If the Police Ask You to Come to the Police Station, Do You Have to Go and Give a Statement or Cooperate?
The short answer is no and you shouldn't go to the police station without a criminal lawyer (see why below).
When Should I Voluntarily Go to the Police Station?
The only time you should voluntarily go to the police station is when you know the police will arrest you. If the police already have probable cause to arrest you, the police will usually tell you or your lawyer that they will arrest you.
The advantage of voluntarily going to the police station is that it will avoid any problems associated with being arrested on the street, at your home, or at your work.
If you will be arrested, call a criminal defense lawyer and arrange to voluntarily go to the police station WITH your lawyer.
A Police Detective Called and Asked Me to Come Down to the Police Station to Clear Things up and Give My Side of the Story. What Should I Do?
This is how things start to go bad. You get a call from the police asking you to come in to give your side of the story. It will only take a few minutes. The police say they would like to give you an opportunity to help them clear up a few things so they can move on with their investigation and focus on the person or persons responsible for the crime.
It is possible that they are telling the truth, but more likely, if that were true, they would come to you to get information if you're not a suspect. Chances are that they consider you a "person of interest," in other words, a suspect.
If I Talk to the Police to Give My Side of the Story, Is That a Statement, and Can It Be Used Against Me?
Your "talking" or statement may or may not be admissible in court depending on whether or not your Miranda Rights were required to be read to you. If your statement is voluntary, it can be used against you. Even if your statement is not admissible in court, it can be used against you for furthering the investigation and locking you into a story that makes you look like a liar.
Before you even think about speaking to the police, call a criminal lawyer first.
Why Don't the Police Come to Me to Get a Statement?
The reason the police haven't come to you is that they don't have probable cause yet to arrest you. They need probable cause to make the arrest and they need to get it from your statements. That's why they are asking you to come in to give a statement or "your side of the story."
It's easier and avoids wasting time to have you come to their turf, where they can more easily question you for a longer period of time and more easily manipulate the questioning.
Your best bet is to say, "I'm sorry, I can't come in to answer questions without a lawyer."
Why Shouldn't I Go to the Police to Give a Statement?
Because giving a statement has a better chance of hurting you than helping you. People always think they can persuade the police but that's never true.
The police are experts at asking questions and know how to get you to make statements giving them probable cause. Like a criminal defense lawyer who is good at asking questions at a deposition of a witness, police detectives are good at it because they have done it many times before.
If you don't go to the police, there is a good chance they won't come to you. If the police do come to you, just say I want a lawyer.
Two Examples - One Person Went to the Police Station and One Did Not
Please Bring Your Son in to Give His Side of the Story
1) A friend called me saying that she received a call from a police detective asking her to bring her teenage son in to help out with an investigation about theft from a McDonald's safe by answering a few questions. Her son had been blamed and they wanted to get his side of the story.
Her son was working at McDonald's and was promoted to Assistant Manager. When he was promoted, he requested that the combination to the store safe be changed because there were too many people who knew the combination, and they no longer had permission to access the safe. The combination was not changed and a few days later, a little over $2,000 was missing from the safe. McDonald's called the police and my friend received that telephone call asking her to bring her son in to give his side of the story.
I called the detective who knew me because I was an Auxiliary Police Officer in the same police precinct. Because he knew me, he tried to speak to me in a very friendly manner asking for my help. I explained that, unfortunately, I have to separate my role as a criminal defense lawyer from that of an Auxiliary Police Officer and I could not allow my client to come in for questioning.
I told him that he should come and arrest my client if he has probable cause but we would not come to the police station unless he advised that he did have probable cause. If he did, we would come to the station so he can be arrested without questioning him.
The detective stated that the "evidence" they had was a statement by the manager that my client was concerned about money being stolen from the safe and, therefore, he must have done it. The detective admitted he probably would have arrested my client if he had come in.
My client never spoke with the detective. That was the last time we ever heard from them and that was many years ago.
Aux. Police Officer Arrested for Shooting in Self-Defense After Going to the Police Station and Giving a Statement
2) An Aux. Police Officer was working at a bar as a bouncer. Another bouncer, also an Aux. Police Officer evicted some patrons who were allegedly gang members dealing drugs. He heard an altercation outside between the gang members and the other bouncer and went outside. At some point, he drew his licensed pistol, firing it at the patron, who was shot in the back of his thigh.
The bouncer said he was defending himself and had nothing to hide so he cooperated with the police and went back to the police station to give a statement. Not happy with his statement, they kept him there for 12 hours. Finally, they got what they wanted, wrote it up, and had him sign it. He was promptly arrested and charged with several serious crimes.
The bouncer was lucky because the judge dismissed all the charges and admonished the prosecutor for improper behavior. However, there are two lessons to be learned here.
What Should He Have Done After The Shooting?
Don't Go To The Police Station Without Saying You Want To Speak With a Lawyer
First, he should not have gone back to the police station to give a statement. He probably would not have been arrested at that time, if ever. If he was arrested, he should have said nothing but I want a lawyer.
He Didn't Know He Could Leave! Don't Let The Police Keep You For Hours Without Arresting You
Second, he should never have sat there talking to the police for 12 hours. He told me that he didn't know that he had a choice. But he did!
He could've said, "arrest me or I'm leaving," "I want a lawyer," or "I don't want to talk any longer and I want a criminal defense lawyer immediately."
All you have to do is mention the magic word, "lawyer"! When you say the magic word, the police will stop questioning you. If they don't, anything you say after that cannot be used at trial. You will then either be released or arrested. If you are arrested, you will then be able to speak with your lawyer.
Don't Believe What the Police Tell You
It is legal for the police to lie to get you to make an admission.
The police have a goal. That goal is to get probable cause to make an arrest. If you go into the police station, their goal is to get you to give them probable cause to make an arrest.
The police will often tell you they just want to get your side of the story or that if you talk now, it will make things much easier for you (it will really make things much easier for them). The police may tell you that your friend has already confessed or is blaming you. They can tell you anything they want.
More Reasons NOT to Talk to the Police
If you're still not convinced about why you should not talk to the police, watch this excellent and funny video by Regent Law Professor James Duane.
What Should I Say If I Have to Testify and My Lawyer Tells Me Not to Answer?
Find out from Regent Law Professor James Duane why your criminal lawyer should not tell you to say, “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer on the ground that my answer may tend to incriminate me.”
This is what Professor Duane says you should say:
"On the advice of my lawyer, I respectfully decline to answer on the basis of the Fifth Amendment, which—according to the United States Supreme Court—protects everyone, even innocent people, from the need to answer questions if the truth might be used to help create the misleading impression that they were somehow involved in a crime that they did not commit."
Professor Duane's best-selling book, You Have the Right to Remain Innocent, can be obtained on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/You-Have-Right-Remain-Innocent/dp/1503933393
