Your Rights When Dealing with the Police

Your Rights When Dealing With the Police

Should you speak with the police officer? Should you let the officer search your home or car? And what happens if you don’t?

Failure to Identify to a Police Officer: Laws & Penalties

Law enforcement officers routinely ask people for their names and other identifying information. Police may ask for the information as part of a specific criminal investigation.

Good Samaritan Laws & Protections

In law schools around the country it’s common for first-year law students to learn about the “no duty to rescue” rule. This legal doctrine states that as an average person you are under no legal obligation to help someone in distress. Even if helping an imperiled person would impose little or no

What Does ICE Do?

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), primarily responsible for enforcing federal immigration and customs laws. Its powers include investigating, apprehending, arresting, detaining, and removing aliens within the United States. This

When Can the Police Search My Car?

The constitution says that you have a right to be free from unreasonable searches of your home, your person, and your car. Car searches rarely involve a search warrant issued...

How to Talk to Police When You're Pulled Over

Nobody likes to get pulled over, but if a police officer does stop you, you need to know how to talk to the officer. The main thing to remember is that a police officer approaching your car has no idea who you are and whether you pose a threat.

Tactics Police Use to Get a Confession

Police officers use a variety of tactics in order to obtain confessions from people accused of committing crimes. If police want to question you, you need to know what to expect and how protect your rights.

Racial Profiling and the Police

A distinguished Harvard professor and frequent television commentator returns home from a trip overseas. As he struggles with a sticky lock on his front door, Cambridge police officers who are cruising by stop and confront him. He identifies himself. You may imagine this story ends with the cops apologizing and maybe sharing an abashed chuckle with the professor. You would be wrong.

Police Misconduct

Officers who misuse their power to fabricate evidence may be prosecuted, and the evidence kept out of court. Deliberately harming suspects is also an abuse of power.

What can I do when the police tow my car?

Vehicles may be towed for many reasons. If the car or driver is not validly licensed, or is being arrested, the police may tow the car for safekeeping, or to conduct a more thorough search. Abandoned vehicles...

Can the Cops Make me Wear a Wire?

In many cases, people involved in a criminal circumstance may be used by the police to help obtain confession or evidence that will help the police to convict a criminal who is charged with a more serious crime. It is not unusual for police to arrest, for example, a low level drug dealer and offer him

What Happens if I Lie to Police about a Friend's Crime?

If you lied to the police about a crime your friend committed you could face significant consequences. As a general rule, you aren’t under any obligation to speak with the police. However, if you choose to talk to investigators, it’s never a good idea to lie. If you lie to the police about a friend’s crime you can be charged with one or more crimes of your own.

Warrant While Incarcerated: Multiple Warrants

There are times when an individual may have one or more arrest warrants on record, even while they are already in a correctional facility for another crime. This is known as an Incacerated Warrant.

Can the Cops Question My Child about His Involvement in a Crime?

Police are free to approach children and question them about whether they were involved in a crime but, just as an adult can never be forced to answer questions from police in an interrogation, the child is not required to answer. The child can refuse to answer questions and can request that a lawyer or a parent be present.

Can Police Question a Child Who Has Witnessed or Been a Victim of a Crime?

Police are free to approach and question any child who may have witnessed or been the victim of a crime, just as they can contact and interview an adult. Police can question a child without a parent present and are not required to obtain permission from a parent before questioning the child.