General Legal Rights

In general, if you are stopped by the police remember that anything you say can be used against you. Do not comment on the police officer’s performance, competence or anything else that can be used as a reason to arrest you.

It's not a crime to refuse to answer questions, but refusing to answer can make the police suspicious about you. If asked for your name and address you are required to give it. If your name would incriminate you, you have the right to remain silent and refuse to give it.

1. Treat the police respectfully. Never touch an officer.
    
2. There is nothing to be gained by arguing with the police. The police are hired to keep the peace and arrest people who break the law. Part of their duties is to build a case to convict a person - don’t help them.
    
3. Always keep your hands where the police can see them.
    
4. Never run - police are trained to chase and catch you and you could be charged with another crime.
    
5. If the police believe you have a weapon, they are permitted to search you. Don’t physically resist. Do state that you do not consent to any search.
    
6. If you are innocent, the court will likely set you free. If you resist arrest, that is something else you can be charged with. Don’t resist arrest.
    
7. Don’t threaten the police. Don’t tell them you will be filing a complaint. Don’t do the judges job and tell them they are wrong. Patience is the key.
    
8. Don’t make any statements regarding the incident. Ask if you are free to go. If not, ask for a lawyer.
    
9. If you are told that you are under arrest, ask why.
    
10. Commit to memory the officer’s name, badge number, and car number. Try to remember the time and place. Look for witnesses in windows and in the area.
     
11. Write down everything you remember for your lawyer as soon as you can.
     
12. If you are injured, immediately get pictures and medical treatment.
     
13. If your rights have been violated, file a complaint as soon as possible with the police department’s internal affairs or citizen board.

Back To Top
 

Car Stops

1. You are required to show your driver's license, proof of insurance and registration when stopped in a car. Otherwise, you do not have to answer any questions if you are detained or arrested, except the police may ask you for your name if you have been properly detained, and you can be arrested in some states for refusing to give it. If you reasonably fear that your name is incriminating, you can claim the right to remain silent, which may be a defense in case you are arrested anyway. Never give a false name.
    
2. In certain cases, your car can be searched without a warrant as long as the police have probable cause. To protect yourself later, you should make it clear that you do not consent to a search. It is not lawful for police to arrest you simply for refusing to consent to a search.
    
3. There is no reason to consent to any search of yourself, your car or your house. If the police say they have a warrant, you are entitled to see it. Always ask to see the warrant. If the police say you are not free to leave while they get a warrant - ask for a lawyer.
    
4. Never interfere with, or obstruct the police -- you can be arrested for it.
    
5. If you are asked to sign that you have received a ticket, you should sign it; otherwise you can be arrested. You can always fight the case in court later.
    
6. If you are suspected of operating your car while impaired (OWI) or drunk driving (DWI) and refuse to take a blood, urine or breath test, your driver's license may be suspended. Everyone operating a motor vehicle within the District of Columbia is presumed to have consented to having their Blood Alcohol Content tested by two of the following tests: blood, urine, or breath.
    
7. If, after being informed of the consequences, you refuse to submit to one of the BAC tests, your license to drive in D.C. will be revoked for 12 months. This penalty requires a sworn statement by the officer that he had reasonable grounds to believe that the driver would have tested greater than .08. Test refusal is also admissible as evidence in court.
    
8. You do not have to perform the field sobriety test. You have the legal right to refuse to take a field sobriety test. A good way to refuse taking a field sobriety test—or anything that a police officer asked you to do—is to say, “I’d like to speak to an attorney first.” If the officer has asked you to perform a field sobriety test he has probably already decided to arrest you and is just building his case.

Back To Top


If You Are Arrested or The Police Will Not Let You Leave

1. You have the right to remain silent and to talk to a lawyer before you talk to the police. Tell the police nothing except your name and address. Do not give any explanations, excuses or stories. You can make your defense later, in court, based on what you and your lawyer decide is best.
    
2. Ask to see a lawyer immediately. If you can not pay for a lawyer, you have a right to a free one, and should ask the police how the lawyer can be contacted. Do not say anything without a lawyer.
    
3. Within a reasonable time after your arrest, or booking, you have the right to make a local phone call: to a lawyer, bail bondsman, a relative or any other person. The police may not listen to the call to the lawyer.
    
4. You must be taken before the judge on the next court day after arrest.
    
5. Do not make any decisions in your case until you have talked with a lawyer.

Back To Top

If The Police Come to Your House

1. If the police knock and ask to enter your home, you do not have to admit them unless they have a warrant signed by a judge.
    
2. However, in some emergency situations (a person is screaming for help inside, or when the police are chasing someone) officers are allowed to enter and search your home without a warrant.
    
3. If you are arrested, the police can search you and the area close by. If you are in a building, "close by" usually means just the room you are in.
    

Back To Top