This Text file is old! In a 🏛️Museum, an unsorted archive of (user-)pages. (Saved from Geocities in Oct-2009. The archival story: oocities.org)
--------------------------------------- (To 🚫report any bad content: archivehelp @ gmail.com)

IF YOU GET STOPPED BY POLICE OR BORDER PATROL	
By Victor Marrero

	If we had a government that represented the average community member
and acted for him or her more than it does for business than police
would in fact maybe protect and serve us like a security guard is
supposed to look after residents at a private condo.  The security
guard would answer questions politely, be careful of how he or she
acts because the wrong word to the wrong resident(depending on the
condo and the resident sometimes)can get him or her fired, or sued.  

	Since the city we live in does not operate under the same level of
respect that a private condo in La Jolla gives its residents, we have
to remind this city through the representives that we most often
encounter, its cops, of one of the parts of our rental agreement.  In
our case the rental agreement is the Penal Code, and higher than that
is the United States Constitution.   

	These are things that you should know concerning your possible
encounter with police, especially if you're not White, and don't live
in La Jolla.   These are your rights under the law even though the
judicial system and its enforcers many times don't or won't
acknowledge them. 

	If police ask to speak to you, it may be consensual contact.  That
means legally you have the right to tell them you don't want to speak
to them, and can walk way.  Consensual contact means you consent to be
contacted.  You can ask them is this consensual contact?  Some cops
might respond with "Are you a street lawyer?"  You can say I don't
have to answer that question.  I want to be told if this is consensual
contact or if you're detaining me.   If he or she evades giving you a
straight answer than this is a flagrant violation of your rights, and
this may be a cop that is ready to commit even more flagrant
violations if you don't have some witnesses around you.  So call for
witnesses.  See somebody walking across the street ask him or her to
come over.  Tell them you'd do the same for them.  They can legally
stand ten feet away as long as they don't interfere and the cop
legally cannot intimidate or threaten them in any way.  

	If the cop tells you he is detaining you, making a lawful detention,
it has to be based on probable cause.  Probable cause means there has
to be some articulable facts that show you could be a suspect to a
crime.  If there's been a crime committed than the cops have to have
the description of a suspect, and you have to match it with something
more than just the color of your skin or your style of clothing.  You
can even go so far as to ask to see the description they have. 
Probable cause can never be some generalization like"there's been alot
of crime in this area" and the cop's personal opion that you "look
suspicious."  One example of a good case for probable cause on the
side of the cops could be something like there's a window broken and
you've got a bat in your hand.  Cops don't usually run across anything
that obvious so they look for a needle of crime in a haystack of
innocent citizens, especially if those citizens live in poor, mostly
non-white neighbourhoods. 

	 If you're detained by a cop, the cop has legal basis to establish
your identity.  The best thing is to show him or her your I.D if you
have one.  However in the case of someone who is Mexican, or Central
American with Mestizo or Indigenous features, that someone may get
detained by a cop who tries to question him or her about residency. 
You don�t have to answer the cop�s or the Border Patrol�s questions
about where you were born or whether you are documented or
undocumented.  By law police are not supposed to question people�s
residency.  If police believe that they should have the right to
collaborate with Border Patrol than have them put it into law, instead
of unofficially practicing it because people let them get away with
it.  Police sometimes call Border Patrol to pick up a suspect they�ve
detained who doesn�t satisfy their questions about residency.  I know
because I�ve seen them do it in downtown San Diego, and it is
illegal!!  Once again if they enforce laws on us that don�t benefit
them, they should at least respect the ones that are supposed to
benefit us.  

	If you�re taken by the Border Patrol remember again, you have the
right to refuse to answer questions begining with where you were born.
 You have the right to a phone call, and an audience before being
deported.  You also have a right to have your case heard without
having to be detained for too long.  You can request legal counsel. 
If you�re a minor your parents are supposed to be contacted before
anything is done with you.  Then again the Border Patrol has been
known to use that requirement to arrest, and deport whole families
once a juvenile lead them to his or her home.  That�s why it might be
a good idea to ask to get in touch with the American Friends Service
Committee downtown at (619) 233-4114 if anybody in your house is
without papers.  The Border Patrol and the police are known to find
pretexts to break 4th Amendment rights and force their way into
people�s homes to make arrests.  

	The last stage of contact between you and the police is arrest.  You
can not lawfully resist arrest even if the cop is making an illegal
arrest without probable cause.  You have to let them arrest you
according to law, and then you are supposed to be able to sue them, or
have any charges they leveled at you dropped.  However in real life
many people know it often doesn�t happen that way.  Once again look
for witnesses, tell them what is happening, and consider giving them
yours or a friend�s phone number, even as the cop might be trying to
intimidate you or your witness.  

	The only time that lawfully you can resist a cop is if they use
extremely excessive force.  That�s a little bit contradictory because
what if the cop handcuffed you and then started to pistol whip you? 
The law is either nieve or maybe not made by people who want to
gurantee our protection.  The people that got beaten by deputies in
Riverside could have legally resisted, but then again they might have
been dead, and the cops would use that to say that they had to defend
themselves.  Same thing with Rodney King.  

	One successful case of resisting police in San Diego was the Sigun
Penn case.  Look that up if you get a chance.   Remember always
witnesses, and don�t be ashamed of looking the pig in the eye, and
telling him that you have rights if you haven�t done anything wrong. 
P.S don�t use the word pig.  That�s verbal abuse.