What are my rights when dealing with a police officer?

The beautiful thing about America and about being American is that we have a constitution that serves to protect us and empowers everyone with some rights that cannot and should not be infringed by anybody, not even the police.

Know your rights

According to Dallas, TX criminal defense lawyers, every American has certain constitutional rights when dealing with the police that they may exercise to protect themselves from unlawful or unconstitutional arrests or prosecution. If you feel like you have been handled unconstitutionally by a police officer or are facing criminal charges even though your rights were infringed then the best course of action to take would be to seek legal recourse as soon as time permits.

The duty of a law enforcement officer is to first and foremost protect and serve the citizens of America. This seems wonderful and poetic on paper, but the doleful truth is that these same officers are also taxed with having to make arrests. In fact, law enforcement officers in many states are subjected to certain “arrest goals” which basically stipulate that they need to make a minimum number of arrests every week.

This is one of the targets that they are assessed on. While legislators and politicians debate the ethics of such a practice, citizens face the wrath of it in the streets.

This is why it is important to know what your rights are while dealing with a law enforcement officer so you can explain the situation better to a Texas criminal defense attorney if you need one and hopefully you do not.

Rules for when speaking with law enforcement officers

The first and foremost thing to remember is that unless a law enforcement officer has reasonable suspicion that you committed a crime, he or she cannot pull you over or search your car or house without your consent. The officer will either require a search warrant or your due permission before going through your personal stuff.

Furthermore, you are not even required to answer to any questions in case the law enforcement officer subjects you to any interrogation. The interrogation will begin subtlety and you will not know it even began. It is not as if they will announce “the interrogation will begin now” like it is a boxing match!

You can politely decline to answer these questions by referring them to lawyer. If you do happen to provide answers, it may not always be a judicious idea as anything you say will and can be used against you in a court of law. The last thing you want to do is provide evidence against yourself, according to Dallas criminal defense lawyers.

Traffic stops

Yet again, unless you have violated a traffic rule such as running a red light, speeding, or driving with an expired license plate, a law enforcement officer cannot pull you over without a reason. The only other time you may be stopped is when you knowingly drive through a DUI checkpoint.

Even if you are pulled over, unless the cop sees a weapon or an open alcoholic container or something of that nature in your vehicle, the officer cannot proceed to search it without your consent.

To know more about your rights, and how to cautiously deal with law enforcement officers, consult a Dallas criminal defense lawyer today. You can do that right here: http://criminal-defense.usattorneys.com/texas/. You have rights but other people have rights too. Your rights are not more important than other peoples’ rights. You also have the right not to bother or hurt other people. Now if someone hurt you or threatened you then you have the right to press charges against that person and have them arrested.

You have the right to walk down the street unmolested by anyone else as long as you are not violating anyone elses’ rights.