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What To Do If Police Try To Search Your Phone Without a Warrant
blottsie writes: The Supreme Court ruled this week that it is illegal for police to search your phone without a warrant. But just because that's the new rule doesn't mean all 7.5 million law enforcement officers in the U.S. will abide by it. This guide, put together with the help of the EFF and ACLU, explains what to do if a police officer tries to search your phone without a warrant. Of course, that doesn't mean they don't have other ways of getting your data.
Since the summary links you to a stupid news article and not the guides themselves, here is the ACLU Guide and EFF Guides here.
Don't resist arrest? Don't plan on it, but that won't stop the cop from "narrating" what he wants others to believe what is happening. Case in point, cop pulls over a guy and walks up to the car knowing he's being recorded by his dashcam and has on a wireless mic. You hear the cop say "stop reaching for my gun" and see him lean in the car window. It looks like the guy has tried to take the cop's gun. The truth is that there is a 2nd cop car with a dash cam recording from an angle that allows you to see the driver's hands clearly on the steering wheel, even as the cop leans in his car to unbuckle his seat belt. The cop drags him out the car and throws him on the ground. The guy tries to break his fall and the cop starts shouting "stop resisting". This really happened... google Marcus Jeter New Jersey. The cops and the DA conspired to conceal the 2nd dashcam that showed the driver's hands /not/ reaching for the cops gun.
This has worked very well for me in the past:
"My lawyer has advised me that rights are like muscles. If they are not exercised, they become weak. Therefor I do not and cannot consent to this search."
It conveys, very directly:
your refusal of the search request
you are a constitution, and rights advocate... meaning you will a big headache for the cop if he continues
you have a lawyer that's also into that sort of thing and would love to sue the department
You should refuse EVERY search. EVERY time. With absolutely no exceptions.
The majority of arrests start with a consensual search by police of someone that legitimately thought they had nothing to hide. Everything is illegal. If a cop searches your home and he wants you to go to jail, you're going to jail. It's as simple as that.
People get into these situations where someone backs into their car in a parking lot and the cop that arrives casually asks "Mind if I check your car for open alcohol?" and they think "LOL that's funny! Of course I don't have that." But the cop isn't just looking for alcohol is he? He starts lifting your floor mats... does he think there's a beer bottle under there? In once instance a man bought a car from the local police impound. A few days later he got pulled over, consented to a search and low and behold the car had a secret compartment for smuggling drugs. They arrested him and he spent a month in jail before they finally realized it had the drugs when it went into impound. ALWAYS refuse search requests. ALWAYS.