Language in Police Interrogations of Criminal Suspects Learn How Your Words May Hurt You Popular crime show dramas often portray police interrogations as heated and adversarial. Suspects are shown to break down and confess to crimes after long hours of brow-beating and intimidation. In the media, suspects are routinely subjected to yelling, lies and trickery. In fact, though, police interrogations are generally far subtler, and less threatening, because trained officers know that suspects generally reveal a great deal about an event simply by the way that they speak and the words that they choose to use. Seasoned interrogators will use these subtle language cues to direct their questioning and determine “guilt” based on what they learn. Suspects may be fooled
Read more →Panel Discussion of Police and Community Relations If you have not already made plans to attend, please make plans to join us tonight (Wednesday February 17, 2016) at Texas A&M School of Law from 6pm-8pm. Fort Worth Criminal Defense Attorney Cody Cofer will serve as the panel’s criminal law expert. TYLA has flown in our speaker/consultant. A film crew will be present to document the presentation, so the presentation can be shown to other cities. Hopefully, other cities decide to host their own “town hall meeting.” Most of the presentation will be a “fly by the seat of the pants” discussion lead by the consultant. He will guide the discussion a video and skits. Then the panel will interact with
Read more →
Cops say No Purple-Nurples or Drug Testing A few of the headlines this month scream hypocrisy and -if you have a well-developed sense of humor- great irony. TCU (Fort Worth, TX) football player has been arrested for assault on a police officer. While to the North, police officers have filed suit, because they do not want to undergo mandatory drug testing for their job. If you missed it, here is why it’s funny…sad…whatever. First, police want special treatment. Assault on a Public Servant (Police Officer) is a harsh law reflecting police cries for greater protection. Assault a regular person (me or 99% of the public) by causing “pain” then you are looking at a Class A Misdemeanor. This is 0
Read more →Tickets for Marijuana is a Damn Practical Solution Dallas Police chief David Brown is promoting a possible new policy for Dallas Police when it comes to marijuana. Under Chief Brown’s plan, people who are found with a small amount of pot would receive a citation from police and released rather than arrested. Marijuana Possession is not a “ticket,” meaning Class C crime. Under current Texas law, possession of marijuana is a criminal offense ranging from a Class B misdemeanor to a felony and those found with the drug are subject to arrest. Chief Brown believes that it would be more beneficial for the city of Dallas to stop placing pot offenders under arrest. According to Brown, the arrest of people
Read more →Sworn Testimony of Officer that Policy is to Turn Off Camera During Training The New York Times reports, “[a]nother university officer who arrived shortly after the shooting, Eric Weibel, wrote in his report that Officer Tensing had told him that ‘he was being dragged by the vehicle and had to fire his weapon,’ and that ‘Officer Tensing stated that he was almost run over.’ A third officer, he wrote, said he had seen Officer Tensing being dragged.” In every kind of criminal case from speeding tickets to murder, any witness is capable of testifying to something that is not true. This can happen for a variety of reasons, but the most frightening is that some witnesses have a belief that
Read more →
