Your Rights When Dealing With the Police

You've seen it time after time on shows and in the movies: Cops slapping the cuffs on a "perp" and reading them their rights. But does it always happen that way? And can your silence actually be used against you sometimes?

Many people believe that if they are arrested and not "read their rights," they can escape punishment. Not true.

Police officers may seek information from people whom they have no immediate intention of arresting, whether they are suspects or simply appear to be sources of information. There are legal consequences both of talking and remaining silent.

Learn when the government can invade your privacy to hunt for evidence of a crime.

Fruit of the poisonous tree includes evidence gathered from just about any kind of police conduct that violates a defendant’s constitutional rights. The original evidence is inadmissible in court and so is any derivative evidence—unless an exception exists.

Since just after 9/11, the U.S. government has greatly increased its surveillance of possible terrorist activity.

Police officers may usually search the home of an owner who consents. But what if someone other than the owner offers to let the cops have a look around?

Police must convince a neutral judge that, more likely than not, a crime has been committed and the subject of the warrant was involved.

Probable cause requires more than a mere suspicion that a suspect committed a crime but not proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Know your rights before you march.

When the police knock on your door, you typically don’t have to let them in unless they have a search warrant signed by a judge.

Anyone who has had a bad experience with the police—even one not resulting in physical injury—has probably wondered whether there is any remedy. Many want to know whether they can sue.

In most states, arrestees can resist arrest if the officer uses excessive force that's likely to cause great harm, but the right to defend is limited.

Excessive force by the police during an arrest violates the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Learn what remedies a victim may have to sue the officer in court.