It’s never comfortable interacting with the police, even when you’re completely innocent of whatever crime they’re interviewing you about. As a result, many people who talk to the police end up talking themselves into trouble. They might be tripped up on their story as they try to explain away any suspicions, or their nerves may cause them to act in a questionable way. That’s why it’s always best to avoid talking to the police unless you have a criminal defense attorney at your side.
How the police try to get you to confess
With that said, when the police approach you and, for whatever reason, you don’t have an attorney with you, you should be cognizant of the many ways that they might try to get you to confess to having committed a crime. Those tactics include:
- Lying to you: The police are allowed to lie to you when they’re questioning you about a crime. They might falsely indicate that they have evidence against you, that the prosecutor will go easy on you if you confess or even that what you say is off the record. These lies drive many people to confess. Don’t let law enforcement’s trickery get the best of you.
- Intimidating you: The police might get aggressive during your questioning. They might yell at you, threaten you or even throw things at you. Regardless of what they do, though, don’t confess out of a fear of their antics.
- Using leading questions: The police know how to get people to talk. One effective way that they do so is by using leading questions. Here, the answer to the question is found in the question itself, which makes it easy for someone to simply agree with it. But doing so can lock you into a position that you don’t want to be in and in giving information that you never intended to give in the first place.
- Obtaining your DNA: If DNA is going to be an issue in your case, the police might try to fool you into providing a saliva sample without having a warrant to do so. They might do this by offering you something to drink or a cigarette, then once you’re gone, they’ll collect those items and test them. Don’t accept anything from the police.
- Alleging an accomplice’s confession: If the police think that you committed a crime with someone else, they might claim that the other individual has confessed to the crime and has already implicated you in it. Remember, though, that the police can and probably will lie to you during questioning. So, don’t take this bait.
- Arguing that you’re obstructing justice: The police will do just about anything to try to get a confession out of you. This includes wrongly claiming that you’re breaking the law by refusing to confess. You have a Constitutional right against self-incrimination, so don’t let their threats rattle you.
These are just some of the various ways that the police try to coax a confession out of accused individuals. So, if you find yourself talking to the police without an attorney present, be mindful of law enforcement’s strategies and make sure that you’re not putting yourself in a bad spot by giving in to their antics.
Are you ready to fight the charges that you’re facing?
A criminal conviction can upend life as you know it. With so much on the line, you need to be prepared to aggressively defend yourself and your future. To effectively do so, you may need the assistance of a skilled criminal defense attorney. If you’d like to know more about what that kind of help would look like in your case, we encourage you to reach out to a legal team that you feel is best positioned to advocate on your behalf.