Dealing with the Police After

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Michael Brown

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thanks but ill stick to, " im sorry im too upset to make a statement now"
stating that " i want to talk to my lawyer first" dose not make me a guilty person.
you will most likely be too shook up to make a competent statement.
you might say something like. he looked like he was gonna attack me so i killed the mother F*****. that wont look good on paper
its my right and i shouldn't be a suspect because i want to exercise my rights.

and the cops want you to do whatever makes their job easy.

for example about a month ago there was some one impersonating a police officer and tulsa police's official position was to act as if the person your in contact is in law enforcement even if you don't think they are.
unbelievable.
Pure and simple, making their jobs easer and nothing to do with our safty.

You have been found guilty of PWI.:homer:

It would appear that you don't have to be shook up to not make a competent statement.

Michael Brown
 

repete34

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We have several Cops here and maybe more will chime in on this topic;

1. What do TPD or Highway patrol officers say when involved in a shooting?
2. When do they explain what took place?
3. How many wait or plan to wait until their union rep or attorney is present?
4. What is taught to cadets in the academy here in Oklahoma?

I have spoken with a former TPD officer who stated he did not make any comments, until he was represented.

LA County Sheriff Deputies / Russell County Sheriff Deputies(Alabama) do not say anything (nor are they expected too) until they have counsel present.
 

Michael Brown

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We have several Cops here and maybe more will chime in on this topic;

1. What do TPD or Highway patrol officers say when involved in a shooting?
2. When do they explain what took place?
3. How many wait or plan to wait until their union rep or attorney is present?
4. What is taught to cadets in the academy here in Oklahoma?

I have spoken with a former TPD officer who stated he did not make any comments, until he was represented.

LA County Sheriff Deputies / Russell County Sheriff Deputies(Alabama) do not say anything (nor are they expected too) until they have counsel present.

I can only answer for TPD:

1) We are required to give the responding supervisor a brief synopsis of what occurred.

2) The detailed statement is given to the investigating entity, typically TPD Homicide, a day or two after the incident.

3) Most seem to wait for representation.

4) I can only speak for TPD but we are told to give the required synopsis of the event and that you will be interviewed later. They are not "taught" anything about representation in the academy, but any FTO or supervisor worth his pay will advise an officer to wait to give a detailed statement.

In my own experience, I gave a full statement that night but that was many years ago when that was expected and we didn't know as much as we do today. I wouldn't advise anyone to do so today.

That said, there is nothing incriminating about saying:

"That man tried to kill me and I shot him in self defense. I will assist you in any way I can in his prosecution. Those people over there saw what happened and I will cooperate fully after I speak to my attorney."

I stand by my point that this is a better statement to responding officers than "I want my lawyer."

Michael Brown
 

repete34

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I can only answer for TPD:

1) We are required to give the responding supervisor a brief synopsis of what occurred.

2) The detailed statement is given to the investigating entity, typically TPD Homicide, a day or two after the incident.

3) Most seem to wait for representation.

4) I can only speak for TPD but we are told to give the required synopsis of the event and that you will be interviewed later. They are not "taught" anything about representation in the academy, but any FTO or supervisor worth his pay will advise an officer to wait to give a detailed statement.

In my own experience, I gave a full statement that night but that was many years ago when that was expected and we didn't know as much as we do today. I wouldn't advise anyone to do so today.

That said, there is nothing incriminating about saying:

"That man tried to kill me and I shot him in self defense. I will assist you in any way I can in his prosecution. Those people over there saw what happened and I will cooperate fully after I speak to my attorney."

I stand by my point that this is a better statement to responding officers than "I want my lawyer."

Michael Brown

That was a quick response... Maybe that will clear up some of the debate.

I think the statement that "I am too upset to make a statement, at this time" is reasonable and rather close to "I will cooperate fully after I speak to my attorney" provided they are not acting in a manner that appears to be elusive or confrontational. After all normal people don't normally shoot people.
 

Michael Brown

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That was a quick response... Maybe that will clear up some of the debate.

I think the statement that "I am too upset to make a statement, at this time" is reasonable and rather close to "I will cooperate fully after I speak to my attorney" provided they are not acting in a manner that appears to be elusive or confrontational. After all normal people don't normally shoot people.

I would agree it's just fine but I also believe you need to let the police know that you're the good guy not the murder suspect. Simply saying so is better than "I want my lawyer" in my opinion, which is worth what you paid for it.

I can see why lawyers would want you to not say anything until they get there since that means they get paid.:thumbup3:

I'm going to venture that there isn't a lawyer in town (Tulsa) who has represented more than one legit CCW (non-police) shooting so most lawyers don't have a wealth of experience in this area so I'm not suprised that "don't say anything" is the standard advice. I can't speak for OKC.

I have responded to hundreds of shootings and plenty of lawfully-armed citizen shootings and can only tell you what I've seen.

My opinions are far from iron-clad but they do come from a base of experience.

Anyone involved in a shooting should do whatever they think is right as it's your own life and livelihood on the line.

Michael Brown
 

Stephen Cue

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A police officer that not only has years of experience on the job, deals with the subject in his profession, and suffice it to say has an avid interest in self-defense....

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Im going with his advice.
 

foghorn918

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After reading all of the posts and comments from Michael with all his years of experience, I feel lucky to have had the attorney at H&H that taught my CCL class. Here's what he taught to us if we were to be in CC self defense shoot:

1) If you survive, make sure the threat has ended.

2) HOLSTER your weapon, the threat is over, don't make everyone else nervous by waving your gun around, put it back in the holster and concealed.

3) Call 911 and say "There has been a violent incident at (your location) please send help" and then hang up, 911 now has all the info they need.

4) The police will come, want to know what happened, and you tell them,
"My life was in danger, and I defended myself". They will take your gun, ID, CCL, and get information from that. Do not volunteer any other information at this time. If asked again, just repeat "My life was in danger, and I defended myself".

5) They will take your gun, they will take you into custody, then the investigating officers begin their job.

6) Ask to make a phone call to your attorney. (You should have an attorney already picked ahead of time for this type of situation)

I thought at the class this guy made a lot of sense, and when paralleling what he taught and what Michael has expressed I feel H&H did us a great service with him as an instructor.

Of course I took one of his cards with me and it is still in my wallet. Not knowing any other attorney for these type of situations, I would call this one if I ever was to be in a CC shoot.

My only regret at the time of the class would have been to ask him how many cases of this type he has handled.

All in all this is a very good thread with lots of good information and it is something that everyone should be thinking about all of the time.

Thank you to all the posters!

Steve
 

jhat

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If you'll review Mas' videos, you will find that this is not correct.

He advises you to make a simple generic statement to the police and THEN ask to speak to your attorney.

As a criminal defense attorney, have you ever defended anyone involved in a lawful shooting?

Michael Brown

That is what I said! Make a statement that you feared for your life or the life of another, then ask for counsel.
 

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