It’s really important to know your rights. A lot of people think they know, but often times they don’t. And it gets those people in trouble.

For example, you are required to provide identification when operating a vehicle at a traffic stop. No exceptions. Don’t get hung up on the reason for the stop, it doesn’t matter. Additionally, police can articulate in virtually any situation that they fear for officer safety, which is reason enough in many states to order you out of the vehicle. At this point they have a foundation to frisk you for a weapon.

Resisting at any point of this is very risky.

Understanding when and where an officer doesn’t have the legal authority to do the above gets very nuanced. But generally I encourage Americans to learn the rights they have when operating a car seeing as their lives revolve around driving.

Related:

Don't Talk to the Police (2012) [video] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45317167 - Sept 2025 (2 comments)

Don't Talk to the Police - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24754163 - Oct 2020 (1 comment)

Don't Talk to the Police - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23390344 - June 2020 (6 comments)

Don't Talk to the Police – James Duane - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19717507 - April 2019 (4 comments)

Don't Talk to the Police (2012) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15886628 - Dec 2017 (165 comments)

Don't talk to the police [video] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6001859 - July 2013 (37 comments)

Don't talk to the police - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=219758 - June 2008 (35 comments)

>that means one of two things: 1) You are a suspect; 2) You are a possible suspect.

While I suppose this is strictly true, the far more likely option for 2 is that you're a witness to the crime and you can therefore help that crime be solved.

So, in a situation where I am approached by the police to answer questions about something I know I didn't do:

1. I talk, and it helps the police solve a case

2. I talk, and it screws me

3. I don't talk, and it contributes to a case not being solved

4. I don't talk, and it screws me

I read stuff like this article and it tells you about 2, but it doesn't really put that into a broader context about the likelihood that 2 is the outcome. And there is a real decision to be made here!

I suppose a grain of salt has to be taken for the fact that this is basically an ad

Never frobnicate without a flangleharp, says the flangleharp salesman. He could be right, but you would probably want to ask someone else.

Sometimes it's smart to be silent.

Pro 17:28

Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

James Duane, the lawyer from the famous video about never talking to the police, wrote a book called You Have the Right to Remain Innocent. It’s a great read if you want to feel very sad.

But lawyers are expensive, and if it turns out you are just a witness, you are going to be spending a lot of money for nothing.

And then consider if you are are the spouse or parent of a murder victim or missing person, and are innocent. You are almost certainly going to be a potential suspect, but you also want to help them find the actual criminal, and if hiring a lawyer makes you "look guilty", then the police might focus their investigation on you rather than finding the real perpetrator.

I live in a country where you can now consider police to be "on your side": in other words, policing. It used not to be the case, so I can appreciate this.

In light of this, I find the comments of the police officer invited to the youtube talk about how lucky the listeners are to be in the US (because police in other countries is so terrible) somewhat amusing.

In the US one should generally be terrified of the police, especially if one's skin color doesn't happen to be white. Plus everything that was said in the talk.

The type of person who gets themselves in a situation where they can become a suspect is one that I can't see getting into. It makes me question what the person did to have this happen to them.

I lead a normal life. I've never gotten into a situation where this could ever possibly concern me. I'm betting the vast majority of people who visit HN (and aren't commenting here) wouldn't have this issue, either.

I do not fear the police. The police have helped me in several situations such as car accidents. At my business they discovered my back door open and, within minutes, caught the person who stole something. My car got side swiped overnight and they walked the street to see if any neighbor had a camera. And on and on.

You wouldn't find me in an illegal situation involving the police except if I happened to be there. But I wouldn't fear being hauled off to jail cause that just won't happen except on the internet.

Lawyers will damn you no matter what you do. AT one point I was accused of kidnapping my own child as a result of racial discrimination where a caller called in that the child was a different race so I must have kidnapped them.

I later contacted a civil rights attorney to see if there was any case for racial profiling, but instead they took the opportunity to eviscerate me for not talking my way out of detention. Truth is lawyer will say whatever you did is wrong because the premise of client fucking things up is often just a more convenient explanation.

TL;DR: Never talk to the police. In fairness I'm going to give half my time to a police detective. Detective: He's right, never talk to the police.

This is a classic! it's informative but also entertaining.

It is OK to talk to them. Just don't lie and don't answer questions. Doing either could land you in jail.

I always dislike when this is posted, the advice of "Don't talk to the police" is repeated and repeated yet real life is more complex and multifaceted. Is this actually helpful and does it actually educate anyone?