Is it illegal to refuse to talk to the police?

Question

Is what I did illegals the police called my house and I hung up on him then officer stop by and rang doorbell over and over and I didnt answer him left a business card on my door so then he leaves messages say I have to call him back NOW well then he come by my house again this time I answer the door and he says he needs to come in to talk to me and I said no you cannot and shut the door at which point he parked outside my house for 2 hours then drove away.

on phone message he said it about a crime he investigate that he said I did

Answer 1

Please IGNORE the advice given you by kxaltli! OMG, I do not know how to stress this enough--DO NOT EVER SPEAK TO THE POLICE WITHOUT FIRST CONTACTING AN ATTORNEY! NEVER. Even if you're innocent. No matter what the police officer tells you, NO MATTER WHAT HE SAYS, never EVER cooperate with the police without first contacting an attorney.

First of all, if the police had enough evidence to charge you with a crime, THEY ALREADY WOULD HAVE. You'd have received a summons or have been arrested. The only reason they want to talk to you so bad is because they do not have enough evidence to charge you with a crime, and they are hoping you will incriminate yourself. THAT IS THE ONLY REASON. Police are very good at making people say what they want to hear--do not attempt to outsmart them, do not engage in any conversation with them whatsoever.

The idea that not cooperating with the police will somehow hurt you is a BOGUS, absolute absurdity perpetuated by the police themselves. Keep in mind the police have absolutely NO influence in whether or not you are guilty or innocent at your trial, nor does cooperating with the police or not cooperating with them have any bearing on your possible sentence if found guilty. They will make many promises--promises they cannot keep. The notion that if you have nothing to hide, you should cooperate is BOGUS--the police obviously think you're guilty, they've made up their minds, but they don't have enough to charge you yet, and the only reason they want you to talk is to get a confession out of you, or force you to incriminate yourself. DO NOT FALL FOR IT.

Let me stress again--IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW YOU "look"--the police can think you are guilty till they are blue in the face, it doesn't make it so. COOPERATING NEVER HELPS YOU, it CANNOT HELP YOU, you are only giving them additional evidence to use against you. DO NOT COOPERATE WITH THE POLICE. People who have nothing to hide OFTEN HIDE ANYWAY, why? Because it's your right. The police do not have the right to force your confession or force information out of you or compell you to implicate yourself. Do not listen to the advice given you by most people here because they falsely believe the lines straight out of the police playbook--the police count on the public's ignorance of their rights to nab them. Do not be another statistic.

Answer 2

no you don't have to speak to the police. He called and said he wants to speak to you about a crime he thinks you committed?? Something doesnt' sound right there.
If you do not want to speak to him, you must tell him point out, then if he continues it is called harrassment. If he does not have a warrant for your arrest, or to enter your premises he can't do anything but ask you if you are willing to answer questions. At that point he must either arrest you or leave you alone. If you do decide to speak to him, have your attorney present. Until then SAY NOTHING. But regardless, he cannot harrass you!!! Keep a log of every time he calls, comes by or sits outside your premises. Turn all this info. over to your attorney.

Answer 3

1. Don't mess around. The police are dead serious — some too serious.

2. You need proper representation — i.e. a good lawyer.

3. A lawyer will know when a police officer is not within their bounds to ask you certain questions. If you didn't have the lawyer there, you could be unfairly coherced and cornered.

Answer 4

You have the right to refuse to speak with the police, even if they place you under arrest. However, by refusing their requests, you may push them to undertake to compel your cooperation, by having a judge issue a subpoena for testimony or something like that, depending on the nature of the investigation (e.g., whether a grand jury is sitting on the matter, whether your information is vital, whether you are the only reasonable source for the information). If you withhold information that facilitates a crime or permits crimes to go forward, particularly if they result in injury or death to others, then you may be charged criminally for refusing to talk, and you could also be liable to a law suit in those circumstances. As long as you're sure you're in the clear on those kinds of things, then you certainly have a clear right to withhold your cooperation from law enforcement, to refuse to meet with or talk with police officers, and to insist that they depart from your property.

Answer 5

It's not illegal, but it is a really bad idea.

Edit #2: I discussed this with a family member who has been a policeman for over fourteen years. What he says is that you *don't* have to talk to them on the phone or at the door inside your house becuase there is a higher law of privacy in a residence. They cannot search without a warrent, and if they arrest you outside of your house they can't go inside and search without one either.

If you are unsure what crime you're being accused of commiting you can ask and find out. You don't have to answer questions any further than that. Also, find out if it's a case of misidentification. They may have mistaken you for someone else (especially if you just moved to where you are living now). Misidentification happens a lot more often than people think it does.

If you are in your car and they *arrest* you on a traffic violation or some other unrelated charge they can search your vehicle because it isn't subject to the same privacy laws as your house is. However, if they don't arrest you they can't search your car unless you say they can. (I'm not sure if this is what you wanted to know, but I hope it helps more than my previous answer).

If you're unsure about why you're being accused of having commited some crime, or if you know you didn't commit it I would probably find out what exactly it is. If they start questioning you about your activities you should get an attorney. If they're asking general questions (i.e. Did you see the bank robber? Can you give me a description?) you don't need an attorney. If you want one you can get one though.

Answer 6

You NEVER have to answer the door if the police are knocking. You don't EVER have to talk to them on the phone either. Let them Knock forever if they want.
They usually want you to come to the station for questioning because if you come voluntarily they can arrest you without a warrent. Call a Bail Bondsman in the phone book Immediately and tell them you think you have an arrest warrant and they can check for you. They will do this because you can use them to bond out if you are arrested. If you call one and they won't check then just call another. Almost always they will check for you. Don't admit to ANYTHING even if you did the crime when dealing with the police. The less you say the better. Everything you have said to them so far will be used against you. The only way they can come into your house is if they have a search warrant, PERIOD! Police always ask to come in because one you let them in they can snoop around your house legally. Or they can arrest you. Then normally can't pull you out of your house to arrest you unless you are right on the edge of your door threshhold. So don't answer the door for the cops anymore. Just let them knock away. If you live with other people make sure to tell them not to invite the cops in. Becasue if you have an arrest warrant they can then come in and arrest you. The only time you can get arrested for not talking to the police is when they catch you outside your home and they ask for identification. If you don't identify yourself you can be arrested. Just give them your Name, Date of Birth and address. Maybe DL # or just give them your driver license. You don't have to say anything else. Just say "I have nothing to say about that" or "I have nothing to say" Or "I would like to speak to my attorney"
Don't volunteer anything. They may say they have a witness that said you did something or they know you did it, etc. etc. But if they really did they wouldn't be asking you to confess and you would already be arrested.
Be prepared to get caught if they have an arrest warrant.
Don't be carrying anything illegal like weed or other crap because then you will get another charge. If you don't have a warrant then don't sweat it. Obviously they don't have enough evidence to charge you and only can if you confess. So don't say crap to anyone. The case will be closed after a while for lack of evidence.
If you have a warrant then you will get arrested, have to bond out of jail and then fight the charge in court or plea no contest and take the punishment. Good luck man, just remember don't say ANYTHING to incriminate yourself to the cops and don't answer the door. They can't arrest you for that. They will just be VERY, VERY mad! Also don't volunteer to go in for questioning. They can always catch you in a lie and can arrest you on the spot becasue you volunteered to go in. Don't believe them if they say they have hard evidence against you. If so they wouldn't be trying to get you to confess so they can arrest you. Police can legally lie about anything in order to get evidence. So don't believe anything they say.
Lay low for a while and it will probably blow over if it is something minor. If it's a heavy charge don't expect the cops to leave you alone any time soon.

Answer 7

Part of the script the police read in the US begins "You have the right to remain silent" and the UK "You do not have to say anything".

However, both continue with phrases like "but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something you later rely on in court".

That means, by saying nothing, you're making yourself look guilty. If you've done nothing wrong, you've nothing to hide. If you're guilty, hiding is making it worse.

It is not a legal requirement to talk to the police but it makes you look better if you talk to them.

I don't normally give advice but if I were in your shoes, I'd call him right now and explain you were worried because you didn't know what you'd done. That might stop you getting arrested.

If you're unco-operative, and they think you did it, chances are they'll gather evidence until they can arrest you. Then you'll have a lot more explaining to do.

If you actually did whatever you're being accused of, your average judge will probably look favourably on you coming clean now.

froggie

Answer 8

I have to agree with Surfinthedesert. My brother is a criminal attorney and he has story after story about how the police pin crimes on people who willingly give them information, thinking that they are helping out or doing the right thing. So DO NOT speak to the police without a lawyer present. The cops will say that you have nothing to worry about if you are innocent, but that's BS. Don't be stupid. Call an attorney.

Answer 9

Refusing to talk to a police officer isn't against the law. If the officer said it's a crime you commited it will probably be to your best interest to speak with him, before a warrant is placed for your arrest.

Answer 10

Did you do it?

Don't answer that until I have advised you of your rights....

Thanks to the fifth ammendment and Miranda vs. AZ it is the burden of the Govt to prove you did what they suspect you of.

Of course if you didn't do it or they don't understand and you "lawyer-up" there will only be one side of the story...