What To Do When You’re Arrested In Colorado Springs
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Being arrested by the police is a scary situation no matter what the circumstances are. They handcuff you, put you in the back of the car and take you to the police station to process you, all of which gives the officers plenty of time to get some incriminating information out of you. The best thing you can do to prevent an arrest from getting worse is to know your rights and be prepared to exercise your rights the entire time until your attorney arrives. Below we will go into detail of what you should and shouldn’t do when interacting with police during and after an arrest.
Things You SHOULD NOT DO During & After Your Arrest
Most people go into defense mode when they are arrested on criminal charges, thinking they can say something that will get them out of it. This is rarely the case and most of the time does more harm than good. Without an experienced Colorado Springs criminal defense attorney advising you of what to say and what not to say, your chances of digging yourself a deeper hole will go up dramatically. Here are a few tips to remember before your attorney can help you after an arrest.
- Do NOT talk to the police or anyone else besides your attorney during or after the arrest. Wait until your attorney is present to make any statements, or reveal anything about the incident or you run the risk of incriminating yourself.
- Never resist arrest or try to run from the police. They will most likely catch you and then slap resisting arrest charges on you or even evading the police charges. These are serious charges and should be avoided at all costs as the action of resisting alone makes you look guilty in court.
- Never give the police permission to search you or your property, this includes your car or home. If the officer has a warrant then you must let them search your property as well as when the officers have determined probable cause to search your property. Without a warrant, do NOT let the police in your house for any reason.
- Make sure you do not touch the officers at all during the incident as this can be used against you as assault on an officer, resisting, disorderly conduct or many other things that the officers may charge you with.
- Never talk to your cellmates about the arrest either as they may be inclined to talk to the police about what you said in an effort to get their own charges reduced. Nobody is on your side when in jail except your attorney, so don’t get comfortable.
- Police are allowed to lie to you to get you to incriminate yourself, so never talk to them about the arrest or events leading up to the arrest. The police may say they will go easy on you if you are honest with them, but this is just a common tactic used to get people to admit their crime and gives officers the right to search your property and arrest you on the charges you admitted to. Don’t make their job easy for them, just remain quiet until your attorney is present.
Things You SHOULD DO After Being Arrested
Remember, always stay calm after an arrest so you can think clearly about how to best handle the situation and get out of it without causing any further damage. We already went over what not to do, but below you can find some information about things that you should do when you get arrested on criminal charges in Colorado Springs.
- Exercise your right to remain silent. You may have heard this called your Miranda Rights and what it means is that you have the right to not speak to anyone about your case until your attorney is present. No matter what the police say to you, always exercise this right and politely remain quiet so that you don’t incriminate yourself further.
- Don’t accept any offers or plea deals from the police or prosecutors unless your attorney has fully looked over the deal and confirmed that it is a reasonable offer. Most of these deals are not in your best interest and officers know that you are more likely to accept when you don’t have an attorney, so they will give you a deal that is not fair at all. An expert criminal defense attorney will know right away if the deal is good or not, so don’t let the cops fool you.
- Be polite and respectful to all officers you encounter during the arrest. When you act angry and aggressive towards police officers, they are much more likely to use force against you and treat you in a much worse manner than had you been polite the whole time. Don’t let your emotions take over, try to remain calm and the officers will usually treat you better.
- Ask for an attorney right away and don’t worry about how much the criminal lawyer costs, they could save you years instead of dollars. You are entitled to have a lawyer present when you get arrested and you should always use this right. Do not allow any questioning, lineups, blood samples or testing of any kind until your attorney is present and available to ensure there are no illegal practices being used against you to gather evidence.
- Get the names and badge numbers of all officers involved in the arrest and write them down. This will make it much easier to find the officers if they did anything that was against the law during the arrest that we may be able to use in your defense. Also, get the information of any witnesses that saw the arrest take place.
- If you were hurt or injured by the police when they arrested you, make sure to take pictures of all of your injuries so that we can present them in court and possibly get a favorable outcome due to the fact that the officers used excessive force against you during the arrest.
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