Don't Talk to Cops
By Guy McBernson
"GOOD MORNING! My name is investigator Holmes. Do you mind answering a few
simple questions?" If you open your door one day and are greeted with those
words, STOP AND THINK! Whether it is the local police or the FBI at your door,
you have certain legal rights of which you ought to be aware before you
proceed any further.
In the first place, when law enforcement authorities come to see you,
there are no "simple questions". Unless they are investigating a traffic
accident, you can be sure that they want information about somebody. And that
somebody may be you!
Rule number one to remember when confronted by the authorities is that
there is no law requiring you to talk with the police, the FBI, or the
representative of any other investigative agency. Even the simplest questions
may be loaded and the seemingly harmless bits of information which you
volunteer may later become vital links in a chain of circumstantial evidence
against you or a friend.
DO NOT INVITE THE INVESTIGATOR INTO YOUR HOME!
Such an invitation not only gives him the opportunity to look around
for clues to your lifestyle, friends, reading material, etc., but also tends
to prolong the conversation. The longer the conversation, the more chance
there is for a skill investigator to find out what he wants to know.
Many times a police officer will ask you to accompany him to the
police station to answer a few questions. In that case, simply thank him for
the invitation and indicate that you are not disposed to accept it at this
time. Often the authorities simply want to photograph a person for
identification purposes, a procedure which is easily accomplished by placing
him in a private room with a two-way mirror at the station, asking him a few
innocent questions, and then releasing him.
If the investigator becomes angry at your failure to cooperate and
threatens you with arrest, stand firm. He cannot legally place you under
arrest or enter your home without a warrent signed by a judge. If he indicates
that he has such a warrent, ask to see it. A person under arrest, or located
on premises to be searched, generally must be shown a warrent if he requests
it and must be given to chance to read it.
Without a warrent, an officer depends solely upon your helpfulness to
obtain the information he wants. So, unless you are quite sure of yourself,
don't be helpful.
Probably the wisest approach to take to a persistant investigator is
simply to say: "I'm quite busy now. If you have any questions that you feel I
can answer, I'd be happy to listen to them in my lawyer's office. Goodbye!"
Talk is cheap. When that talk involves the law enforcement
authorities, it may cost you, or someone close to you, dearly.
This info came from a leaflet that was printed as a public
service by individuals concerned with the growing role of
authoritarianism and police power in our society. Please
feel free to copy or republish.
This info also applies to dealing with private investigators, and
corporate security agents.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
domestic violence
Somewhere in America at this very moment, a woman is being abused. She will be left with bruises, cuts, broken bones, and scars. The scars that last forever are not physical; however, they are ones of mental anguish. Her abuser is not a stranger, rather her husband or boyfriend. In this country, domestic violence is almost as common as giving birth. There is, however, hope for these women; help is available.
Domestic violence occurs way too often in American society. There are many reasons why people need to speak out against domestic violence. One reason is that statistics show that most abusers will continue to abuse until they are arrested. Another reason is that domestic violence doesn't only physically harm a woman; it also mentally harms the woman and any children involved. The third reason is that help is available.
A man who physically abuses a woman can not be stopped unless he is given counseling, jailed, or killed. He will continue to abuse until he is stopped, and ignoring the problem will definitely not help it go away. Husbands and boyfriends send more women to the hospital each year than strangers do (Campbell 95). The US Surgeon General reports that, "domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to American women between the ages of fifteen and forty-four" (Briggs and Davis 94) . Abusers need to be stopped before its too late for their victims.
Women are not the only victims of abuse. Children who live in a situation where domestic violence is prevalent suffer in many ways. The psychological impact of witnessing violence among many children is just as severe as if they had been the victims of physical or sexual abuse themselves (Krueger 94). These children who witness abuse at home suffer in many unseen ways, and too often their pain goes untreated (Krueger 94). If an abused woman does not have the guts to stand up for her own safety, the least she can do is protect her children. An abused woman an innocent victim, but the children are even more innocent victims.
Many women feel that there is no one to help them escape domestic violence. This assumption is extremely wrong. There are many organizations designed especially to help abused women. A group called Violence Against Women gives out grants that are used to create specialized police and prosecution units to deal with domestic violence (Campbell 95). In addition to Violence Against Women grants, the government issued grants to forty-nine of the fifty states of $426,000 to train police officers to develop more effective strategies to prevent violent crimes against women (Campbell 95). It is up to the abused women to stand up and use their power to make there abuser pay for their physical and mental violence. Help is out there, it is up to the abused woman to reach out for it.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, help is available. This help can be received by calling the local Women's Center at
784-6631.
The fight against domestic violence has just begun. There has been much progress towards stopping the violence in the past couple of years, but the violence is still too prevalent. If more people speak out against this violence, the world would be a much safer place.
Domestic violence occurs way too often in American society. There are many reasons why people need to speak out against domestic violence. One reason is that statistics show that most abusers will continue to abuse until they are arrested. Another reason is that domestic violence doesn't only physically harm a woman; it also mentally harms the woman and any children involved. The third reason is that help is available.
A man who physically abuses a woman can not be stopped unless he is given counseling, jailed, or killed. He will continue to abuse until he is stopped, and ignoring the problem will definitely not help it go away. Husbands and boyfriends send more women to the hospital each year than strangers do (Campbell 95). The US Surgeon General reports that, "domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to American women between the ages of fifteen and forty-four" (Briggs and Davis 94) . Abusers need to be stopped before its too late for their victims.
Women are not the only victims of abuse. Children who live in a situation where domestic violence is prevalent suffer in many ways. The psychological impact of witnessing violence among many children is just as severe as if they had been the victims of physical or sexual abuse themselves (Krueger 94). These children who witness abuse at home suffer in many unseen ways, and too often their pain goes untreated (Krueger 94). If an abused woman does not have the guts to stand up for her own safety, the least she can do is protect her children. An abused woman an innocent victim, but the children are even more innocent victims.
Many women feel that there is no one to help them escape domestic violence. This assumption is extremely wrong. There are many organizations designed especially to help abused women. A group called Violence Against Women gives out grants that are used to create specialized police and prosecution units to deal with domestic violence (Campbell 95). In addition to Violence Against Women grants, the government issued grants to forty-nine of the fifty states of $426,000 to train police officers to develop more effective strategies to prevent violent crimes against women (Campbell 95). It is up to the abused women to stand up and use their power to make there abuser pay for their physical and mental violence. Help is out there, it is up to the abused woman to reach out for it.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, help is available. This help can be received by calling the local Women's Center at
784-6631.
The fight against domestic violence has just begun. There has been much progress towards stopping the violence in the past couple of years, but the violence is still too prevalent. If more people speak out against this violence, the world would be a much safer place.
Domestic abuse
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Found at the scene of the crime two dead bodies stabbed brutally, and left to die at their house. This was the story that shocked the country in 1991. This was the start of the O.J. Simpson domestic abuse case that is still going on today. Unfortunately events like this happen many times over everyday in many setting all over the United states; however the victims of the other cases don't get nearly as much publicity.
Some facts about domestic abuse
An average of nine out of 10 women have to be turned away from shelters on.
The reason so few cases get assigned initially is the police usually don't have enough officers to meet the demand
At the Portland Women's Crisis Line, where calls have doubled since the killings of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman, they welcome the increased attention.
From July 19,through March 31, 1993 a total of 3,665 domestic violence cases were reviewed in Portland Oregon. Of those, only 281 cases resulted in some action taken against the accused abuser. Some of this is because there is not enough police, but it is mostly because the abused person is scared.
for the last six months of 1993 and the first three months of 1994 Portland averaged about 1,000 calls each month or 12,000 calls a year.
In January 1992, 30 criminal domestic violence complaints were issued. For January 1994, the number was more than 100.
Nationally, estimates range from 2 to 4 million women assaults each year.
Some studies show that 20 to 30 percent of all women who seek help at hospital emergency rooms are there because of domestic violence.
Kyra Woods never made it to the emergency room. Whoever killed her saw to that. She suffered 13 stab wounds to the back five of them so violent the knife came out the other side of her body.
Wood's mother, Mable, and two aunts wept quietly in a back row of the courtroom as the prosecution argued against bail for Woods' former boyfriend Jackson. Rod Underhill, the prosecutor, painted a picture of domestic violence. He told of a dramatic moment after the killing, when Woods' 4-year-old son, holding a teddy bear, re- enacted the attack. "He put his hands around the neck of the bear and shook it," Underhill said. "He began to pound it with a closed fist and slug it."
Mable Woods said that her daughter never told her much about any abuse. Neighbors, however, told police of hearing the couple fight violently. According to police reports, one neighbor said, "They fought so hard the pictures on the wall shook back and forth."
Jackson has pleaded innocent. His attorney, Angel Lopez, points out that no murder weapon has been found. He said the account from the 4-year-old boy could not be matched with any others, and he pointed out inconsistencies in the boy's statements. Bail was denied.
Jackson was accused of killing his former girlfriend, Kyra Woods, by stabbing her 13 times. His bail hearing normally would have merited little public attention. What brought out the cameras and reporter was the Simpson case.
Children are often the unseen victims of domestic abuse. they see one of their parents being harmed and this leads to high stress. Boys tend to be much more hostile when raised in a broken home. They are also ten times more likely to be abusive when they grow up. Girls raised in an abusive family tend to be very shy and afraid of boys. When they grow up they are 50 times more likely to marry an abusive husband.
The effect of domestic abuse on society is negative, but unfortunately it does not get much publicity unless it involves a figure that is well known such as O.J. Simpson. Another sad thing is that people often shrug off domestic abuse calling it a personal matter because they don't want to get involved or they are afraid of what people will think about them
Survivors have found the emotional strength to break from their abusers through different means: a hot-line number remembered from a restroom wall, a wallet card of crisis numbers from a pediatrician who would not overlook a mother's black eye. A grown child begging her mother to flee--and a shelter with an open bed.
The women, some with their identities changed to protect their privacy, talked about shame, guilt, fear of triggering even greater violence, low self-worth, isolation, embarrassment, numbing depression, concern for children, foiled escapes, a unrealistic sense of reality, a walking-on-eggshells existence and, perhaps above all, an illogical hope that something would change.
"the abuser can make everything sound so good," says Florence A. Reid, 45, now living in transitional housing through Bradley- Angle House after 10 years in a violent marriage and another 13 year relationship, in an abusive relationship both with men who were full of promises after the pummelings.
Even now, 25 years later, after dozens of broken ribs, a broken jaw, pushes downstairs, and out a car, and thrice-weekly bouts with her husband sometimes drunk, sometimes sober--kicking with his work boots as she lay on the floor; even now, Reid has pipe dreams of living happily with this teen-age love, of sitting on a front porch and talking about the old days.
"Wouldn't that be nice?" asks Reid. "Just live a normal life with the father of my children."
"The first time I tried leaving my husband was 1972. I took the kids to a friend's house," she remembers. "He found me and brought a gun with him. Of course, I just went back."
In 1992, after dozens of tries, Ruth left for the last time, with the help of a daughter, and ended up at West Women's & Children's Shelter.
Ruth, who now works part-time at a bank, sighs. "I don't know. For years, my excuse was the kids. And of course, I realize that was probably the worst thing I did for them. And I always thought, `Things will get better if I do this.'"
Other women clung to similar fantasies, sure the goodness and charm would return--if they could love him better, do everything right.
When someone abuses another person they often have a certain attitude such as thinking that it is the abused persons fault and that they brought it upon themselves. extensive studies have shown this. The abuser often blames the person who was abused for their troubles. Abusers often have a hard time communicating.
Unfortunately the abuser is rarely gets action taken against them. But when they do it is often very serious. The least that could happen is that the abuser gets a restraining order. In more serious cases there can be a number of penalties ranging from short prison term to a life sentence.
This is the information that I found when I looked up domestic abuse. As you can see some of these facts are rather grim but people are becoming more open to ideas and people are reporting more than ever. I hope that this stops being the most un reported crime in the United States so that we can get the problem under control.
The Homepage of the Committee Against Family Violence
NO EXCUSE FOR ABUSE webpage
Bibliography: Breiner, S., Slaughter of the Innocents (1990); deMause, L., The History of Childhood (1988); Kempe, H., and Helfer, R., The Battered Child, 4th ed. (1987); Kempe, Ruth S. and C. Henry, Sexual Abuse of Children and Adolescents (1984); Moorehead, C., ed., Betrayal (1990); Wexler, R., Wounded Innocents (1990).
Domestic Abuse
Metro Nashville Police Department
Evaluation of the "Surviving Together" Support Group
for Women and Children (Women's Group)
For Health and Community Services
July 1995
By Christine Szikla
EASTWOOD, S. "Parenting After The Violence" in Parent Help Program: News &
Information Number 8, November 1992, The Australian Council for Educational
Research Limited, Hawthorn: Victoria. (p.4)
WARD, J. How to Research Community Issues: The Grounded Community
Development Research Method. Partnership Press in Association with Deakin
University, Melbourne: 1993.
Found at the scene of the crime two dead bodies stabbed brutally, and left to die at their house. This was the story that shocked the country in 1991. This was the start of the O.J. Simpson domestic abuse case that is still going on today. Unfortunately events like this happen many times over everyday in many setting all over the United states; however the victims of the other cases don't get nearly as much publicity.
Some facts about domestic abuse
An average of nine out of 10 women have to be turned away from shelters on.
The reason so few cases get assigned initially is the police usually don't have enough officers to meet the demand
At the Portland Women's Crisis Line, where calls have doubled since the killings of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman, they welcome the increased attention.
From July 19,through March 31, 1993 a total of 3,665 domestic violence cases were reviewed in Portland Oregon. Of those, only 281 cases resulted in some action taken against the accused abuser. Some of this is because there is not enough police, but it is mostly because the abused person is scared.
for the last six months of 1993 and the first three months of 1994 Portland averaged about 1,000 calls each month or 12,000 calls a year.
In January 1992, 30 criminal domestic violence complaints were issued. For January 1994, the number was more than 100.
Nationally, estimates range from 2 to 4 million women assaults each year.
Some studies show that 20 to 30 percent of all women who seek help at hospital emergency rooms are there because of domestic violence.
Kyra Woods never made it to the emergency room. Whoever killed her saw to that. She suffered 13 stab wounds to the back five of them so violent the knife came out the other side of her body.
Wood's mother, Mable, and two aunts wept quietly in a back row of the courtroom as the prosecution argued against bail for Woods' former boyfriend Jackson. Rod Underhill, the prosecutor, painted a picture of domestic violence. He told of a dramatic moment after the killing, when Woods' 4-year-old son, holding a teddy bear, re- enacted the attack. "He put his hands around the neck of the bear and shook it," Underhill said. "He began to pound it with a closed fist and slug it."
Mable Woods said that her daughter never told her much about any abuse. Neighbors, however, told police of hearing the couple fight violently. According to police reports, one neighbor said, "They fought so hard the pictures on the wall shook back and forth."
Jackson has pleaded innocent. His attorney, Angel Lopez, points out that no murder weapon has been found. He said the account from the 4-year-old boy could not be matched with any others, and he pointed out inconsistencies in the boy's statements. Bail was denied.
Jackson was accused of killing his former girlfriend, Kyra Woods, by stabbing her 13 times. His bail hearing normally would have merited little public attention. What brought out the cameras and reporter was the Simpson case.
Children are often the unseen victims of domestic abuse. they see one of their parents being harmed and this leads to high stress. Boys tend to be much more hostile when raised in a broken home. They are also ten times more likely to be abusive when they grow up. Girls raised in an abusive family tend to be very shy and afraid of boys. When they grow up they are 50 times more likely to marry an abusive husband.
The effect of domestic abuse on society is negative, but unfortunately it does not get much publicity unless it involves a figure that is well known such as O.J. Simpson. Another sad thing is that people often shrug off domestic abuse calling it a personal matter because they don't want to get involved or they are afraid of what people will think about them
Survivors have found the emotional strength to break from their abusers through different means: a hot-line number remembered from a restroom wall, a wallet card of crisis numbers from a pediatrician who would not overlook a mother's black eye. A grown child begging her mother to flee--and a shelter with an open bed.
The women, some with their identities changed to protect their privacy, talked about shame, guilt, fear of triggering even greater violence, low self-worth, isolation, embarrassment, numbing depression, concern for children, foiled escapes, a unrealistic sense of reality, a walking-on-eggshells existence and, perhaps above all, an illogical hope that something would change.
"the abuser can make everything sound so good," says Florence A. Reid, 45, now living in transitional housing through Bradley- Angle House after 10 years in a violent marriage and another 13 year relationship, in an abusive relationship both with men who were full of promises after the pummelings.
Even now, 25 years later, after dozens of broken ribs, a broken jaw, pushes downstairs, and out a car, and thrice-weekly bouts with her husband sometimes drunk, sometimes sober--kicking with his work boots as she lay on the floor; even now, Reid has pipe dreams of living happily with this teen-age love, of sitting on a front porch and talking about the old days.
"Wouldn't that be nice?" asks Reid. "Just live a normal life with the father of my children."
"The first time I tried leaving my husband was 1972. I took the kids to a friend's house," she remembers. "He found me and brought a gun with him. Of course, I just went back."
In 1992, after dozens of tries, Ruth left for the last time, with the help of a daughter, and ended up at West Women's & Children's Shelter.
Ruth, who now works part-time at a bank, sighs. "I don't know. For years, my excuse was the kids. And of course, I realize that was probably the worst thing I did for them. And I always thought, `Things will get better if I do this.'"
Other women clung to similar fantasies, sure the goodness and charm would return--if they could love him better, do everything right.
When someone abuses another person they often have a certain attitude such as thinking that it is the abused persons fault and that they brought it upon themselves. extensive studies have shown this. The abuser often blames the person who was abused for their troubles. Abusers often have a hard time communicating.
Unfortunately the abuser is rarely gets action taken against them. But when they do it is often very serious. The least that could happen is that the abuser gets a restraining order. In more serious cases there can be a number of penalties ranging from short prison term to a life sentence.
This is the information that I found when I looked up domestic abuse. As you can see some of these facts are rather grim but people are becoming more open to ideas and people are reporting more than ever. I hope that this stops being the most un reported crime in the United States so that we can get the problem under control.
The Homepage of the Committee Against Family Violence
NO EXCUSE FOR ABUSE webpage
Bibliography: Breiner, S., Slaughter of the Innocents (1990); deMause, L., The History of Childhood (1988); Kempe, H., and Helfer, R., The Battered Child, 4th ed. (1987); Kempe, Ruth S. and C. Henry, Sexual Abuse of Children and Adolescents (1984); Moorehead, C., ed., Betrayal (1990); Wexler, R., Wounded Innocents (1990).
Domestic Abuse
Metro Nashville Police Department
Evaluation of the "Surviving Together" Support Group
for Women and Children (Women's Group)
For Health and Community Services
July 1995
By Christine Szikla
EASTWOOD, S. "Parenting After The Violence" in Parent Help Program: News &
Information Number 8, November 1992, The Australian Council for Educational
Research Limited, Hawthorn: Victoria. (p.4)
WARD, J. How to Research Community Issues: The Grounded Community
Development Research Method. Partnership Press in Association with Deakin
University, Melbourne: 1993.
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