The article in Issue 12, “You, Your Rights, and the FBI” uses a question and answer format to explain how to deal with the FBI. It is a reprint from another newsletter, The National Sanctuary.This article focuses on the FBI as an information gathering organization. I don’t know if any of the points and advice given in this article would be different now since 9-11 and the Patriot Act but one basic idea certainly remains the same: it’s always a good idea to talk to a lawyer first.
At any rate, we’re all more likely to come into contact with the police rather than the FBI, so I wanted to take this opportunity to pass on this interesting video produced by Flex Your Rights called 10 Rules for Dealing with Police.
I also found this link to a forum held by the Cato Institute which includes the entire video plus discussion.
Also, you may be interested in some sites that are out there working to keep police accountable. Here’s one call Cop Block, which is a “decentralized project supported by a diverse group of individuals united by their shared goals of police accountability, education of individual rights and the dissemination of effective tactics to utilize while filming police.”
And just today I ran into this twitter feed. It is part of The National Police Misconduct Statistics and Reporting Project (NPMSRP), established in April of 2009, which is a “non-partisan, non-governmental project” devoted to resolving the problem of police misconduct. “The NPMSRP gathers data on police misconduct through reports of misconduct made available through the media and generates statistical and trending information based on those reports.”
Please note that my passing along this information should not be misconstrued that I have any particular axe to grind with police officers. They are in the same category as any other government official as far as I’m concerned. Police are individual humans like the rest of us and should expect to be held accountable as much as anyone else.
Well, okay, to be honest, there is one problem I have with the police. I’m jealous of those shiny badges. I want one too.
(photo from Wikimedia)
3 comments:
Want a badge? Get this one. You don't have to sell your soul to wear it.
One of the more useful books ever published on this subject, especially for us ordinary folks who carry a gun, is called "You & The Police" by Boston T. Party.
http://javelinpress.com/you_and_the_police.html
From the web page:
" More than a legal handbook, You & The Police! explains precisely how to win police confrontations using: sample dialogue, "what-if" scenarios, and practical tips. Armed with this book, you will know just how to avoid traffic tickets, bogus searches, roadside delays, and general harassment. Probably 90% of erroneous civil forfeitures from honest folks could have been avoided had they known about this book. There is no reason for us to be bluffed or intimidated by the police any longer."
I'd say that "You & The Police", by Boston T. Party, would be worth the price for chapter 5 alone Never Consent!
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