Jim Skamarakas

Are the police at your door? Are you being pulled over while driving? Are you sitting in your car and suddenly lights flash behind you and you hear a 2 second blast of a police siren? Now is the time to remember that this is the real world, and not what you see on television.

In the real world you can make mistakes and blow things for yourself and your family for years. So lets take a few minutes to collect our thoughts and act properly

1. Calm down
   • This is very important. Do not get loud, use foul language, make faces, anything. Just be calm, quiet, civil and polite
2. Shut up
   • Let me repeat this so it is very clear. Shut up. Do not say anything to anyone until you have your lawyer with you. Not a lawyer, a friends lawyer, or a lawyer who happened to walk by, but YOUR lawyer, who agrees to represent you in this matter
3. You are not a lawyer
   • Police officers are trained in what they can do, and learn what they have to have happen to do what they want to do. Do they want to knock you around? Then they have to get you to do something stupid like run away or start a fight or get in their face. Do they want to search your house without a warrant? Then they have to ask you and have you say yes
4. The Police Officer is not your friend
   • Forget what you were told growing up, this is the real world and adulthood. If they are there to search you or your property, ticket you, speak to you or arrest you, YOU are the bad guy until your lawyer gets you out of it
5. You are not a celebrity with a news chopper following you
   • Do not floor it, gun it, or anything but put on your hazards, and slowly and calmly pull over to the side of the road, then put the vehicle in park, resting both of your hands on the steering wheel
6. No you may not come into my house
   • If people said this on TV, all the cop shows would be over in 2 minutes. If someone asks you if they can come inside your house ask them very clearly “Do you have a warrant, and if so, please show it to me.” Otherwise, it is a very clear and simple No
7. If you are arrested, step out of the car or out of the house
   • And do not go back until your lawyer tells you to. If they have to come get you, they can search the area. Go outside and they cannot come in. Do you have something illegal in your house? It does not matter, do not give them the chance to find it
8. You are not on COPS!
   • Do not run away. This adds another offense to the list of things to charge you with, besides being stupid and the reason they came for you in the first place
9. You have the right to remain silent
   • You will not be let go, they have come for you and are going to take you down to be booked. They already know who you are, what you look like and where you live. Unless you have a cave in the middle east to escape to, give it up
10. Do not resist arrest
    • This adds another charge, gives them reason to step up the force used on you, and when you fight back, that adds another charge. All of that adds to the difficulty for your lawyer getting you free
11. Your eyes are the windows to your soul
    • And you secret stash of something you do not want them to find. Your eyes tell when you are thinking or making stuff up and they give away secret places. Keep your eyes down, your mind focused and your mouth shut
12. Can we search your trunk?
    • If your state or jurisdiction gives them the right, then they will do it anyway. Asking is a way to gauge if you have stuff to hide. So if you do not know ask, “Excuse me officer, but do you have the right to search this vehicle with or without my consent?”
13. Do you have anything illegal in here?
    • No

Remember this is the real world, not reality TV, Court TV or anything else. You are not on the FBI 10 Most Wanted, you are not on COPS, you are not on the breaking news on FOX News. You are someone who has done something and they are there. Do not make it worse. Do not come to me when you get in worse trouble for following this list. I am not a lawyer, I do not play one on TV and I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn last night. These are just my life learned lessons for trying to stay out of trouble and stop from making a bad situation worse.

If you follow these 13 (It is an unlucky number, and if you forget this list you will make the day worse for you) simple to remember tips when confronted by any law enforcement officers you will be much better off.

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Categories: education
Tags: politics, self-help