My right to silence: annoying police!!

Question

where i live there is lots of bush and trails nearby where its illegal for us to ride our dirt bikes, the cops are cracking down.

I always walk my dirt bike to the bush becuase the police will s***w me up big time if im caught riding on the road, fines confiscation. so i just ride in the bush where i cannot be seen

lately when me and my friends walk them police will pull over and hassle us ( where you going? where do you live? blah blah blah)

as we arnt LEGALLY doing anything wrong is it iilegal to refuse answering these questions to the?? do we have right to silence??

we are really sick of it we just walk our dirtbikes then are made to feel like criminals

Answer 1

uhmm...you are going to ride your bikes on private property where it's illegal...

I know it's annoying, becuase I've done it! But you can't complain becuase you really are doing something wrong.  

Answer 2

It depends where you are from. In QLD Australia if the police believe that you may have comittted an offence eg. riding an unregistered bike on the road, you are required to state your name and address when asked, it is an offence not to answer, provide false details or not be able to provide proof of I.D.

I'd check with a local youth justice service on what laws apply locally

Answer 3

Its not illegal to not answer them, but doing so would be a bit suspicious. If they ask you were your going and you ignore them they may stop you as they think your hiding something or have committed a crime.

You may not have done anything, but that doesn't mean the police can't stop you and find out if you are.

Answer 4

In the USA you are born with the rights listed in the Constitution, and all it's Amendments. You have a right to not self incriminate, or to remain silent.

Just tell them you do not consent the conversation without a lawyer present, that you do not consent to searches of you, your equipment, or any items you posses.  Do not talk to the police at all check out the link below of a lawyer and a policeman.

Answer 5

Yes, they can ask you questions, and you can be arrested.  We hear about it more and more with younger kids.  But, no one has to answer questions without an attorney present.  As minor's, you should not be asked any questions at all without your parents.  The cop absolutely should know that and you and your parents need to file a complaint.

Answer 6

You have the right to continue walking without answering any questions!

If they ask you a simple question just say...."were walking them home!" then continue walking. Dont stop walking..........

Answer 7

Yes they can, haven't they been doing what they want to people? Teenagers aren't exempt.

Please answer them!

Some are control freaks and i wouldn't want to hear about one beating up on you because you didn't answer him/her. Now when you taking in for questioning or being accused for some crime, it's your right to not answer them because you don't have a lawyer present. You can even plead the 5th constitutional right ( silence) on the stand@ your trial.

When approach, just be careful and nice  so you can get back to riding your bikes.

Peace and Blessing.

Answer 8

Depends if its a consensual encounter which means you are free to leave. If its a detention you have to stay with the police.  

Answer 9

Be careful pissing off cops, even though you arent doing anything wrong, they still can make sht up- and they often do

Be nice

Answer 10

Go to this web site.  It will answer all your questions:

http://www.flexyourrights.org/frequently...

However, realize this, police are people too, if you d**k around with them just to annoy them - when they DO catch you s******g off - they will break it off in your A$$.  So go ahead and be a little pr@ck.... you will be rewarded in the end.

By the way, if you're not doing anything illegal - you don't have to worry about it...or even give it a second thought.  Your question indicates you ARE up to no good...  so good luck.  I hope the officers DO catch your little smart A$$.

Answer 11

Any officer can talk to you (mere conversation) for any reason at any time.  Under this circumstance you are not "stopped" and are free to go.  If you are "stopped" (police tell you that you can't leave, handcuffs, your property is in their possession) then there needs to be a legal reason (PC of a crime / violation, reasonable suspicion of a crime).  Most officers are looking for something bigger and better.  Unfortunately there are officers that abuse this and harass citizens.

For the purpose of issuing a citation (non-criminal) an officer may detain you until he/she is able to identify you.  so , if you refuse to cooperate, you may end up in this situation.  Some crimes are petty enough that cooperation may determine the outcome.

Yesterday, I had a lady walk away with a shopping cart of groceries from a local Albertsons (groceries were paid for, but she left the property with the shopping cart).  I stopped her (reasonable suspicion of stealing the shopping cart).  She was cooperative and had identification.  She had no warrants.  I explained that she was stealing and that if she would return the cart I would consider the issue resolved.  She returned the cart and I left it at that.  Had she not cooperated, I would have arrested her.

Cooperation goes a long way. Even if you feel that the police are violating your rights; cooperate and follow-up with it later.

Answer 12

I would learn sign language and tell them you are deaf and start trying to talk to them in sign language. Very few police know sign language. When they realize you are deaf,, then rhey will leave you alone. You can also carry a card in your wallet yjat is like a deaf card so they will leave you alone. The police do not know sign language. Good Luck!

Answer 13

I might suggest to ( Politely ) tell the asking officer that you are not violating any Law and wish to be left alone. I f wants to continue questioning you there needs to be a reason, ie: charging you, a warrant OR reasonable suspicion.

Next time look at Officers badge Number and Squad car number, make a note of the time & date.

Report this hassling behavior to the Duty officer at the station.

___NOTE_ keep in mind most Law-enforcement are hung-up on Control issues, if not outright Power hungry. It sounds like you are a minor, that means you are easy "Prey" for the officer- because in his mind he is WAY more powerful than you and he probably won't hesitate to show you.

Answer 14

You do not have to answer anything at all, but beware of aggrevating them. If you give them the silence treatment then I would fully expect them to get pissed off at you not respecting their authority.

I guess that they would probably trump up some charges against you that need very little proof, arrest you and take you down the station where you would ask for an attorney to be appointed, they would make you wait for AGES then release you after wasting everyones time and money.

Thats justice for you.

Answer 15

In reality the police do have reasonable suspicion something is not kosher and can stop you to investigate, failure to answer the question will allow the officer to detained you further while they investigate the issue

This is your problem, I assume the bike your are pushing on the public road is not street licensed? If so while you may not be ridding at this time, its very probable that you will be ridding the bike some time in the future on a public road or in an area that the police no your are not allowed to ride, so yes they can question you as to where you are pushing a non-street legal bike to on a public road way and your ultimate destination