In the United States, as many as 80 percent of suspects waive their rights to silence and counsel, allowing police to conduct a full-scale interrogation in order to get a confession.

Why are confessions so important to the police? It is simply this: cops are stupid and lazy, and they see confessions as a quick way to solve a crime. It saves lazy cops the hassle of actually doing police work (things like searching for genuine physical evidence or interviewing potential witnesses etc). A quick confession leaves more time for coffee and donuts.

Here are a couple of links on interrogation techniques

http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/niger/1143/interog.html

http://people.howstuffworks.com/police-interrogation.htm

Now that you know what to expect from the cops, remember the five techniques of surviving a police interrogation (without confessing)

• Remain silent.
• Remain silent.
• Imagine the words "I invoke my right to remain silent" painted on the wall, and stare at them throughout the interrogation.
• Momentarily break your silence to ask for counsel.
• Cultivate hatred for your interrogator so you don't fall into his traps and start talking.

Yeah, because cops aren't here to serve and protect. If you don't trust them, who's looking out for you? I mean, your taxes are paying for the service they give. Treat a cop bad and you'll be treated bad in return. Sure, don't confess to anything you've not done but being cooperative could save you a whole boatload of hassle.

Brainwashing yourself to believe that all cops are out to get you is probably not the best idea in the world.

The purpose of any police force is to protect the status quo i.e. those in power.

But that’s another thread; this thread is how to conduct yourself in a police interrogation. Try to stay on topic!

ExCon -

I have to admit that as someone with friends and family in the LEO field, that I disagree with the notion that all police are stupid and lazy, or otherwise immoral.

And if you think that police officers have free rein to do whatever they want, you are mistaken there as well. They are mostly watched VERY CLOSELY by superior officers and Internal Affairs for any offenses which would harm the department. I assure you that those IA reviews are no joke, and a siginificant (and LONG TERM) hassle for the officers involved. Few officers are going to willingly incur that kind of treatment.

I am not disagreeing that there are bad apples - like in any other occupation. But many police do genuinely care about serving their community.

Officers are human too. Treating them like they're some embodiment of big brother, in my opinion, isn't the smartest idea in the world.

I hope all you people who are concerned about the coercive power of the state have followed the links. You lap dogs can keep licking the hand that beats you.

It really doesn't matter if the cops are good or evil for the purposes of this discussion. It's incredibly stupid to run your mouth when in the hands of law enforcement, even if you've got the nicest cop on the planet. The cop is basically gonna lock you away and then the district attorney is going to step in and decide whether or not to prosecute you. If you talk freely, you might say something that circumstantially points to you being guilty - - and if that happens you might find yourself on trial.

If the cop is detaining you for ANY reason, do not say ANYTHING except your name and address, until you have a lawyer present.

It's important here to note that the cop does not have to put handcuffs on you or put you in the back of a squad car in order to arrest you. If the cop says you can't leave, you are under arrest, even if you're not wearing the government-issued bracelets. Whether you're under arrest or not, you do not have to answer the cop's questions - that protection doesn't just start when he Mirandizes you.