If a police officer asks you If you have any prior arrests do you have to answer him?

Question

Because you have the right to remain silent and not incriminate yourself correct?

I have a theft conviction from nearly a decade ago and I feel like every time I give them this information there more quickly to become suspicious of "any" activity.

Answer 1

They WILL find out as soon as they run your license. If you are honest,they *may* cut you a break. You may not be proud of it, but you did earn your violations, be honest about them!

Answer 2

Ok ... its a pretty simple answer..

1, Your 5th amendment right to protect yourself against self incrimination does not apply here. Your not under arrest & have not been mirandized. Your prior arrest is a matter of public record, so the cop, the judge the lawyer and the guy that flips burgers at Mcdonalds has access to your arrest and criminal hostory.

2. If your at this point in a conversation with a law enforcement officer then obviously your being detained for some reason (traffic stop, investigatory stop).

Best policy be honest..we ask these types of questions for several different reasons but most importantly for our protection. I can tell you from personal experience the people who dont give us a heads up on thier past histories are the ones that are usually dirty and trying to hide something. Therefore if you refused to answer honestly and I ran you and found out that you lied that would then give me reasonable suspicion to investigate further as to why you were being dishonest.

QUIT BEING A JAILHOUSE LAWYER AND TELL THE TRUTH...there is no miranda violation and absolutley you have no right to your 5th amendment invocation until your placed under arrest.

Oh and one other thing..you have to by law in every state in this country identify yourself when you are asked to by a police officer..this includes name, date of birth & social security number if you know it..best bet give em your I.D. and smile .. makes it that much easier for everyone involved..

Answer 3

This question is not related to your Miranda rights or incriminating yourself. I think you are thinking, and rightly so, if you say you have drug convictions, and you are stopped at 3am in an area known for drugs sales, this will raise suspicion. But if you do not have drugs in the car or do not confess to attempting to purchase drugs, admission of a prior convection would not be "evidence" in this case.

The cops are looking to jump to the conclusion and would like you to help them along.
Simple answer I would say no, you do not have to answer every question posed to you by a cop.
Now for someone on parole, that may be a different story, when asked if on parole, they may be required to provide an accurate and complete answer as part of thier parole agreement.
I have seen people say this, "Officer, unless I am required by law to discuss details of my personal life and any personal history, I would at this time choose to only deal with the current situation at hand."
I will say this if I am stopped, because it is really not thier business, if I was speeding, or my tags are expired, fine, ticket me. Where I am going or what I am doing is not related to the situation.

Answer 4

A police officer asking that question is only giving you the chance to set the tone of your encounter, he can and will run you thru the computer and your priors will show up and you will just shown your self to be un co-operative and lose any chance of good will. They will look harder for a legal reason to detain you and treat you with less respect.... asking about a public record/something already in there files is not asking you to incriminate yourself.....

Answer 5

FatNick, How often are you encountering police officers asking you about your arrest record? If you've turned over a new leaf since your conviction, you ought to be well under their radar. I'm curious to know what activities you are speaking of that the police find so suspicious.

Answer 6

Yes Fat Nick, you have the absolute right to remain mute and not say a thing! The police have the right to then arrest you, fingerprint you, hold you in a jail cell until your prints come back so they can ID you, run your history, and release you in a few hours so you can go pick up your car that would have been towed.
Or you can just be cool and answer the officer so he doesn't have to be a jerk to you.
You are treated by your attitude.

Answer 7

We already know before we ask you, we are just testing you to see if you are lying or not. By the way, what would you be "incriminating" yourself over by just saying if you have ever been arrested?

Answer 8

If you have been read your rights then yes you can remain silent but let them know that you are using your right to remain silent. If you haven't though however not answering them can cause you bigger issues than if you had just said yes or no and explained. And also they are going to find out regardless to wither you told them or not all they have to do is run your name or drivers permit and its a done deal.

Answer 9

you have the right to remain silent when you are arrested.... You do not have the right to an atty BEFORE they read you your miranda, but it's in your own best interest to answer truthfully before you get to that point.

Answer 10

No, you don't have to answer. BUT, in most places failure to do so can justify the officer taking you to jail.

Answering the question, even if the answer is "yes," usually doesn't have that result if you don't have any outstanding warrants.

Answer 11

Dumbass, if you've already been convicted. how can you incriminate yourself?

Pretty easy to see how you were caught the other times.