You may feel powerless when it comes to interactions with the police. Knowing your rights is a way to assert your power in situations with law enforcement. Our team at the Legal Rights Center have created a helpful acronym that you can use as a tool to help you remember action steps to best protect yourselves and your loved ones.

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We want you to STAND up for
your rights!

You may feel powerless when it comes to interactions with the police. Knowing your rights is a way to assert your power in situations with law enforcement. Our team at the Legal Rights Center have created a helpful acronym that you can use as a tool to help you remember action steps to best protect yourselves and your loved ones.

S = Stay Aware

T = Tell them you are using your right to an attorney and right to remain silent

A = Ask if you are free to leave

N = Never consent to a search

D = Do what it takes to get home Safely

S = Stay Aware

We know that interacting with police can bring up a lot of feelings and emotions.
However, it is important to stay aware, look at your surroundings, and take in any identifying features. Try to remember as many details as you can.
Observing information about your surroundings can later be helpful during a court case. You may want to pay attention to details about:
  • Anything else that you can remember that you think might be important to relay to your attorney.
  • Recording can help you document this information. Try to document as you can on your phone if you feel safe and able to do so. Collecting this information is also helpful if you feel like filing a complaint or speaking to a lawyer
  • We often recommend that people write their own accounts of police interactions afterwards.
  • Officer badge number
  • Patrol car number
  • Law enforcement agency (Are they from the local police department? Local sheriff’s office? Something else?)
  • Who is present? (These people can be witnesses)
  • Where are you?
  • What time of day is it?
  • What were the officer’s exact words?

T = Tell them you are using your right to an attorney and right to remain silent

Everyone always has the right to an attorney. If you can’t afford one, one will be provided to you.

You also have the right to remain silent. Besides providing your name and date of birth, you do not have to answer any other questions from law enforcement. 

You must actively assert these rights. It is important to remember that you must verbalize your right to silence.

Meaning you need to say something like:

  • “I am using my right to silence and to an attorney.”

  • “I am asserting my right to silence and I will not answer any questions or sign anything until I talk to an attorney.”

  • “I want an attorney and won’t answer any more questions until one is provided to me.”

A = Ask if you are free to leave

  • No → invoke your right to silence and an attorney
    If you are being detained, it means that law enforcement is using their power to keep you from leaving. If you are being detained, remember the T in our acronym: Tell them you’re using your right to an attorney and right to remain silent.
  • …Yes → walk away if you feel safe to do so
    If you are not being detained, it means that you can leave. You should do that!
  • …Not Safe → invoke your right to silence and an attorney
    Similarly to if you were being detained, if you feel unsafe or unable to leave, tell them you’re using your right to an attorney and to remain silent

N = Never consent to a search

There are lots of legal reasons why law enforcement might be able to search you or your things, including receiving verbal consent or permission. Sometimes, officers will make statements that sound like demands, even when they do not have legal grounds to search you or your things.

This can lead to the common mistake of people unknowingly giving consent to a search.

Generally they need a signed warrant from a judge or to be able to prove that there was enough legal justification to violate your right to privacy (check out our Search & Seizure page!). These are the burdens that law enforcement must meet in order to use evidence obtained in a search against you in court.

However, very often, people will consent to search, which takes the burden off of law enforcement. Protect yourself by not consenting to search. Say something like:

“Officer, I do not consent to a search.”

“Officer, I do not give you permission to search me or my things.”

“No, you don’t have permission to search my things”

“No, I don’t consent for you to search my body”

 

By saying “I do not consent to a search,” you make it clear that if the police decide to search you anyway, they will have to prove they did so on a legal rationale OTHER than consent.

Refusing to consent may not stop the officer from carrying out the search against your will. 

For your own safety, do not resist if you are searched.

As a general rule, police are not allowed to search you or your things. Exceptions include:

  • Consent
  • Warrant
  • Legal Exceptions
    • Plain view
    • Emergency
    • Lawful arrest
    • Cars,
    • Schools

It is important to note that your expectation of privacy is lowered in cars and in schools.

D = Do what it takes to get home safely

Interactions with law enforcement can be very scary, and can quickly escalate from a simple conversation to a potential deadly situation.

The goal is always to get home safely.

While knowing your rights offers a layer of protection in interactions with law enforcement, it does not guarantee that you can always exercise them safely or that your rights will not be violated.

With that said, taking a STAND for your rights can help protect you in interactions with law enforcement.

We want you to do what you have to get home safely. This might mean complying with orders that feel like violations of your rights.

There are opportunities during the court process for your attorney to fight for you. You may also consider filing a complaint with a nonprofit or government agency about your experience. At the end of the day, we want you to make the decision that is safest for you.

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