1. Don't run!

You can’t outrun radio cars converging on your position.  When you run, you risk an injury and/or a forceful arrest. Even worse, the police might suspect you have a gun.  Worse still, this may frighten the officers and cause them to draw their weapons more readily.  Even though you know the accusations are false, don’t run. 

2. Don't explain.

In false accusation cases, as with other cases, it is very difficult to dig clients out of the holes they create for themselves when they babble to the police, even before the police have asked a single question.  Judges and juries always discount  those things a suspect says that helps him, but give great weight to anything that hurts him.  There’s a very good reason why the police have to say "anything you say can and will be used against you..." If you have to say something, say "I don’t want to say anything until I speak to an attorney."

3. Don't get overconfident . . .

Even if you have been wrongly arrested.  Don’t get brash, don’t explain, and don’t get sassy.  The Police have a lot of input into what charges are brought. The police can write up a minor crime (a misdemeanor) or a major crime (a felony). 

If you interfere with them, the police can pile on charges and later, and they can ask the prosecutor to be more severe.   If the police are "just doing their job" and you don’t cause them added difficulty, they just may give you the break they wouldn’t if you make their job more difficult.  Just get through it with as little hassle as possible. 

4. Don't give permission to search.

If the officers ask to search your person, your bag, your car, your house or apartment, it usually means they believe they don't have the right to search you and feel compelled to ask for your consent.

If an officer orders you to turn over your bag or car keys etc. say loudly and in a polite manner,  "You DO NOT have my permission to search."  When there are possible witnesses nearby, this may help your attorney later to exclude from evidence items the officers find.  Remember the three previous "don’ts."  Even if the officers find something you wish they hadn’t, don’t talk, don’t explain, and don’t get sassy.

5. Don't look around nervously . . .

at the places you don’t want the police to search.  If you’re going through a legal or even an illegal search, don’t help the officers by directing them with your eyes to places you don’t want them to search.  Don’t sigh, don’t gasp. Just look at the ceiling or the ground.  And for goodness' sake, don’t answer questions like "What is this?" or  "Who does this belong to?"

6. Don't resist arrest.

Just get through it.  Don’t push the police or try to push their hands away.  While resisting may be only a misdemeanor in your state, assaulting an officer or any  injury to the police officers may well turn your minor crime into a felony.  Don’t resist--simply get through it. 

7. Don't be Mr. or Ms. Congeniality.

Trying to convince the officers of your innocence is useless.  Remember, the police only need a reasonable suspicion to stop and arrest you.  The police don’t decide whether you’re guilty.  That’s the job of the judge or jury.  They’ll free you if the officer is wrong.  Remember, this isn’t television.  If you try to convince the officer that he’s made a mistake, you’re going say something that "can and will be used against you."

8. Don't believe what the police tell you . . .

when they’re trying to get you to talk.  Thanks to Presidents Nixon, Reagan, and Bush, and the people they nominated to our Supreme Court, the police are now permitted to lie to you to get you to talk.  They do it all the time.  Often, they’ll put a fellow arrestee in a separate room and tell that person that you said such and such, then come back and tell you that the other person said such and such.  Don’t believe the police when they’re trying to get you to talk.  Be quiet and wait to speak with your lawyer.

9. Don't invite the police inside your home.

Don’t step outside either.  A person’s home, no matter how humble, is his castle.  Even if the police believe you have committed a felony, they usually need a warrant to go into your home and arrest you.  If they ask you to step outside, DON’T.  Don’t make it easy for them.  Instead, respond with  "I’ll just stay right here, thanks" or "Please let me see your warrant."  Unless you’re running away from them, having just committed a crime, they need a warrant to arrest you or enter your home.  Just stay put, be polite, and get through it.

10. Don't agree to secure your car or go into your home . . .

to get some things or to tell the wife.  Why? Because the police will follow you to your car or inside your home and then be able to begin a warrantless search.  Just stay put, be polite, and get through it.