Arrest-Proof Yourself (38 page)

(Cop gets into the cruiser and taps at a notebook computer mounted near the dashboard. A moment later, he gets out of the car, walks right up to Joey, and puts his face inches away.)

COP:
Fred, I’ve got a problem. When I punched your address into that computer over there, it told me that 123 Main Street isn’t your home. You want to help me out with this?

JOEY:
Well, uh, yeah. I mean, no. I mean, it isn’t my home?

COP:
No, it isn’t. It’s a pawnshop, and besides, I drove past Downtown Park just a minute ago and nobody is playing ball there, and Fred isn’t your name, and Main Street isn’t your home, and pretty much everything you’ve told me is a lie, isn’t it? Why are you lying,
Fred Smith
? Why would you do that? Do you always lie to police officers?

JOEY:
Uh, no, I mean uh, yes, I mean no.

COP:
(Puts his finger on Joey’s chest) What’s your real name?

JOEY:
Uh, Joey.

COP:
Joey, do you have any narcotics on you? Do you have some rock? Some dust? Some weed? You wouldn’t be carrying a syringe, would you? Something that would stick me if I put my hand in your pocket? I think I’m going to put my hand in your pockets. (Cop increases pressure of his finger of Joey’s chest.)

Joey panics. He runs, but police chase him down and arrest him for lying to a police officer, evading a police officer, resisting arrest, and possession of narcotics. He goes to jail but is sentenced to time served and probation after his attorney pleads the charges down to single misdemeanor. If he misses even one probation call or meeting, he will be arrested and will do serious jail time. He’s on the plantation and doesn’t even know it.

This is typical of what happens thousands of times a day. If police arrested every young person sneaking out to see a girlfriend or boyfriend with a little happy herb in their pocket or purse, America’s high schools, colleges, universities, and—dare I say it?—law schools would be empty. Joey made a mistake in carrying a controlled substance on his person, but he stimulated the police officer to search and arrest him by lying. This fictional dialogue shows why you can’t lie to cops.

Cops
routinely
apply psychological pressure as they question you. Crowding into Joey’s space and poking him with a finger are
legal
inciters. They get the subject emotional so he or she cannot think clearly and lie effectively.

Cops ask prying follow-up questions.
^“
Where do you live?
^”
“What’s your mother’s name?” “Tell me your friends’ names and where they live.”

Cops can verify much of what you tell them. They have cell phones to call anyone you mention. By computer they can verify addresses, licenses, registrations, permits, warrants, criminal records, and much more. Because they constantly drive the neighborhood, they have a better idea of what’s going on minute by minute than you do.

Because police ask so many follow-up questions, you have to continually make your lies more complex.
It’s impossible for most people to elaborate on a lie without hesitating while they think
. The “uhs” and pauses are dead giveaways.

Police will ask multiple questions quickly and change subjects within a sentence, confusing you further—if you’re lying.

Police are adept at reading body language. They often can smell the odor people exude when they are afraid.

Pressuring people who lie so that they act out and commit crimes during the interview is how police turn routine stops into arrests that score points.

Lying, fleeing, and resisting turn a stop into a big arrest with lots of points. Once the subject flees and resists, dope possession becomes a macho bust instead of a sissy bust. This is important to cops and to their reputations on the force.

Even though our imaginary teenager “Joey” was carrying a controlled substance, he might have avoided arrest if he had simply presented an ID, told the truth, and thereby stopped the officer from asking too many follow-up questions. Here’s how it might have worked.

COP:
Hey, you. C’mere.

JOEY:
Yes, officer?

COP:
You got some ID?

JOEY:
Yes. (Hands ID to officer.)

COP:
So you’re Joey Franco.

JOEY:
Yes, officer.

COP:
You still live at 2435 Elm Street?

JOEY:
Yes. I live there with my mom. (Cop goes to cruiser and verifies the ID on the computer and then walks back over to Joey.)

COP:
Where’re you going, Joey?

JOEY:
I’m going over to visit my girlfriend.

COP:
Be careful. Be safe. Remember that curfew is 11:00 P.M.

Why do you have a better chance of avoiding arrest, even when you are committing a misdemeanor like carrying a small amount of marijuana, if you tell the truth?

When you tell the truth, you do not hesitate, get emotional, or get crazy.