The Dangers of Not Knowing What You Don't Know

And Why Most People Should Never Talk to Police Without a Lawyer

There’s a deeply ingrained, yet tragically misguided idea in our culture that teaches citizens if they haven’t done anything wrong, they have nothing to worry about when speaking with police. So much so, that law enforcement has developed a sense of entitlement to our unwavering cooperation, and they become offended when it’s not freely given.

The notion that cops are only interested in uncovering criminality is a comforting belief to the ordinary person who believes they are safe because they’re not committing a crime—but it’s also dangerously naive. The truth is, even innocent people can find themselves on the losing end of a cop with less than accurate instincts, and an inability to self-calibrate.

Whether you’re a witness, a person of interest, or just someone the police “want to talk to,” it’s crucial to understand one thing: most people should never speak to the police without a lawyer present. Here’s why.

1. You’re Not on Equal Ground:

From the moment a police officer approaches you, the power imbalance begins. Officers are trained interrogators, skilled at guiding conversations in ways that serve their goals—usually, to gather evidence, and often times in furtherance of things beyond the mission of solving the original reason for their presence. While their investigations may begin pursuant to some call or hunch, they often continue or push the limits of their authority in order to satisfying their ego. The ensuing fishing expedition is nonetheless as dangerous as a legitimate investigation for a hardened criminal. Though they may be friendly, casual, or seem like they just want to clear something up, they are still building a case.

While you may feel like you’re just “having a conversation,” there’s a lot going on beneath the surface. They are paying close attention to your tone, your body language, and—most importantly—your words. It’s not a casual chat. It’s potentially the beginning of a criminal investigation. And believe me when I tell you that when dealing with a skilled interrogator, they know much more than you do about the encounter you’re having. They have likely done this hundreds of times, and you have likely not.

Not only that, an ordinary person’s comfort with telling their story to the police is rooted in the naive belief that they are only looking for hardened criminals, or only interested in developing suspects in a narrowed investigative scope, and that most cops are good and honest. Regardless of whether most cops are good and honest, you may or may not be dealing with one of the good and honest ones, and you may or may not be in serious danger in the course of dealing with the police.

2. Anything You Say Can (and Will) Be Used Against You

This phrase from the Miranda warning isn’t just a line from TV shows—it’s a legal reality. Every single thing you say can be used to build a case against you, even if it seems harmless at the time. However, what a lawyer says on your behalf, cannot be used against you, and it’s important to understand the difference.

Police are really good at taking things out of context. Sometimes, that’s intentional, and done by a skilled interrogator to find holes and inconsistencies in your story. Sometimes it’s because they aren’t skilled enough to follow the narrative. Either way, a small inconsistency in your timeline, a casual guess that turns out to be wrong, or a vague comment about being “in the area” could become a key piece of a narrative you never intended to create. You might not even know what part of your story is relevant—or damaging—until it’s too late. Remember, they don’t have to tell you the truth about the circumstances, their intentions, or the level of suspicion they have for you.

3. You Might Incriminate Yourself Without Even Knowing It

You don’t have to say “I did it” to incriminate yourself. Law enforcement knows how to ask questions that slowly build a case, and you may not realize the legal significance of your words.

Suppose someone asks, “Were you near the intersection of 5th and Main at 9 PM?” and you answer, “Yeah, I was walking home from the coffee shop.” That statement alone may not be a smoking gun, but it could place you at the scene of a crime—even if you had nothing to do with it. From that moment on, you’re part of the story. You’ve made yourself relevant, and now they are going to be combing through your phone records, finding out where you’ve been, who you’ve been associating with, what you’ve been saying in text messages. Imagine the lives that are ruined on a daily basis because they were trying to be cooperative with police, and a whole bunch of things come to light about the happenings of the personal lives of people completely disconnected from the original crime. The unforeseen consequences of being innocent and cooperative can be devastating.

4. Witness Today—Suspect Tomorrow

Regardless of what the police tell you in the course of coaxing your cooperation, your status can change in an instant. In fact, because cops seem to lack the ability to treat anyone within their peripheral vision like anything other than a suspect, it can be difficult for you to get a feel for what your status is, anyway. Best to assume you’re a target, and be pleasantly surprised to learn that’s not the case. Either way, it’s important to understand that it is not your responsibility to be a witness or assist the police in their investigation.

The real danger lies in the fact that, once you’ve said something, you can’t unsay it. If your statement conflicts with other evidence that emerges later—even if it was an honest mistake—you will very quickly be accused of lying, obstructing justice, or worse. What began as you trying to be helpful could end with you in handcuffs.

That’s why the remedy is always to invoke your right to remain silent until counsel can be present to guide you through the questioning. If in fact you do happen to have critical information necessary for the prosecution of the actual target of the investigation, a lawyer can negotiate immunity agreements, and control the scope of your cooperation, if any.

5. Miranda Rights Don’t Always Apply When You Think They Do

Many people trust that the police won’t cross lines when it comes to interrogation. They see so many television shows where cops immediately issue miranda warnings when they take someone into custody. However, reality is much different than that.

In many cases, by the time it dawns on a cop to issue a miranda warning, it’s too late for the integrity of the evidence, but more importantly, it’s too late to protect the new suspect. Sure, the statements you made prior to the warning may not be admissible, but cops don’t care about admissibility nearly as much as they care about getting credit for solving the case. They’re very much like a dog on the hunt for a bone—mission focused— and comfortable with the tradeoff of losing the prosecution in exchange for the hero status involved with solving a crime. They know you might “beat the case, but you won’t beat the ride”

If they stop you on the street or invite you to the station “just to talk,” they’re not required to Mirandize you, because whether you know it or not, you’re free to leave. Anything you say during that time can still be used against you—even if you never heard your rights.

This gray area is exactly where people get trapped. They assume they’re protected when they’re not.

So, if you’re waiting to hear “You have the right to remain silent.” before you exercise that right, you might be too late. This is primarily because you can have little confidence that most cops know when they’re supposed to issue miranda warnings in the first place, and you shouldn’t bet your life on your understanding of it either.

The truth is that neither the cop’s understanding of the miranda rules, nor the citizens, are as important as the trial judges ruling on admissibility. Plus, there are a bunch of evidentiary exceptions that I won’t go into for this post, that will allow them to use evidence they obtained as a result of your statements, even if the statements themselves are suppressed.

6. A Lock Keeps an Honest Person—Honest, A Lawyer Keeps an Innocent Person—Innocent

You’ve heard the saying that locks are there to keep honest people honest? The same logic follows for utilizing a lawyer even if you’re innocent.

A locked door removes the temptation for a normally honest person to cross a line into the threshold of a place they’re not supposed to be.

As we’ve seen in the videos presented by our friend Lackluster and his partnership with Attorney Shield, the presence of a lawyer, even at the roadside during a traffic investigation, removes the same temptation from an otherwise ethical police officer to be overcome by the passion of the moment and cross a similar line.

Many people avoid asking for a lawyer because they’re afraid it will make them look guilty. They’re not wrong. The police will look upon that person in a less favorable way once they invoke their right to counsel. But, the question we should all ask ourselves is whether we care more about what the police think of us, or what they can take from us if we don’t “lock our doors” by asking for a lawyer. After all, the cop who thinks you’re guilty for invoking your right to counsel, was probably going to think you were guilty anyway, and try to hem you up for something you didn’t do.

At it’s core, it’s nothing more than a risk v. reward calculation.

Do we care about the opinion of people who would walk into our homes through an unlocked door? Probably not. For the same reason, we shouldn’t care about what the cops think when we protect our liberty by using the locks provided by the fifth amendment.

A lawyer acts as a buffer. They make sure you don’t answer vague or leading questions. They stop interviews that cross the line. They clarify misunderstandings before they become accusations. Most importantly, they protect your rights and keep you from saying things you’ll later regret.

Even if you’re completely innocent, talking to police without legal representation is like walking a tightrope with no safety net. Why take that risk?

As an aside, it’s fair to mention that some people avoid asking for counsel because they can’t afford to hire a lawyer. Regardless of whether you actually do retain counsel, the rules state that the questioning from cops has to stop once you invoke your right to have counsel present before questioning. So, even if you never use the lawyer, it locks the door to your liberty to invoke your right to have one available before questioning.

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Final Thoughts: Know Your Rights—And Use Them

Talking to the police without a lawyer is one of the most common—and costly—mistakes people make. It doesn’t matter if you’re guilty, innocent, or somewhere in between. The system is complex, the stakes are high, and your words are powerful weapons—which are commonly the source of self-inflicted wounds.

You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to legal counsel. Use them.

If law enforcement ever wants to talk, here are the only sentences you need to say:

“I am invoking my right to remain silent, and I invoke my right to counsel. I will not answer any questions without a lawyer present.”

It’s not disrespectful. It’s not confrontational. It’s smart.

It’s what I am talking about when I

end each of my videos with the phrase “Keep your evidence to yourself”

Thanks for reading!

-SDL