If a police officer begins to ask you questions, you know that they are expecting honest answers. Maybe they’re interrogating you because they believe you were involved in a crime. They want you to explain yourself so that they can determine who is responsible for that criminal activity.
An assumption that people sometimes make is that the police officers, likewise, are being honest. But this isn’t always true. In fact, police officers often use deception as a form of manipulation when interrogating suspects, especially when they are relatively young suspects.
How would this happen?
Exactly how it occurs depends on the specifics of the case, but it may involve officers inventing information. For example, a police officer could say something like “Hey, we already have video footage of you at the scene of the crime, so you might as well admit what you did and you can just go home. If you lie to us, things will be much worse.”
But the reality is that the police do not have video footage from the scene. The officer is just hoping that the suspect will admit to the crime if they believe that it’s on video.
Additionally, the officer may be lying about the fact that the suspect will get to go home. A common tactic with young offenders is to tell them that they’ll get out of the situation by admitting their guilt. This could manipulate them into giving a false confession because all they are thinking about is how they can get home to their parents.
Your legal options
These deceptive tactics by police officers are just one of the reasons why it’s so important to understand all of your legal options if you are facing criminal charges.