Summary: We interrupt our on-going series to bring some practical information about dealing with police. A previous post gave the good advice to Beware of the police — and especially not talk to talk with them until you have an attorney present. That does not help in more casual or early stage encounters; this post gives some tips for these occasions. This post was suggested by Joe Bonham. {1st of 2 posts today.}
Today’s advice for life in New America comes from “5 ways to manage conflicts with cops in a medical emergency” by David Givot at EMS1 (a website for the emergency medical services community). Givot has decades of experience as a paramedic, director operations for paramedics, and as a defense attorney. This was written for EMTs, but much of it can help regular citizens.
1. Don’t waste your breath! Police officers are trained to be aggressive, assertive, controlling, and correct in all situations. Going head-to-head is not a winning strategy and going toe-to-toe is not going to end well, either for the patient or for you. Don’t waste your breath telling them how much they don’t know or why they are wrong.
Calmly state your case. Make it their idea to let you go.
5. Stay calm! Do not let your frustration or fear spin you out of control. Your interaction should remain cool, calm, and professional. If the officer escalates or attempts to escalate, don’t fall for it.
Remember: you are an innocent citizen and these are your streets. Let nothing shake you. This is essential. If you cannot do so, then answer only necessary questions. Otherwise stay silent. Next Givot explains why police tend to act as they do.
In my experience dealing with law enforcement officers, both as a paramedic and a defense attorney, I have found that certain characteristics run like common threads through many well-intentioned cops. Tunnel-vision may be the most common trait. That is, what they think they see is what they are sure they are seeing and any other explanation can be worked out in court.
Likewise, in my experience, many law enforcement officers tend to be more conclusory than analytical. That is, what they are trained to see, combined with have seen in the past and what they expect to see, is what they are seeing now. In this case, the officer disregarded the 0.00% alcohol reading, overlooked the fact there were no other objective signs of intoxication and concluded that the disoriented driver was DUI and had to go to jail.
The resultant conflict, I believe, arises when their “training and experience” is challenged …
Conclusions
Givot describes encounters between police and paramedics — emergency medical technicians. The police regard them more highly than they do the “little people” (like me, and probably you). Whatever problems they have will be ours 10-fold more strongly.
Givot’s advice becomes easier to remember for those of us raised in white-bread suburbs if we imagine the police as a gang. It’s like being stopped by a group of Bloods or Crips. Don’t diss ’em. Don’t try and reason with them. Don’t escalate.
Good advice in New America shows its differences from the America-that-once-was. Good sense means adapting to the new regime. That’s the smart way; it’s the sheep’s way. The people that built America were not sensible. They took on endeavors at low odds, at great cost, risking everything. We get to choose which path to take.
See tomorrow’s post with rebuttals to this one: We get a new police for our New America, but prefer not to see.
(5) For More Information
For more about this see Radley Balko’s Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces
For a deeper understanding of what’s happening on our streets I recommend “The New Age of Counterinsurgency Policing” at TomDispatch. If you liked this post, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. See all posts about the police, especially these:
- We are alone in the defense of the Republic.
- Do not talk to the police (important advice in New America).
- Police grow more powerful; the Republic slides another step into darkness. Can cellphone cameras save us?
- Shootings by police show their evolution into “security services”, bad news for the Republic.
- News good & bad about the fantastic growth of America’s security services.
- We can’t fix police violence because we don’t know the cause.