Dealing With The Police: Your Complete Guide

Whether when you’re young and building a career, or longer in the tooth and defending yourself from persecution through the correct understanding of your rights, knowing how to deal with police and the law are essential elements of living in modern society. Without having a notion of how to behave around police, and how to use the law to your advantage, you may be left in a difficult situation over the course of your life. 

This complete guide, listed below, will help you avoid unfair treatment by police in the future.

Knowing Your Rights

To know your rights is to know when somebody oversteps them. When someone contravenes upon your rights, you’re made to feel small, insignificant and powerless. Oftentimes, this is done in violation of the law. Those who flout human rights are often people in positions of power, and as such it’s down to you, the average citizen, to know your rights.

This is far more simple than you might think. For instance, you should read about your basic rights when the police have stopped you in the street or in your car. Being able to quote your rights is a great way of deflecting their attention and limiting their brief power over you. It’ll also protect you from other people who aren’t in positions of authority, but nonetheless violate one of your key rights.

Speaking to Police

Nevertheless, when you’re being stopped by police, a combative attitude is rarely the best one to assume. That’s because police will react to your reaction, and you may therefore set into motion a series of events that leads to your unnecessary arrest. It’s far better to simply remain calm, address the police politely but firmly, and ensure that you have those rights mentioned above in your mind for when you’re requested to do something you don’t want or need to do.

Being calm in the face of this kind of pressure can be difficult, but that’s a test you need to come through. Remember that by insulting police, or by being aggressive around them, you’ll only encourage them to mistreat and sometimes arrest you. It’s far better to remain neutral. 

Discussing with Lawyers

Finally, there’s an element of the law that you can protect yourself from – and that’s using the law itself. If you’ve been arrested and charged with a crime, you need to find legal representation to refute your case and appeal against your treatment as soon as possible. 

As such, you’re going to need to look into finding a criminal defence solicitor to work with you on your case. Find these individuals online and ask them to give you advice throughout your dealings with the law, in order to always remain on the right side of the argument. If you find yourself a reliable lawyer, and you’re protesting your innocence, the chances are that you’ll be able to fight to win in the courthouse.

There you have it: the three biggest tips and advice that you can carry forward to use in all your future dealings with the police and the law.