With the holidays coming up, a lot of kids from college or the ‘burbs go to New York City to see the sights and have a good time. Most do. Some get themselves mixed up in problems and learn that life in the big city is a little different than in their small towns, where they view themselves as sufficiently important that they can talk back to cops and throw their weight around.
What plays in your home town, where mommy or daddy are well-known and cops try harder to get along with the locals, does not play in New York City. More importantly, the consequences of getting in trouble in the Big Apple involve a very unpleasant 24 hours, starting with the whupping you might get from a cop who doesn’t appreciate the fresh mouth of some smart-ass kid to the serious beating (or worse) that may happen in a holding cell where some regular New York City residents may have no tolerance for suburban arrogance. This can be very serious stuff.
I planned to write about how to conduct yourself when you have an encounter with police, but in cruising Jon Katz’s Underdog blog, saw this video, Busted, from flexyourrights.org. It is quite long, but extraordinarily good. This is a video that every high school and college student should see. Ira Glasser, former Executive Director of the ACLU, does the hosting duties and provides a superb, easy to understand and clear explanation of what to do and how to address police encounters under a variety of circumstances. There is only one point that I want to add to the video: Cops are not required to tell you the truth about anything. They can lie to you and this is perfectly legally acceptable. Know it and get used to it. It is what the courts call “an effective law enforcement tool.”
I seriously urge every student to watch this, and every parent to make their children watch this video. It would also be wise to send it to your favorite social studies teacher to show their class. It really is that good. Below the video, I get back to the subject of surviving an arrest in the City
What plays in your home town, where mommy or daddy are well-known and cops try harder to get along with the locals, does not play in New York City. More importantly, the consequences of getting in trouble in the Big Apple involve a very unpleasant 24 hours, starting with the whupping you might get from a cop who doesn’t appreciate the fresh mouth of some smart-ass kid to the serious beating (or worse) that may happen in a holding cell where some regular New York City residents may have no tolerance for suburban arrogance. This can be very serious stuff.
I planned to write about how to conduct yourself when you have an encounter with police, but in cruising Jon Katz’s Underdog blog, saw this video, Busted, from flexyourrights.org. It is quite long, but extraordinarily good. This is a video that every high school and college student should see. Ira Glasser, former Executive Director of the ACLU, does the hosting duties and provides a superb, easy to understand and clear explanation of what to do and how to address police encounters under a variety of circumstances. There is only one point that I want to add to the video: Cops are not required to tell you the truth about anything. They can lie to you and this is perfectly legally acceptable. Know it and get used to it. It is what the courts call “an effective law enforcement tool.”
I seriously urge every student to watch this, and every parent to make their children watch this video. It would also be wise to send it to your favorite social studies teacher to show their class. It really is that good. Below the video, I get back to the subject of surviving an arrest in the City
Having had the pleasure of representing young suburban men and women who found themselves enjoying the hospitality of the City of New York, I’ve come to develop a few rules to live by, and to assure that you will continue to live following your encounter with New York justice. The following are my 10 rules for suburban kids to survive arrest in the Big Apple.
1. As discussed in the video, under no circumstances are you to talk back to the cops, and never are you to touch a police officer. Even a hand movement toward a cop will give him or her an excuse to beat you, and you should assume that they will. You can complain all you want later about the beating, but rest assured that the courts will accept the cops’ word that you attempted to assault him or her. The system is very protective of cops, like the NFL is of quarterbacks, and will err on the side of the cop every time. Never do it.
2. You are no longer an important person. You are no longer a person. You are now a perp. Perps are treated like the scum of the earth. If you try to assert your importance, or that you’re not a criminal, or that you don’t like the way you’re being treated, you are asking for lesson on where you stand in the scheme of things. You will not like the lesson. You may not like being “disrespected”, but you’re going to really hate being “disrespected” and beaten or purposefully humiliated.
3. You will be placed in a variety of holding cells along the road to arraignment. There may be other people in the holding cells, and they are not your peers from the suburbs. You are no longer the prom queen or the editor of the school newspaper. You are defendant in a holding cell. The other people in the holding cell will not admire you or show you deference. They may see you as easy prey, and they have the ability to do your enormous harm. Do not ask for any favors from anyone, for there is a price for everything. Do not assert yourself to anyone. If you try to show them how important you are, you are begging for them to show you who’s boss. Inside a jail cell, the nice kid from the suburbs is not the boss. Be polite to everyone but keep to yourself. The lower your profile, the better off you will be.
4. If something bad happens inside a holding cell, do not expect the cops to jump in to save you. They aren’t going to risk their safety for you. It’s just as easy for them to pick up the pieces after its over, and remember, you are not a human being, just a perp. One less perp in the world won’t make them lose any sleep, especially if you brought it on yourself.
5. Maybe they will let you make a telephone call, maybe not. This is not television. There is little that appears on TV that bears any resemblance to real life. If you get a call, call someone you know to be home and tell them you’ve been arrested, what time it happened, where it happened, what they “allege” you did and ask them to get you a lawyer. This is the critical information needed to find you in a big city system. There is nothing more you can do to help yourself, except to keep yourself alive and safe until you get to an arraignment before a judge. Do not expect to speak with an attorney until you arrive in the courtroom. The system is not set up for lawyers to show up at police precincts like they do on TV.
6. As has been repeated here and elsewhere, over and over again, memorize these magic words and repeat them every time a police officer speaks to you: “I do not want to answer questions. I want to speak with my attorney.” Do not change any of the words. Say them exactly this way. These are magic words.
7. You will be asked “pedigree” questions which you are required to answer, even though you’ve said the magic words. This includes your name, address and basic identifying information, as well as being photographed and fingerprinted. If you use a false name, no one will be able to find you in the system. Before arraignment, you will meet with a representative of the criminal justice agency, part of the court system, who will ask you this information again, as well as employment information and contact information. This information is critical to your being released from custody at arraignment. Provide accurate information, and give a contact number of someone who they can reach to verify your information. If you have a stable home, job (school) and they can verify what you’ve told them, they will recommend to the judge that your be released without bail.
8. It takes about 24 hours to go from arrest to arraignment. Inexplicably, callers are told that defendants will be arraigned in “a couple of hours” after arrest by the police and court personnel. This never happens, and family members find themselves sitting in the arraignment parts (New Yorkese for courtroom) for many long, dirty, smelly hours. By going to the courthouse prematurely, no one is home to answer the call from CJA to verify the information you’ve given. Most importantly, your family will lose the opportunity to hire a lawyer because they fear that they will “miss” the arraignment if they don’t rush to the courthouse immediately. Twenty-four hours from arrest to arraignment, no matter what th
ey say.
9. If you are struck, beaten, sexually assaulted or otherwise hurt and ask to be treated, the police will take you to a city hospital where you will sit and wait for a very long time. You will not be arraigned within the general 24 hour period, and may well take another 24 hours or more before you see a judge and have a chance to speak with an attorney or be released. If you really require medical attention, then do whatever you have to do. But if you are just being whiny, or have a bruise from being pistol-whipped, or a few broken fingers, these injuries will hold until you are arraigned. After your release, you will be able to get treatment on your terms rather than theirs. Consider whether you really want to delay arraignment before you ask for medical treatment.
10. Once you get to arraignment, you will have a lawyer. If someone has retained counsel, great. If not, your lawyer will be a public defender or an assigned lawyer. This lawyer will be given the paperwork in your case, including the complaint (the crimes you are alleged to have committed with the factual basis for the charges), your rap sheet and the CJA form. Remember this lawyer’s name and get his or her card, even if you expect that you will hire a private lawyer later. This enables your private lawyer to get the paperwork from the arraignment lawyer.
New York City is one of the greatest cities in the world, and everyone should have the experience of the holidays in New York. But in the rare case that something very bad happens, it’s better to be prepared.
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FlexYourRights is great because everybody in criminal defense talks about remaining silent, but it’s not that simple or that easy when you actually have an encounter with a cop. They’re good at tightening the psychological screws.
You might also want to check out the Just Cause Law Collective site run by Katya Komisaruk. The FlexYourRights people are also big fans of her book Beat the Heat, calling it the best “know your rights” book ever written.
I’ll tell you a little secret. Most of the people who need this information and disinclined to read books. Hopefully, they will watch a video, though that will tough as well as it doesn’t involve animated characters. Sad but true.