Hey YouTube, Jim here.
Welcome to Top10Archive!
Y'know, I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable doing this video.
If they don't want you to know, doesn't it stand to reason that they'll do whatever they
can to keep this information from getting out?
10.
Radar Detectors Aren't Effective They love that you think you're so clever
with your fuzz buster because it's far from a surefire way of avoiding a speeding ticket.
Radar detectors aren't infallible.
In fact, there are a few things that can go wrong with them.
First and foremost, the radio frequencies that they're designed to detect are also emitted
by things like adaptive radar cruise control, meaning your radar can be set off without
a cop for miles.
Additionally, many departments have switched to a focused infrared beam that, even with
detectors designed to pick them up, are difficult to catch.
9.
Corruption is Widespread and Can Cost Millions In 2013, Camden, New Jersey paid $3.5 million
to victims that were affected by widespread corruption within the Camden Police Department.
While you can just shrug and say "That's Jersey, what can you expect?", it's not just a problem
found in the armpit of the east coast.
For decades, police corruption has been an issue all across the nation.
Do a quick search on Google and, in the past year alone, you'll find reports detailing
corruption in cities like Baltimore, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia.
8.
Go For the Department's Internal Affairs If you feel like you're being treated poorly
by a police officer, your first instinct may be to threaten a lawsuit.
Instead, threaten to file a formal complaint with their supervisor or Internal Affairs
department.
The reality is that most people that threaten lawsuits don't have the financial means of
actually starting a civil suit.
Also, police officers are protected by "qualified immunity," meaning if they were acting within
the confines of their authority, the lawsuit will die.
Internal Affairs, on the other hand, will investigate complaints that seem plausible
and the investigation is exhaustive and quite intimidating.
On the flip side of that, don't approach Internal Affairs if you don't have an honest claim.
Deliberately false accusations can be punishable.
7.
They'll Trick You Into Confessing Even though an officer may read you your Miranda
Rights, they may still try to trick you into making a confession or providing a lead.
As written by former police officer Terry Ingram in Police State: Ten Secrets the Police
Don't Want You to Know, officers may read you your rights when things are heated and
hectic, wait for the situation to calm down, and then start probing with clever questioning.
They'll start with standard questions about your name, address, and place of employment.
When they think you're getting used to just answering questions, they'll start to move
into getting a confession and admission of guilt.
6.
You Can't be Pulled Over for Flipping Off a Cop
Listen very carefully when I say this: Don't.
Flip.
Off.
Cops.
While it's not a punishable offense, they will have their eye on you and if you slip
up just once, you can bet they'll pounce.
Expect for them to immediately follow you until they find something you did wrong.
If you so much as forget your blinker while merging, those sirens will go off.
The Vigo County Superior Court ruled in favor of one Mark May after he received a ticket
for flipping off a cop.
The court cited it as a First Amendment right.
But just don’t do it, okay?
5.
You Don't Have to Talk to the Cops The Constitution of the United States gives
us a little thing we call the Fifth Amendment.
Thanks to that, you can never be coerced into being a witness against yourself and, therefore,
can avoid speaking to the police in order to avoid incriminating yourself in a crime.
You are legally obligated to reply to an officer when they ask you to identify yourself, but
otherwise, you certainly do have the right to remain silent.
4.
Undercover Cops Don't Have to Identify Themselves You may have seen this ridiculous trope in
a few crime dramas or from friends who think they're lawyers, but as we know, what you
see in the movies or on TV isn't always true.
The reality is the question "Are you a cop?" is not the loophole in determining whether
or not you're talking to a real police officer.
It was a popular claim in prostitution stings when prostitutes would ask their clients and
expect an honest answer, and, from there, turned into an urban legend.
It's not considered entrapment in the court of law, and that undercover cop is going to
remain undercover until they have everything they need or until things get dangerous.
3.
"Am I Free to Go?"
There are "special phrases" you will want to store in the back of your mind if you ever
find yourself in legal trouble with the law.
"Am I free to go," "I do not consent to any searches," "I want to remain silent," and
"I wish to speak with my lawyer" are all useful in immediately halting any line of questioning.
"Am I free to go" will let you know whether you're being detained or not.
If not, they'll have to let you go.
If so, move to magic phrase # 2: "I do not consent to any searches."
If they don't have probable cause or a warrant to search you, denying consent means they
can't perform a search.
Finally, "I want to remain silent" and "I want a lawyer" are pretty obvious, with the
latter being the end-all of legal blocks.
Once spoken, they can't pursue a line of questioning without a lawyer present.
2.
Complaints Get Filed in the "Special Bin" We all have that "special bin" where the things
we don't want to deal with go.
For some police departments, that bin is a paper shredder.
When you file a complaint, don't automatically assume it will reach the proper channels.
When a police union's website was hacked in 2016, it was found that some departments have
a guideline in place that guarantees all disciplinary records will remain secret or be destroyed
altogether.
The discovery came from the servers of the Fraternal Order of Police and outlined dozens
of contracts, of which more than 1/3 featured such immoral protective clauses.
1.
You Have More Rights Than It May Seem The only way to fully protect yourself from
bad police work is by knowing your rights.
For instance, the Fourth Amendment protects you from illegal search and seizure.
If an officer pulls you over, unless they have probable cause, they don't have a right
to search your vehicle.
Never offer consent to search as it grants them access to everything.
Keep in mind that you can legally film a police officer, you can calmly leave if you're not
under arrest, citizenship and immigration status don't void constitutional rights, and
you have the right to a phone call and cannot be monitored if it's to a lawyer.
Protect yourself by brushing up on federal and local laws that keep your rights protected.
Thanks for watching!
Of course, the best way to avoid any negative confrontations with law enforcement officers
is to do your part in obeying federal, state, and local laws.
And simply showing respect to a law enforcement officer, even when you’re being inconvenienced,
can go a long way.
Remember to subscribe, click the bell, like this video, and leave a comment, perhaps about
your experience with any prior police interactions you may have had.