Cops, Good and Bad(ish)
The differences are amazing.
A few months ago, somebody was shooting in the back forty. This caused somebody to report gun shots in the area. Must be some out of stater who has no ability to keep their nose in their own business.
Because it was a “shots heard”, the local cops, who I consider to be good guys, dispatched two officers in two squad cars.
They pull into the driveway. I go to the porch and say, “Hello! Can I help you?”
Per normal procedure, the cop doesn’t answer my question but asks his own.
“Were you shooting?”
“I don’t answer questions.”
If the police come to you, they are investigating a crime or potential crime. They are not there to “help” you, they are there to gather evidence to issue a citation, warning, or arrest somebody.
Anything you say can be used as evidence. It is a consensual encounter, which you can terminate at any time.
The next thing that will happen is the officer will repeat the original question. Most people can’t deal with the pressure of being asked the same question again and again.
My answer was again, “I don’t answer questions.”
The officer, per procedures, will then explain why they are there. They will then suggest that they are just “investigating” to find out what happened. They will then ask again. “Were you shooting?” “I don’t answer questions.”
All of this is per standard investigatory procedures.
At this point, the officer is likely to tell you what the crime was, “Did you know that you can’t shoot within 300 feet of an occupied dwelling?”
Notice the change in language, they are not asking if you did anything, they are asking for your knowledge of the law. Since they are not asking about you, it is more likely you will start talking to them. It doesn’t matter to them if you know or don’t know.
What they are doing is establishing “Mens Rea” or criminal intent. If the law you are breaking has a condition of Mens Rea, it can change what the charge is.
Alex Baldwin had no criminal intent to murder his camera girl. He had every reason to have constructive knowledge that pointing a real gun at a person, cocking the hammer, and pulling the trigger could cause death or significant injury. This is enough to establish Mens Rea for manslaughter charges. (IANAL)
At this point, the cop in question basically gave up and left. No fuss, no muss, no upset on my part.
Fast-forward to yesterday.
Somebody was out in the back forty shooting. I think I heard 16 rounds go off. So what? This is a freedom state.
I didn’t think much of it and went on with my life. This meant cleanup and then working on fixing the busted garage door and other metal working stuff, before being able to get back to wood working.
Two cop cars roll up, and an older cop gets out of his squad. I can see them through the open door of the shop.
He walks up and gets close to the shop but stops maybe twenty feet from the door.
This is intentional. He wants me to step out of the shop, which is part of my house. He cannot enter the shop without permission or a warrant. “Were you shooting?”
Wow, that sounds amazingly familiar. Almost as if it is SOP.
“I don’t answer questions.”
The cop then tries silence. Most people don’t deal well with silence. They want to fill it. So I just stood there smiling as he let the situation drag on.
He then asks again. SOP. I use my SOP, “I don’t answer questions.”
His SOP is in full display. Everything he says is according to the script. And he is getting upset that I won’t answer him.
“If I find out that you were shooting, I’m going to enjoy coming back here.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No, cowards threaten, I’m promising.”
You might think that the fat old man, with a pistol on his hip, (Oh shit, I just realized that even though I didn’t have my jacket on, I had still covered my pistol with my shirt. I thought I was open carrying at that moment) had gotten under his skin.
This is when the bad cop starts to show up in full force. “Why are you refusing to answer? Why are you not cooperating?”
“Because I have a right to not answer questions.”
Another part of the discussion is where they justify asking questions because I could have “potentially done something wrong.”
Notice that they don’t say “broke the law” or “did something illegal”. That is the correct translation of “done something wrong.”
I asked him, “Have you potentially done something wrong? How about him?”
Then the long silence, he could see that this was not going according to script, and the script was running out.
At some point, he switched from asking about potential crimes to “safety.”
“If you wanted to know about safety, you should have asked.”
“I did!” “Actually, you didn’t.” “Why are you being so difficult?”
“When I shoot, I always do it safely. I am always aware of what is beyond my target. I always have a good berm or backstop. I am well aware of the laws controlling when and where I can shoot, and I never violate them.”
The chief walked away. Refused to shake hands. His backup was a bit more polite. When I asked him if he would shake my hand, his response was, “Not now.”
I don’t blame him. If he had been willing to shake hands while his chief had not, it would have looked like he was backing me, and not his boss.
Keep your head on a swivel. Stay out of stupid places. Don’t be out at stupid times. Avoid stupid people. Stay strapped.
