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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: 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.
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