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Kate Briquelet reports in the NY Post that Principal Mark Federman of East Side Community HS has invited the New York Civil Liberties Union to give a two-day training session to 450 students on interacting with police. “We’re not going to candy-coat things — we have a problem in our city that’s affecting young men of color and all of our students,” says Federman.
“It’s not about the police being bad. This isn’t anti-police as much as it’s pro-young people . . . It’s about what to do when kids are put in a position where they feel powerless and uncomfortable.” The hourlong workshops — held in small classroom sessions during advisory periods — focused on the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program and how to exercise Fourth Amendment rights when being stopped and questioned in a car or at home.
Some law-enforcement experts say the NYCLU is going beyond civics lessons and doling out criminal-defense advice. “It’s unlikely that a high school student would come away with any other conclusion than the police are a fearful group to be avoided at all costs,” says Eugene O’Donnell, a former police officer and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. NYCLU representatives told kids to be polite and to keep their hands out of their pockets. But they also told students they don’t have to show ID or consent to searches, that it’s best to remain silent, and how to file a complaint against an officer. Candis Tolliver, NYCLU’s associate director for advocacy, says was the first time she trained an entire high school. “This is not about teaching kids how to get away with a crime or being disrespectful. This is about making sure both sides are walking away from the situation safe and in control.”
(Score: 1) by anubi on Monday November 24 2014, @07:53AM
I get the strong idea its probably best to co-operate fully and get it over with.
You may *think* you have rights, but trying to exercise them is likely to get you scrutinized with a fine tooth comb.
Show me six lines written by the most honest man in the world, and I will find enough therein to hang him. [bartleby.com]
We have so many laws these days, selectively enforced, that I am sure any officer can pull quite a few out to decide to enforce them on you.
I believe we have already surrendered our rights, but we are allowed to keep the illusion so the public does not go into uproar.
You know, how to slow-cook a frog...
It will probably be far easier on you to just take what he needs to dish out. Give him a reason and he may unload a whole day's frustration right at you.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by fnj on Monday November 24 2014, @09:09AM
Richelieu said that. To be fair, a WHOLE LOT more people were hanged in France in Richelieu's day than now, and it was a whole lot easier to BE hanged.
(Score: 2) by pkrasimirov on Monday November 24 2014, @10:08AM
Giving up on essential liberties for temporary comfort doesn't end well.
(Score: 1) by unauthorized on Monday November 24 2014, @01:12PM
Define best. It may be advantageous to your short term comfort, but I question the long-term benefit of accepting the police state bullshit.
Oppression is a slippery slope. Every time you accept something, the oppressors demand a little bit more from you. You may be thinking that there are lines you wouldn't cross, and you may even be right, but you wouldn't be the first to fall for the trappings of the human mind in similar circumstances. You might be thinking that your leaders aren't going to go that far, but so did Rome, Germany and Russia.
The best way to fight degenerative social change is to stomp your foot and say enough is enough while you still have the ability to do so at a mere inconvenience. Once it becomes acceptable to prosecute "dissidents", it takes far more than that to set things right. The danger is real, if not under the current political elite's reign then the next or the one after that. All it takes is one guy in the right(wrong?) place at the right(wrong?) time.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday November 24 2014, @05:07PM
To use an example, if a cop pulls you over and asks you where you are heading and asks to search your vehicle, you can:
- Consent: "Sure officer, come right in and take a look. I was headed from 123 Spooner Street to my work at Acme Enterprises on 4930 Elm Street."
- Cooperate but not consent: "I am headed to work, but I do not consent to any searches."
- Not cooperate: "Help me out here, why did you pull me over?"
- Disrespectful: "What do you want, you f***** pig?"
- Violent: *bang*
In general, when dealing with police in the US, you want to be somewhere between "Cooperate but not consent" and "Not cooperate". For questions other than "What is your name and address?" you are not required to answer (for that one question, whether you have to answer depends on what state you're in), and if you are going to answer it is wise to just answer the question asked and not volunteer any other information.
You don't want to consent: Cops can find things you didn't put there. Maybe somebody was riding with you and something they shouldn't have had fell out of their pocket, and congratulations that's now in your possession. And of course the cop can plant and then "find" contraband if they brought some with them.
You don't want to be disrespectful: Cops assume if you respond that way that you definitely have committed some crimes, and react accordingly.
You don't want to be violent: You will likely end up dead.
Similar sorts of techniques apply to police encounters on foot, or cops knocking on your door.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by cafebabe on Monday November 24 2014, @06:19PM
People wonder where police get surplus contraband on the assumption that contraband is "confiscated" for personal profit. Well, I knew of a man who got arrested for having 12 cannabis plants. The police asked him to sign a confession for his six cannabis plants and the judge was lenient towards him during the trial regarding his two cannabis plants. Obviously, there's a shortfall of 10 plants here but police officers cannot be caught dealing drugs and are subject to random drug tests so they cannot consume the drugs themselves. However, surplus contraband helps attain an arrest quota and/or a prosecution quota.
1702845791×2
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Tuesday November 25 2014, @06:09AM
Few people understand the psychology of dealing with a ... cop. [youtube.com]