What to do when you encounter the police.

Stay calm. Stay quiet. Stay smart.

1. Remain calm and respectful, and maintain your composure.
2. Exercise your right to remain silent. Keeping quiet is the best way to exercise your Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
3. Pay attention to what is going on around you in case you need to file a complaint against the police, but do not openly state or hint that you are going to file one; it can only make matters worse for you.
4. Never consent to a search of your person or property. Always state: “I do not consent to searches.” You may be searched anyway, but by not waiving your Fourth Amendment right it may be possible to suppress anything discovered in an illegal search.
5. Keep your hands to yourself and in plain view. Never touch a police officer.
6. Don’t be fooled by police lies. Police are allowed to lie to you to further their investigation. See rule 2.
7. Ask the question. Police need reasonable suspicion or probable cause to detain you and are not required to tell you that you can leave. Be assertive and ask: “Am I being detained, or am I free to leave?” You may need to ask more than once.
8. Do not help the police build a case against you. Don’t help them develop probable cause to arrest or cite you. See rule 2.
9. Never run from the police. It always gives them probable cause.
10. Your home needs a warrant. Absent exigent circumstances, police are required to have a court order signed by a judge to enter your home. Never allow them in without one. If they enter anyway under an emergency claim, do not resist, but state assertively that you do not consent to the entry or any search.
11. If arrested: exercise your right to remain silent and your right to an attorney. When police say “anything you say can and will be used against you,” they really mean it. Tell them you want to speak with your attorney, L. Martin Taylor.

Video source credit on the original guide: FlexYourRights.org.