After-Action Discourse - What to say to the cops

[pbwalker]

http://www.warriortalknews.com/2010/07/ ... ps.html#tp

Great write-up from Gabe Suarez on post-incident actions.

The guys who advocate saying nothing will not be able to point to the two weapons which were discarded...and which will disappear as soon as the scene is cleared. The police may not even look for them since no one told them they were in existence. No one will tell them you are a good guy who was a victim of an attempted robbery, as the ONLY info paints you as some KKK wannabe.

Sure...you'll have a lawyer...but all of the evidence the police may have collected will no longer be available, and the investigation will not have been an even and equal one, but rather one where you alone are the suspect.

ETA: There is an edited / censored swear word in the article

[eddieconcarne]

You should say nothing more than "I'm a little shaken up right now. I'd like to talk to my attorney first." That's all I would say, even if the cops were high-fiving me for doing the right thing.

[Kiowa Scout]

pbwalker,
I received that email newletter yesterday also. You are correct, that was an excellent write-up. It sure gave me food for thought on my area of lack in preparation.

[terryg]

I also was told by my CHL instructor to be generic during the 911 call and say something like "there has been a shooting". But in the scenario described, the CHL holder says:

there has been a shooting...I'm the victim...send help

??? I think you'll want to do a little better than that. What this says is "I'm the victim of the shooting" - the LEO's are more likely to arrive and take you out as you are the only one currently armed.

[Texas Size 11]

There are a couple of good articles here: http://www.armedcitizensnetwork.org/our-journal" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

[Hoi Polloi]

Personal Defense's Massad Ayoob - what to say after a self defense shooting:

1. Call 911
2. Officer this person attacked me, I will sign the complaint.
3. Officer here is the evidence (knife, gun, ball bat, whatever).
4. Officer these are the witnesses.
5. Officer you will have my full cooperation in 24 hrs after I see my attorney.

**Edited to add a disclaimer to the original link, which I've now read. The tone and word choices of the article are rather crude to my sensitive feminine nature. Reader beware.**

[Keith B]

Charles covers this very thoroughly in his Texas Self-Defense & Deadly Force Laws seminar. There are times to talk and times not to, things to say and things not to say. If you can make one of the seminar sessions that are being planned, it will be WELL worth any amount of drive to hear it and be able to ask questions.

[Liberty]

+1

[gwtrikenut]

I have heard that even the officers will not make any official statements after they have been involved in a shooting, until 24 hours have passed. Now I would tell the officers about any weapons that were used by the bad guy, or guys. But be sure to let the officer know you are too shaken to talk right now. Maybe I should be taken to the hospital for evaluation or treatment for my injuries. This will allow time to pass, and you time to think.

[srothstein]

I have heard that even the officers will not make any official statements after they have been involved in a shooting, until 24 hours have passed.

This is an old wive's tale. I can say from experience that officers are taken from the scene to the homicide detective's office for a statement. The only delay allowed normally is for the union lawyer to get there, though many larger departments are also calling psychologists immediately. In my case, I talked to the psychologist while my partner was talking to the lawyer, then the two professionals swapped places. Then we went to the armory where we turned the guns used over to the evidence technician and were issued new revolvers for temporary use (until the case was cleared and our regular weapon was returned to us). The shooting occurred around 5:30 a.m., we were in the detective's office by 7:00, and I was home by noon.

And when I watched the 6:00 news, I had to wonder if they were covering the same shooting I was involved in. It sure did not sound it to me, even when they used our names. In this case, the media helped and made it sound like the guy had been shooting the whole city up all night while we were looking for him, instead of us not knowing anything about him until he robbed a bakery just before the shooting. I looked for him all of 20 minutes.

But, the cops should fully understand your wanting a lawyer to work with you. That is something any decent sized department would make sure the officer gets very quickly. The large departments with police unions will have the lawyer in the office in time for the original statement, but smaller departments may not.