Arguably, one of the most uncomfortable experiences is being pulled over by a police officer. Regardless of whether you’ve broken the law, there is an uneasiness about interacting with police when you’re the one being stopped or investigated. Upon hearing the sirens and/or seeing the flashing lights, many people will go into panic mode. They won’t know how to interact with the police. They may say the wrong thing. They may even heighten the tensity of the situation.Lessons From a Former NYS Prosecutor With 24 Years Experience on How to Interact With Police
I worked as an Assistant District Attorney from 2001 to 2004. I was a County Traffic Prosecutor from 2010 to 2017. I have both prosecuted and defended THOUSANDS of traffic cases in my 24 years of experience. As a result, I have worked on countless cases involving police interactions.
Lesson One (The Car Stop): Remain Calm. This is clearly easier said than done but it is essential to ensuring your safety. If you are overly anxious, the police are trained to detect this as a sign of illegality. If you are overly nervous, fail to make eye contact or are engaging in furtive behavior, you will cause the officers to become suspicious. As a result, you will not only be asked very pointed questions about your behavior, but you will also be asked to step out of the vehicle. Officers will be attempting to get you to say something incriminating and moreover, they will be attempting to find contraband on your person or in your vehicle. So to repeat, do everything you can to remain calm.
Lesson Two: (Following the Initial Car Stop) The officer may not have any reason to have you exit the vehicle. If the basis for the stop was only a Vehicle and Traffic Law offense and the officer does not suspect DWI, DUI or another offense requiring you to exit your vehicle, you will likely only be given a traffic ticket. Now, if you are given a traffic ticket, there is no need to argue with the officer about it at the scene. This will not only not help you, it may escalate the situation from a simple traffic stop to an arrest. You can and should fight your case in court. But remember, your safety and the officer’s safety are more important than a traffic ticket. You may not have deserved the ticket and there may be a legal mechanism through which to fight the ticket. But above all, remain respectful and we can decide to fight the ticket later in front of a Judge. Don’t allow a bs ticket to be the reason why an officer cuffs you and charges you with a crime.
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