Forget what you heard when you were a child. Police officers in Jefferson and Douglas County don’t just help lost children find their parents. They arrest adults and juveniles when they have probable cause a crime was committed. They work daily with district attorneys whose job it is to successfully prosecute the accused. Regrettably, many of our clients don’t realize they are the accused each time the police contact them. While you should always be nice and respectful to police, you should refrain from talking with them about what happened.
Probable Cause is a Low Standard
While police officers try and gather as much helpful information to prosecute you when they contact you, they don’t need a confession to arrest you. All they need is someone else saying you did something unlawful to them. At that point, officers have decided who their “victim” is and who they are going to charge with a Adams County misdemeanor or felony criminal offense. It is as simple as that. Whoever calls the police first following a dispute – like a pushing match, a verbal argument, or a fight – is going to win the battle. What looks like a referee coming to you for your side of the story is really an officer gathering information for your prosecution. Don’t be fooled. Sometimes all the police need is to hear you say you had physical contact with someone and they have their case all wrapped up. The police are not your friend, despite what your mommy told you.
District Attorneys and Police Officers Have a Symbiotic Relationship
“Symbiotic” means they have a mutually beneficial relationship. And, it means they live off each other. Police officers cannot do their jobs without DAs taking their cases to court and DAs cannot go to court and prosecute cases unless the police bring them cases. Without the other, neither can function. This is why district attorneys help train Denver police officers in how to gather evidence at an Arapahoe County Second Degree Assault crime scene or how to take witness statements from the accused and the victim in a Denver Domestic Violence Harassment case. Better training means better evidence and more convictions of you and me.
Still Not Convinced?
At the start of a criminal case, district attorneys will call officers and get their permission on what type of a plea offer to give a defendant. They are so worried about offending the officers in Kit Carson, Cheyenne County and elsewhere that they ask permission to settle a criminal case. While I will admit that they are not bound by what the police officers say, in most cases the officer’s opinion is as important as a victim’s opinion. District attorneys are terrified that a victim will complain to their boss and they might lose their job. At the same time, criticism from an officer to a DAs boss could earn them a reprimand.
We have seen firsthand how DAs interact with their supervisors, judges, victim advocates and the police. Don’t try and figure out these complicated relationships on your own. Instead, call our criminal defense lawyers who know how things work in the courthouse. We are affordable attorneys committed to your innocence. Never give a statement to the police, but exercise your constitutional right to remain silent. Together, we can protect your future.