Receiving A First Information Report
An investigation process typically commences upon the police receiving a first information report. This is a document that contains the very first information that the police obtains about the incident, hence its name.
A first information report may be received in writing, for instance, in the form of a letter or message. It may also be received orally, such as a report made by an informant over the phone or at the police station.
Upon receiving a report, the police would consider whether the information in the report discloses a possible offence and if so, whether the offence is arrestable or non-arrestable, before taking further action.
Making A Freedom Of Information Request About The Criminal Justice System
The Freedom of Information Act gives you the right to request information about the criminal justice system held by public authorities, including UK police forces and prisons. You might not be supplied with the information you requested if it is exempt under the Freedom of Information Act. You can find out how to make a request here.
Police forces, prisons and other criminal justice organisations have already published some information under the Freedom of Information Act either in the normal course of business or in response to specific requests. Before making a request, check the appropriate website to see if they have already published the information you require. You can find police force websites by using the UK Police Service website. This provides links to all geographic and non-geographic police forces in the UK.
If You Are Contacted By The Police Regarding A Criminal Investigation You Should Immediately Contact An Attorney For Legal Counsel
Interviewer: What if you havent even had charges brought against you yet but the police are asking to question you, is that the best time to get an attorney or should you wait?
Michael: You need to contact an attorney as soon as youre contacted by any law enforcement personnel. My advice is always the sooner the better in terms of consulting an attorney.
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What If I Am Asked To Meet With Officers For A Counter
You have the right to say that you do not want to be interviewed, to have an attorney present, to set the time and place for the interview, to find out the questions they will ask beforehand, and to answer only the questions you feel comfortable answering. If you are taken into custody for any reason, you have the right to remain silent. No matter what, assume that nothing you say is off the record. And remember that it is a criminal offense to knowingly lie to an officer.
What Should I Do If I’m Under Investigation
If you discover that you are being investigated by law enforcement, you should contact your criminal defense lawyer immediately, before you talk to police or investigators.
When they get a phone call from a detective, or find the detectives card on their front door, many people think:
- If I dont talk to them, they will think Im guilty
- If I hire an attorney, they will think Im guilty
- If I talk to them, this will go away
- I can talk my way out of this
- I dont have anything to hide, so why wouldnt I talk to them? Or even
- I support the police and I trust them.
These all sound like reasonable reactions for a law abiding citizen, until you realize exactly how it works and what the police are doing
Why Shouldnt I Talk to the Police?
If police or investigators want to question you about a crime, they are not trying to clear your name they are gathering evidence with which to prosecute you and anyone else they suspect is involved.
If police want to speak with you about a crime, there are three possibilities:
What Do I Need to Know About Police Interrogations?
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Are Police Allowed To Lie To You And Vice Versa
On a state matter, police are permitted to lie to get information from you. One of the oldest tricks in the book is they arrest your friend and tell you they just confessed and said you did it, to which you may reply that you didnt do it, that you just drove the car, and right there, they have what they need.
However, while police can lie, you cant because, even if youre not criminally prosecuted for the crime, they can prosecute you for lying. For example, in a federal investigation, they never have anything to convict Olympic sprinter Marion Jones with, when it came to her use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs, but they were able to prove she lied about using them, and she went to federal prison for five years for nothing more than lying to police.
A second way lying to police can hurt is because everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You dont have to speak at the trial, but if you assert the right not to speak, the only thing the jury may hear is that you lied, which means theyll have a credibility issue to believe the police, who are just doing their job, or you, who is the person who is on record lying on police reports and video surveillance?
Signs That You May Be Under Investigation In Virginia
Although it may seem obvious, law enforcement officers have a variety of techniques they use to investigate crimes including some that are more subtle than others. For this reason, it is important that you are able to recognize when you may be under criminal investigation and consult with a Virginia criminal lawyer as soon as possible to protect your rights and ensure you do not incriminate yourself in any way. The following is information on how to tell if you are under investigation and the importance of contacting an attorney. To learn more call today.
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Do You Need To Hire A Criminal Lawyer
You should be represented by a criminal lawyer from the moment that you are under investigation for a crime. In many circumstances, it may be difficult to know whether you are being investigated until its too late, so call us immediately if you have any concern about a pending investigation. If you have already been arrested or charged with a crime, you should not hesitate to hire a criminal defense lawyer. After you are arrested or charged with a crime, a criminal defense attorney can help protect your rights during an investigation by the police or other law enforcement agency. After you are arrested, a criminal lawyer can represent you in court and advise you about the best strategies to defend you and protect your freedom and all of your rights.
The Police Want To Speak With Me And Get My Side Of The Story I Think They Are Investigating Me For A Criminal Offence What Should I Know
If the police think a person may have committed an offence, it is not unusual for them to contact the person and ask them to give a statement about the incident. They may call and say they want to set up a meeting to discuss an incident. Or they may say that they want to give you a chance to tell your side of the story so they can decide how they are going to handle things. They may say this is your opportunity to tell us what happened or warn you that if you do not speak with me, I will have to assume everything told me is true, and thats how I will write my report.
What the police the police will not tell you, however, is: We want you to speak with us because we hope that you will tell us something that can be used against you. It is important to remember that by the time the police have contacted you and asked to meet with them, the police may have already decided to arrest you and lay a charge against you. While there is a chance you could tell the police something that causes them to decide not to charge you, it is also possible that you will say something that hurts your ability to defend yourself. There may be another side to the story, but if the police are told two different versions of what happened, they will often decide to lay a criminal charge and let the matter get sorted out in court.
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How Long Can The Police Detain Me At The Police Station
In most circumstances the maximum period the police can detain you without charge is 24 hours. You should not worry because most people are in police detention for much less time than that. Usually, the police will just keep you for as long as it takes to interview you. In some cases where the police are investigating serious crimes, and certain criteria are satisfied, they can ask a senior officer to authorise detention for a further period of up to 12 hours . In the most exceptional circumstances, the police can ask a Magistrate to detain a suspect for periods up to a maximum of 72 hours.
If The First Information Report Discloses A Possible Arrestable Offence
If the offence in question is arrestable, then the police has the power to arrest an alleged offender for it without first obtaining a warrant of arrest.
The Third Column of the First Schedule of the Criminal Procedure Code lays down the offences that are arrestable. For offences found in other legislation, you will have to check that legislation to see if the offence is arrestable.
Examples of arrestable cases include:
If the police has a reason to suspect that the offence is arrestable, it would then investigate the facts of the case as soon as practicable and try to find the offender, arresting him if appropriate.
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What Can I Do If There Is Inaccurate Information On My Dbs Certificate
Your right to access does not cover criminal records checks for employment purposes, known as a DBS check . If a criminal records check is required for your work then your employer should explain how to apply for this appropriately.
If you have any concerns about the accuracy of personal data on your DBS certificate, you can raise this with the DBS. This could include incorrect personal details, incorrect conviction information or other discrepancies.
If the inaccuracy relates to an offence you did not commit, this would have to be raised with the local police force. If you are concerned about an entry in the Police National Computer record, you will have to raise this with ACRO.
For support and advice on criminal records, contact Unlock or NACRO.
What Should I Do If I Am Being Investigated By The Police
If you are under investigation by the police, it does not mean you will necessarily be charged or found guilty of a criminal offence, but you do need to take the matter seriously and take steps to protect yourself.
At this point in the process, there is a significant information imbalance between you and the police because you may not know the full scope of the investigation. Indeed, our lawyers frequently receive calls from people who have been asked by police to come in for an interview but who have not been told why they are being investigated. Occasionally the police even ask people who they suspect of committing a crime, or of being connected to a crime, to do a polygraph test. The results of these tests are notoriously unreliable, however, and they are not admissible as evidence in court, so if the police ask you to do one, they are simply trying to trick you into incriminating yourself.
The key at this stage is to gather as much information as possible while saying as little as possible. You may want to consider obtaining the investigators name, badge number, and contact information. If you are comfortable, ask what the investigation is about . This step can be tricky because the police have been trained in methods of extracting information from people, so you might say something, even if only casually or inadvertently, that may be used against you in future proceedings.
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Dont Talk To Potential Witnesses
If you are under investigation for a crime, you may feel angry and anxious. When threatened, it is human nature to take action. It is tempting to go to the potential witnesses against you and try to talk them out of testifying against you. For instance, you may tell them your side of the case: I didnt hit her. What you heard was my fist hitting the wall.
Talking to witnesses, though, is a bad idea. You could be charged with the additional crime of witness tampering which carries stiff consequences including a potential prison sentence. If you feel there is something to be gained from speaking to a witness, tell your lawyer and let him or her take care of it.
Can You Be Investigated Without Knowing
Originally Answered: Can you be investigated without your knowledge? Absolutely. While many subjects of an investigation know or should reasonably expect to come to the attentions of law enforcement, there can be cases where someone is either the subject or somehow related to an investigation and never know.
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You Do Not Have To Answer A Police Officers Questions
If a police officer or federal agent calls, you can politely decline to answer any questions over the phone.
If that officer or agent asks you to come into the station, politely inform them that you will speak with an attorney first. You can take down the officer or agents name, phone number, and email. Your attorney can then advise you on whether you should make an official statement or not.
If an officer or federal agent comes to your home, you can handle the situation in much the same way. Do not let them into your home unless they have a warrant signed by a judge or magistrate and all the information on that warrant is correct. Politely inform them that you will not answer any questions related to a criminal matter without your attorney present. Ask for the officer or agents card.
Do You Lose Anything By Speaking To An Attorney
There is nothing to lose by speaking to an attorney. The only cost might be an initial consultation fee but most attorneys will waive the initial consultation fee to speak with you a little bit about your case.
Additionally, the initial time that you talk with an attorney in order to consult them, is a privileged conversation. By talking to this attorney, even if you do not decide to hire them, the attorney cannot go out and tell the prosecuting attorney or another person what you talked about in the confidence of that meeting.
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What Does A Pending Investigation Mean
Pending Investigations means that the case/investigation is not yet completely concluded. Pending issues might range from obtaining information or evidence from foreign jurisdictions through letters of request or on a police to police exchange basis, to interviewing persons currently away from the country.
Dont Talk To The Police
You have the right to remain silent. Most people become aware that they are being investigated in Sugar Land when the police reach out to question them. If this happens to you, you must firmly and respectfully inform the law enforcement officers that you do not wish to speak without your attorney present. It is your constitutional right, and the police must respect it. Under no circumstances should you talk to the police alone. The easiest way for police to close a case is for the suspect to incriminate themselves.
It is a natural instinct to want to defend yourself, and most people have the urge to explain themselves to the police, especially if they think they are innocent. They believe that if they are cooperative, they will appear less guilty. You must fight this urge. Speaking to the police never helps it only hurts. Anything you say can be used against you in court and invoking your constitutional right to remain silent cannot be used as evidence of guilt at trial.
Even though the police can lie, you are not afforded this right. Under no circumstances should you lie to the police. Lying can result in severe consequences when uncovered. You can be charged with obstruction of justice, and your credibility will be hurt if you end up in front of a judge or jury.
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What To Do When You Are Under Investigation
If you know you are under investigation by the police, remember that police can and do lie during investigations and that cooperating will often not help you, but only hurt your case. Learn, memorize and always invoke your rights when dealing with the police. Never speak to the police without your lawyer present and never consent to a warrantless search of your property. Call a criminal defense attorney as soon as possible.
You can schedule a free initial consultation with Peter M. Liss today by calling 643-4050 to schedule a free initial consultation.
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