[RBS] Avoiding Police Intimidation #1

[Aryeh Sonnenberg]

I've just heard another story about local police/pakachim taking advantage
of citizen's rights, and I feel a responsibility to assist citizens protect
themselves from such. 

Police are trained to intimidate people. For the most part, this is used on
people who truly deserve it, but not always.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, and this information should not be relied
upon as legal advice. I am NOT suggesting that one should break any laws
(not in this email anyway).

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Rule #1...

You DO NOT need to answer every question that an officer asks you. For
example:

You are driving, and an officer pulls you over.

They will invariably ask you a question that is designed to make it
IMPOSSIBLE to plead not guilty later, such as, "Do you know how fast you
were driving..., Why were you speeding?" etc.

It is very important that you NOT admit any guilt at this point, and better
yet, just to say, "I did not commit any crime." (Lo avarti al hachok
kolshehu, or something like that.)

Then, they are likely to start speaking in a more threatening, intimidating
fashion, like "You are making this more difficult for yourself...I was going
to let you off on something lighter, but now..."

This can be particularly unpleasant if you do not speak Hebrew well.

You are making their job more difficult...they will not be happy. They like
open-and-shut cases.

Maintain your "I did not commit any crime," despite the threats.

Doing so will preserve your right to think CLEARLY, AFTER THE FACT, about
whether you are really guilty of what they accused you of. You can chose to
admit guilt and pay the fine, or you can defend your position and plead
innocent.

Aryeh Sonnenberg
054-499-1733
"The Land is Very, Very Good"
There is life AFTER America!