right to remain silent.
③ Saying ~~cops~~ ANYONE should be killed lowers the IQ in any conversation. They're about killing people; we're not.
④ Please don't dox or post calls for harassment, vigilantism, tar & feather attacks, etc.
Please also abide by the instance rules.
It you've been banned but don't know why, check the moderator's log. If you feel you didn't deserve it, hey, I'm new at this and maybe you're right. Send a cordial PM, for a second chance.
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ALLIES
• r/ACAB
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INFO
• A demonstrator's guide to understanding riot munitions
• Cops aren't supposed to be smart
• Killings by law enforcement in Canada
• Killings by law enforcement in the United Kingdom
• Killings by law enforcement in the United States
• Know your rights: Filming the police
• Three words. 70 cases. The tragic history of 'I can’t breathe' (as of 2020)
• Police aren't primarily about helping you or solving crimes.
• Police lie under oath, a lot
• Police spin: An object lesson in Copspeak
• Police unions and arbitrators keep abusive cops on the street
• Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States
• When the police knock on your door
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ORGANIZATIONS
• NAACP
• National Police Accountability Project
• Vera: Ending Mass Incarceration
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Don't talk to the police, especially in an interrogation room. Ask for a lawyer. Say nothing else.
Say. Nothing. Else. Nothing.
The police are not there to help you. If you are in an interrogation room, that is because they have already decided that they are going to do everything possible and then some to pin some kind of crime -- any kind of crime -- on you. Even if you didn't do it. Don't try to explain yourself. Don't try to "weasel out of" anything. Nothing you say to the police will help you, everything you say will be used against you.
Don't talk to the police.
Don't talk to the police.
Don't talk to the police.
Don't talk to the police.
Don't talk to the police.
Don't talk to the police.
Technically, you should say that you’re invoking your right to an attorney, and your fifth amendment right to remain silent.
Courts have ruled that if you don’t explicitly say you’re invoking your fifth amendment rights, then they don’t apply and your silence can be used against you.
Which is fucking crazy because the Supreme Court has also ruled that you don't really need to have your Miranda Rights read to you.
They still are required to read Miranda rights before interrogating or questioning you
EDIt: Only if you are in custody, see the response below.
That is very false and it is a dangerous myth because it will cause people to have their guards lowered.
Police can and will ask you as many incriminating questions as they want whenever they want without mentioning anything about rights. They can even pull you aside and privately question you without Miranda rights. Miranda rights only apply under specific circumstances, which cops will purposefully avoid as much as possible.
If you are arrested or detained, they have to read you your Miranda rights before questioning you, otherwise your responses will have limited use in court due to the exclusionary clause. What they can do, and I believe is important to be more specific about, is question you without arresting or detaining you. If you aren't arrested or detained, they don't need to read you your rights, but once they are done questioning, they can then detain you and use your responses against you.
Key takeaways: police are not required to read your Miranda rights if you are not currently in custody. Police are not required to read your Miranda rights to arrest you. Police are required to read you your Miranda rights if you are in custody and being interrogated. If they do not read your rights, your responses during interrogation will have limited use in court. As always, the best thing to do, is invoke your 5th and lawyer up.
Thanks for taking the time to write this! It's valuable information everyone should know.
To reiterate for others reading: police will question you under the heavy implication that you have no choice (you do) without technically detaining you in order to avoid Miranda rights. After questioning, they can then officially arrest/detain you, still without Miranda rights, because they already got everything they needed before that point.
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Obligatory YT Video
I was expecting the Pot Brothers At Law, but this is an excellent video I'd never seen before. It ought to be seen by everyone who's 'invited' to a conversation with a cop.
Here's a shorter one
I love the Pot Brothers At Law.
It’s Shut the Fuck Up Fridays!