[branden]

The more you say the more that can be twisted against you. "I'm not guilty." -> "Not guilty of what? We haven't accused you of anything. Why are you acting like you've been accused? What exactly are you not guilty of?" And so on.

The response with the smallest attack surface is "No comment."

[TomOfTTB]

First, the only reason you don't talk to cops is because you don't want to give them something they can use against you in court. So unless there's something in that statement that they can use in court (which there isn't) it doesn't matter.

Second, once you've asked for a lawyer interrogation MUST STOP by law. So there will be no follow up questions.

Finally, you're making the same erroneous assumption as dotBen above in that you're assuming the relationship with the Cops has to be adversarial and then treating it as such (which is exactly what makes someone look guilty).

What I'm saying is your best bet is to empathize with the Cops and realize that they don't like grilling people. So your goal should be to keep things amicable and give them "an out" so they don't have to interrogate you.

[rdtsc]

>Finally, you're making the same erroneous assumption as dotBen above in that you're assuming the relationship with the Cops has to be adversarial and then treating it as such (which is exactly what makes someone look guilty).

As someone in this thread indicated, about a forth or so of cases exonerated by DNA evidence have "confessed". That fact enough, should make your interaction adversarial. You can be sure a lot of those people end up going to the station just "to talk" as "witnesses".

> The only reason you don't talk to cops is because you don't want to give them something they can use against you in court.

That is wrong. You don't know what you are saying can or cannot be used against you. The cops can lie to you. You don't know at which point a switch in their head decides to turn you from a witness into a suspect. They won't signal you with a wink ...

[jacquesm]

> So your goal should be to keep things amicable and give them "an out" so they don't have to interrogate you.

That's key, and it is basic psychology.

Make sure the police officer has no reason to suspect you are hiding something and you'll get off without a problem, he/she hates wasting their time as much as you do.

Give a reason for suspicion or antagonize them and you're going to be a lot further in your day before you are let off.

A police officer is someone that has a relatively good eye for probability, if you are 'probably ok' (in other words, you're on the same side of the law) then there is no reason to detain you any longer and you can go. If you give them the feeling you are on opposite sides of that line (antagonistic behaviour for instance) then you may just have lost a couple of hours.