[RubberSoul]

Cooperating might make it harder to fight your battles via the legal system. "Sure officer, come into my house/car and look around, gather or plant whatever evidence you feel is appropriate."

Even going down to the police station voluntarily for a "friendly" talk might screw you. In Salinas v. United States a man cooperated by going to the station. He answered some questions but was silent when officers asked if his shotgun would match shells from a crime scene. His silence was then used as evidence of his guilt and the Supreme Court decided that's OK.

You need to know your rights and explicitly assert your rights. The legal system is not going to do that work for you.

[huffmsa]

There's a difference between going out of your way to be compliant and complying with lawful orders and warrants.

> Please step out of the vehicle.

Comply and then ask if you're being detained.

> Can we come in and take a look around?

I'm sorry officer, no, I'm not comfortable with that unless you have a signed warrant stating the scope of your search.

> Want to come down for a chat?

I'm sorry officer, I don't feel comfortable speaking about this matter without consulting an attorney first.

[jadell]

Do you know what asserting your rights looks like to a cop having a bad day, especially if they're already anxious and you're a black man in a bad neighborhood? It looks an awful lot like "resisting", and it's going to be really hard to dispute that when they've shot you dead, claimed self-defense, and have their partners to back them up.

The problem here isn't someone failing to assert their rights; it's cops considering asserting your rights to be "contempt of cop" which can carry an immediate death sentence if you're the "wrong" type of person talking to the "wrong" type of cop.

[dsfyu404ed]

>I'm sorry officer, no, I'm not comfortable with that unless you have a signed warrant stating the scope of your search.

>I'm sorry officer, I don't feel comfortable speaking about this matter without consulting an attorney first.

If you really want to piss them off remind them that this is probably what they advise their family members to do.

[mannykannot]

I don't see the threat of tasering in your imagined dialog.

[huffmsa]

Why are you being threatened with a taser in the first place? Real life isn't Training Day.

[mannykannot]

Sandra Bland was, in real life, threatened with a taser. In other real-life incidents, people who were cooperating have been shot, tasered or beaten. Real life isn't all Dragnet, either.

[huffmsa]

Yes she was. Because she refused to get out of her vehicle.

She was only asked to get out of the vehicle because she was self-admittedly "agitated" and began increasingly berating the officer in a way that was keeping him from finishing writing the citation.

So again, if an officer asks you to get out a vehicle, comply and ask if you're being detained. Don't grab your phone, don't tell the officer he doesn't have a reason to ask you to get out of the vehicle, after just admitting that you're agitated.

[3hoss]

do you think the police officer's response to Ms. Bland's non-compliance in this case was reasonable? also, in your opinion, could he have de-escalated the situation before pointing a potentially lethal weapon at Ms. Bland's face? i'm really struggling trying to understand how you've arrived your thesis, which seems to be: just don't make cops mad and you (probably) won't die? that seems to me a poor standard for those entrusted with maintaining public safety. since the officer is the person with literally ALL of the power in this interaction and, ostensibly, is provided with extensive training on how to manage difficult interactions such as this, shouldn't he be held to a higher standard of accountability than Ms. Bland?

[mannykannot]

Fair enough with respect to Bland, but there are other cases, in which the dialog of cooperation did not end up the way it should have. In practice, merely asserting one's rights can be treated as if provocative.