Just a rant I guess.Tonight my friends wanted to show me this

[TheStatutoryApe]

Thats exactly the video and everyone should see it. Nobody should ever give any statement to police.

In many cases that will likely just get you in more trouble than it is worth. If there is no felony (or serious) charge involved then you ought to cooperate to some reasonable degree otherwise you may just find yourself with more charges against you that you will not be capable of defending yourself against. In most cases the police and DA are more interested in real crimes than minor petty issues of technicality.

 

[cronxeh]

In many cases that will likely just get you in more trouble than it is worth. If there is no felony (or serious) charge involved then you ought to cooperate to some reasonable degree otherwise you may just find yourself with more charges against you that you will not be capable of defending yourself against. In most cases the police and DA are more interested in real crimes than minor petty issues of technicality.

Its not worth it under any circumstances. Present your ID, state you have no statement to make and ask if you are detained or free to leave.

 

[zomgwtf]

In many cases that will likely just get you in more trouble than it is worth. If there is no felony (or serious) charge involved then you ought to cooperate to some reasonable degree otherwise you may just find yourself with more charges against you that you will not be capable of defending yourself against. In most cases the police and DA are more interested in real crimes than minor petty issues of technicality.

This was what I was intending on doing but my friend wouldn't shut up. He just kept saying things, the cop was repeatedly asking 'us' questions and I just looked at him and my buddy would answer. I didn't know what to do because if I told him to stop talking to him the cop would probably have gone off on me a lot sooner. I guess I shouldn't have said I wasn't running but he accused me of running away from him and I was more worried about clearing my name in that sense. After he took our IDs and started talking about how he was just going to charge us for whatever because he can that's when I questioned him, I didn't say anything particularly about what happened though. I just asked him why he's being like that informed him everything I said was truthful and reminded him that the lady said it was not us that she called the police on.

@cronxeh, Yes, we did know some of the people who were involved but I don't think I'm required by law to give up their names when a cop is just questioning me off the street do I?

I don't think that any sort of criminal harassment charges could be filed against me as I didn't do anything of the sort and the lady confirmed that. For stalking charges to apply you have to do it repeatedly and you have to know that she doesn't want it. Now obviously bothering her at her home at that time of night (it was around 11) would be 'unwanted' but I wasn't involved with that at all. I went there one time and walked on the road out front of her house to see it, which I admit was entirely stupid and I knew that while I was doing it, but I don't think there's anything criminal about it? I wasn't with them when they went and knocked on the door so I was associated with that, I hadn't even known they were going to do that.

Obstruction of justice, I think that's the only thing he could apply to me. But I don't see how it would apply to ME because I didn't say much other than giving him my ID and address, informing him I wasn't running and that there were other people running, the little 'argument' over him power tripping on us. Just wondering... if I had pushed him away from me would I have been charged lol? I honestly felt like they were going to start beating me after they surrounded me, wouldn't I have been able to defend myself from such aggression? lol just hypothetically.

 

[turbo]

Now obviously bothering her at her home at that time of night (it was around 11) would be 'unwanted' but I wasn't involved with that at all.

Let's see...you went out drinking with a group of morons who thought it might be fun to harass a peculiar old lady. How do 12-year-olds manage to get served liquor? And who drove them around? They don't sound old enough to have drivers' licenses.

 

[leroyjenkens]

I honestly felt like they were going to start beating me after they surrounded me, wouldn't I have been able to defend myself from such aggression? lol just hypothetically.

No. You have to just let a cop beat you up until he's tired.
If you fight back, they will just beat you harder and maybe shoot you.

 

[zomgwtf]

As well isn't using intimidation tactics against the law? I mean he can't make threats with the intent to coerce information out of me and my friend can he? My friend was saying afterwards that he just wanted the cops to leave him alone that's why he lied lol.

So are we liable for the lies he may have stated to the officer when the officer was coercing information out of him?

 

[rewebster]

As well isn't using intimidation tactics against the law? I mean he can't make threats with the intent to coerce information out of me and my friend can he? My friend was saying afterwards that he just wanted the cops to leave him alone that's why he lied lol.

So are we liable for the lies he may have stated to the officer when the officer was coercing information out of him?

you're barking up the wrong tree...


you have to try looking at it from the woman's and the cop's point of view

 

[cronxeh]

As well isn't using intimidation tactics against the law? I mean he can't make threats with the intent to coerce information out of me and my friend can he? My friend was saying afterwards that he just wanted the cops to leave him alone that's why he lied lol.

So are we liable for the lies he may have stated to the officer when the officer was coercing information out of him?

It wasnt coercion by definition. He did not say he was going to shoot you or hurt you physically, and police are allowed to lie during interviews. Just because you are being interviewed or interrogated on the street does not make not an interview. There is no difference between talking to you on the street or downtown at the police station. You are talking to the officer who is on duty, he is mentally recording this conversation and he can use any snippet of it to F you over. Do NOT talk to police.

This all could've gone awfully wrong for you and I hope you understand that. If you pushed the cop back because you thought you are a tough guy, you better be prepared to either be a fugitive on the run or go to jail and face charges. There is a fine line between a thug who needs attitude adjustment and a citizen who is being disrespectful to the police.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

As well isn't using intimidation tactics against the law? I mean he can't make threats with the intent to coerce information out of me and my friend can he? My friend was saying afterwards that he just wanted the cops to leave him alone that's why he lied lol.

So are we liable for the lies he may have stated to the officer when the officer was coercing information out of him?

It depends on your country's laws. In the US there is a fine line. Different states may have differing policies. To get to a federal court of appeals takes something fairly significant. US courts are a bit conservative, and therefore loose, in their interpretations. A very strict and official supreme court position would be that the content of a coerced interview is not admissible only if it significantly effects the outcome of a trial. If they determine that the trial would have proceeded the same despite the coercion it does not matter. But this is a very conservative interpretation of US constitutional law. State constitutions may offer more protection and none of it necessarily applies to Canada. Since we are talking about a misdemeanor it is likely a moot point since the DA is not likely to push hard on a misdemeanor charge.

 

[leroyjenkens]

Do NOT talk to police.

You don't do that when a belligerent cop is talking directly to you. Where do you think he'd be right now if he followed your advice?

 

[DaveC426913]

Consider the following plan, which is really more about not breing able to change the past and instead decide who you want to be moving forward:

- chalk up the incident with the police to lessons learned 1] your "friends" will throw you under a bus, 2] maybe you're mostly innocent, or maybe you could try harder to stay away from trouble in the future. sometimes if you're not part fo the solution, you;re part of the problem.
- bring a bouquet of flowers to the woman. Apologize for being part of something that scared her. Tell her your friends were fools and, well, so were you.

 

[DaveC426913]

You don't do that when a belligerent cop is talking directly to you. Where do you think he'd be right now if he followed your advice?

I agree with leroy*. zomgwtf did the right thing. He told the truth and stuck to it. The cop tried to shake him and get him to crack, but z stuck with it, calmly. If the cop really had any intention of charging him, he would have tossed him in the back of his cruiser.



*

 

[cronxeh]

I agree with leroy*. zomgwtf did the right thing. He told the truth and stuck to it. The cop tried to shake him and get him to crack, but z stuck with it, calmly. If the cop really had any intention of charging him, he would have tossed him in the back of his cruiser.



*

Hey how is that traffic court thing coming along?

You don't do that when a belligerent cop is talking directly to you. Where do you think he'd be right now if he followed your advice?

And so? Let the cop hit him. He will sue the police department and get a bad apple off the streets. You can't be intimidated and break down like a sheep just because someone is there who is bigger and more mean than you are.

Weakness of character begins by running away from your mistakes, or in this case waddling away slowly.

 

[Pattonias]

Why are a bunch of adults in this situation anyway? Isn't this one of those elementary school after-school tv show plots? Now the cop will talk to your parents and then you'll be in REAL trouble. Next you will apologize to the women who turns out to be a famous broadway dancer. You'll become friends, clean her yard, eat a cookie, and then the credits will role with a freeze frame of you, the cop, the old lady, and your parents laughing.

 

[cronxeh]

Why are a bunch of adults in this situation anyway? Isn't this one of those elementary school after-school tv show plots? Now the cop will talk to your parents and then you'll be in REAL trouble. Next you will apologize to the women who turns out to be a famous broadway dancer. You'll become friends, clean her yard, eat a cookie, and then the credits will role with a freeze frame of you, the cop, the old lady, and your parents laughing.

 

[leroyjenkens]

And so? Let the cop hit him. He will sue the police department and get a bad apple off the streets.

Why would the cop hit him? I'm talking about the cop taking him downtown for whatever reason he wants. Cops are "supposed" to act a certain way and "supposed" to do certain things in certain situations, but there's a lot of leeway.

It's easy to say you'll sue this person and this will happen as a result. More likely, the cop takes him downtown and never hears from him again. Meanwhile zomg is having his time wasted and his money wasted trying to "fight it" and then ends up cutting his losses and forgetting about the whole thing because it's fruitless.

You can't be intimidated and break down like a sheep just because someone is there who is bigger and more mean than you are.

If he was only bigger and meaner, then it wouldn't be a problem. Big mean people don't scare me, but a cop who's allowed to handle a situation according to what mood he's in does.

Weakness of character begins by running away from your mistakes, or in this case waddling away slowly.

And you and your pride can sit in a jail cell. It's not a weakness of character to talk to a cop when he asks you a question. You don't have to cower in fear and beg for forgiveness, but it's smarter to realize you may not actually have all the rights you think you do.

 

[Moonbear]

She's not really an 'old lady' she's around 40-50 years old. She wasn't hiding in the bushes because she was scared, she was hiding in the bushes in order to see everything and record things. Clearly this lady had it happen to her before (my friends told me later that they had gone there the previous night too... like really guys lol?) she even got a recording of the car and the people knocking on the door. She was able to give verrrry detailed descriptions of the guys I was with... can I honestly take the fall for crimes I didn't commit?

This should be your saving grace. If she recorded the people involved (audio or video?) and gave the cops description of each person, you shouldn't be in that description or those recordings if you weren't there at the time.

You did the right thing to stick to the truth, even if the cop didn't seem to believe you. If for some reason charges really are brought against you, it's a lot easier to keep being consistent about the truth than trying to remember made-up stories.

Chances are that the cop was trying to intimidate you because he highly suspected you were involved, but couldn't prove it, so was instead trying to scare you into staying away.

Your better bet is to simply stop hanging around that group of people. They're up to no good and you don't want to be with them the next time they get caught doing something stupid.

I mean, seriously, if a group of rowdy guys showed up knocking on my door two nights in a row up to nothing good, I'd be calling the cops on them too.

 

[rewebster]

This should be your saving grace. If she recorded the people involved (audio or video?) and gave the cops description of each person, you shouldn't be in that description or those recordings if you weren't there at the time.

You did the right thing to stick to the truth, even if the cop didn't seem to believe you. If for some reason charges really are brought against you, it's a lot easier to keep being consistent about the truth than trying to remember made-up stories.

Chances are that the cop was trying to intimidate you because he highly suspected you were involved, but couldn't prove it, so was instead trying to scare you into staying away.

Your better bet is to simply stop hanging around that group of people. They're up to no good and you don't want to be with them the next time they get caught doing something stupid.

I mean, seriously, if a group of rowdy guys showed up knocking on my door two nights in a row up to nothing good, I'd be calling the cops on them too.

I've got a four iron by one door and an aluminum bat by another

 

[lisab]

I've got a four iron by one door and an aluminum bat by another

In the US that sort of behavior can get your @ss filled with buckshot.

 

[rewebster]

In the US that sort of behavior can get your @ss filled with buckshot.

in other words, don't knock on lisab's door after ten pm...

 

[rootX]

You are hanginig out with wrong crowd.

 

[Proton Soup]

In the US that sort of behavior can get your @ss filled with buckshot.

it should be perfectly legal to shoot 410 shells of rock salt at unruly teenagers

 

[Jack21222]

it should be perfectly legal to shoot 410 shells of rock salt at unruly teenagers

Ruly ones, too.