Police often talk as if you need a good reason for not answering whatever questions they ask, or for not consenting to a warrantless search of your person, your car, or even your home. And he will do this without giving you any “Miranda” warning, in an effort to trick you into testifying against yourself. In asking you the familiar question, he is essentially asking you what crime you just committed. He is not there to serve you he is there fishing for an excuse to fine or arrest you. You may think you are apologizing, or explaining, or even making excuses, but from the cop’s perspective, you are confessing. They are hoping you will “voluntarily” confess to having broken the law, whether it was something they had already noticed or not. Several examples of this are widely known, if not widely understood.Ĭops ask this, not because they want to have a friendly chat, but because they want you to incriminate yourself. In other words, cops routinely break the law-in letter and in spirit-in the name of enforcing the law. However, American police are trained to use methods of deception, intimidation and manipulation to circumvent these restrictions.
may legally be forced to testify against himself, and because of the Fourth Amendment, no one’s records or belongings may legally be searched or seized without just cause. Because of the Fifth Amendment, no one in the U.S.