The Pendulum
Thursday, September 19, 2002 wPage 3
Opinions
What to do and say if you are arrested by police
College students often don’t realize their rights when faced with punishment
America is a prosperous
country with several
advantageous opportuni
ties. As a legal citizen, we are
endowed with certain rights that
cannot be sacrificed.
Our ancestors and forefathers
risked their lives for the privileges
we enjoy today.
We are protected by these
rights at every moment of our
lives, whether we are aware of it
or not.
But it is not enough to have these
rights; you mast also know what they
are and how they can benefit you in a
particular situation.
You must know when you can
exercise your rights, and when to
remain silent. Without such
knowledge, your rights protect
you about as much as an
American flag T-shirt will protect
you from terrorists.
American constitutional rights
are not sentimental morality state
ments, but real-lif, freedoms that
Ryan Costello
can mean the
difference
between which
side of the steel
bars you may
one day be look
ing through.
Police officers
know your rights.
More significantly,
they know if you
aren’t aware of them.
Always remember that police
officers are trying to do a job.
If they feel that some kind
of crime is being committed,
they will do what is necessary
to investigate, even if it means
grinding the rights of
unknowledgeable college stu
dents under their boots.
Your rights are not violated
unless you are aware of them and
know when to stick by them.
Otherwise, police officers are
doing their job to the best of their
ability. I’ve compiled a list of
Without that precious information, your rights
will protect you about as much as an American
flag T-shirt will protect you from terrorists.
important things to know about
your rights, as well as a few
“dos” and “don’ts.”
What you say and what you
don’t say to police is of the utmost
importance.
What you say can be used
against you and may give police
an excuse to arrest you.
You do not have to answer any
questions, and your best bet is to
stay quiet, polite, and respectful at
all times.
Although you must show an
officer your driver’s license and
registration when stopped in a car,
you cannot be legally arrested for
refusing to identify yourself to a
police officer in any other situa
tion.
You do not have to consent to a
search of yourself, your car, or
your home at any time.
If police say they have a search
warrant, ask to see it.
Police may “pat down” your
clothing if they suspect you might
have a concealed weapon, but you
must make it very clear that you
do not consent to any further
search.
You cannot be legally arrested
for refusing to consent to a search.
If you are under arrest, you
have the right to know why. Ask.
Police can search the area
“close by” you in the event you
are arrested. If you are in a build
ing this usually means the room
that you are in, but nothing more.
We all have the right to courte
ous and respectful police treat
ment, in any situation.
If you feel that you’re rights
have been violated, remember to
stay calm and allow the incident
to run its course, despite how hard
that may seem at the time.
Don’t run, don’t complain,
don’t resist and don’t argue.
Remember officers’ badge and
patrol car numbers, and write down
everything as soon as possible.
Wait until you have an oppor
tunity to speak to a lawyer before
making a complaint that your
rights have been violated.
It is important not to exacer
bate an already delicate situation.
Sit calm, stay alert, and hope
fully, you’ll stay out of trouble.
Information in this column was from -
the American Civil Liberties-Union.
Contact Ryan-Custello at
pendulum@elon.edu or 278-7247.
‘Dummies’ series tries to teacli us about how to live our lives
Ryan
When I first discovered
“Dummies” literature,
I couldn’t help but
laugh.
“Dummies” literature
is a collection of books
that attempt to provide a
little information about a
variety of topics.
Call it cynicism, but
as 1 didn’t see “Amelie”
after 1 found out that
she’ll (allegedly) change
your life, I found it a lit
tle hard to take the term
of endearment attached to
these books in stride.
While picking up a book called
“Homebuying for Dummies” is one
^hing, how many copies of “Sex
for Dummies" do you think sell
everyday? Enough for a second
edition apparently.
Another thing which struck me
early on was what qualifies you to
a writer for a particular
“Dummies” book?
Again, while finding someone
to write on the finer points of
Shakespeare should be relatively
straightforward, how does one
Notch
find an authority to pen “Family
Reunion Planning Kit for
Dummies?”
It’s like an ad I saw, adver
tising the services of a
professional “life
coach.”
I was intrigued. Here
was someone offering to
coach me on how to live
my life better and more
effectively.
Time management,
event planning, medita
tion, the list of services
is endless. Life coaches.
Dummies books on
every topic available. What next?
It seems today we spend so
much time on introspective think
ing and worrying about what’s
going on in our lives, we can’t see
what’s going on around us.
It’s almost as if we’re looking
for ways to make things difficult.
While we are lucky enough to
not have to worry too much about
war, famine or natural disasters,
we’w somehow managed to back
ourselves into a comer.
True, life these days is com
plex, some say the most complex
it’s ever been.
But it doesn’t take
a dummy to figure out
that that’s the catch cry
of every generation. I’d
like to think we’re all
simple creatures at heart,
but we apparently want to
make things difficult for
ourselves.
Human nature?
Perhaps, but we seem to be
getting carried away. We
don’t need to pay others
money to learn how to sim
plify our lives and get the
most out of our bread
machine, fear not - “Bread
Machines for Dummies” has the
answers!
All jokes aside, what are we
telling ourselves?
Perhaps we need to step back
and look at things a bit.
By not taking things so
seriously, we’d probably end
up learning more than we
imagine.
Sure, we could learn a little
more about how to choose a
But If you have your health and people
who love you, can life really be that
99
dog, how to be better at
PlayStation or the finer points
of dating.
But if you have your health, a
place to lay your head and people
who love you, can life really be
that bad?
And if it is, I think I can still
dig up the number of that life
coach for you.
Either that or you can buy a
copy of my new book, “How to
Not Be an Ungrateful Twit for
Dummies.”
I think I’ve got a best seller
here.
Contact Ryan Notch at pendu-
lum@elon.edu or 278-7247.