Police Beat Archives (2024)

FAQs

Should you ever answer police questions? ›

In general, you do not have to talk to law enforcement officers (or anyone else), even if you do not feel free to walk away from the officer, you are arrested, or you are in jail. You cannot be punished for refusing to answer a question. It is a good idea to talk to a lawyer before agreeing to answer questions.

3. In New York, you are not required to carry ID, and you don't have to show ID to a police officer. If you are issued a summons or arrested, however, and you refuse to produce ID or tell officers who you are, the police may detain you until you can be positively identified. 4.

When a police officer asks where you are coming from, they are looking for evidence to support the possibility that you have or are committing a crime or whether or not you are a threat to public safety. This creates a baseline that they will later write down in a police report.

Request a copy of a police report online

All report requests must be reviewed for eligibility for release and may take up to 10 business days to process. Certain reports may not be available for release because the investigation is still ongoing, or because release of the report is restricted by law.

You have the constitutional right to remain silent. In general, you do not have to talk to law enforcement officers (or anyone else), even if you do not feel free to walk away from the officer, you are arrested, or you are in jail. You cannot be pun- ished for refusing to answer a question.

It is unlikely you'll ever be able to learn the identity of the tipster or the content of their tip. In a high profile case, that type of information is unlikely to be released even if someone is caught and convicted of the crime.

More often than not you will be asked to present your ID, proof of insurance and registration during a traffic stop. In order to get those items into the officers hands, and to effectively hear each other, you will have to roll your window down. You are NOT required to roll your window all the way down.

One decade ago this summer, a federal court found the New York City Police Department's abusive stop-and-frisk practices unconstitutional.

Miranda rights (also known as Miranda warnings) outline the following rights: You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.

"I think the most common reason is the officer wants you to admit guilt to some extent." "They're probably looking to get you to self-incriminate," added driver Justin Gehring of Woodbury. "If he's asking me a question, I'll answer him," added driver Deb Metzger from Wisconsin.

What to say when a cop asks "Do you know why I pulled you over?"? ›

Everything you tell the officer is admissible in court. If asked, “Do you know why I pulled you over?” simply reply, “No.” If you do not plan to contest the ticket a quick, “I'm sorry officer. I'll pay better attention next time.” could get you off with just a warning.

Instead, the general rule is that police are allowed to follow you for a reasonable distance to observe your driving and determine if a traffic stop needs to be conducted. As you might imagine, a reasonable distance is interpretative and will vary based on the specifics of the situation.

Californians have the right under the state Public Records Act and the California Constitution to access public information maintained by local and state government agencies, including the Department of Justice.

To get a copy of a police report you need the following: (1) be the person who filed the police report or be directly involved; (2) present a valid picture ID; and (3) pay the applicable fee.

There is no specific time to how long a hit-and-run investigation will take to conclude. For some cases, it could take days, weeks, and months, depending on circ*mstances and available evidence.

What should you do? The best thing that you can do is simply to say as little as possible to the police. You are sometimes obligated to do things like to identify yourself, such as during a traffic stop. But do not volunteer any other information and always assume that they may not be truthful with you.

For example, if they are taking a criminal activity report from you (let's say someone burglarized your home), and they'd like to call you at some point during the investigation, they will ask you for your phone number.