Do police officers have to tell you the truth?

If police officers believe you might have participated in some criminal activity, they are going to want to talk to you eventually. Being in an interrogation room can be an intimidating and downright scary experience. If you are thinking about cooperating with the police, you should know that you are likely to be at an extreme disadvantage. After all, according to reporting from The Guardian, officers often use interrogation techniques that lead to false confessions. Lying to you can be part of their strategy.

What can police officers lie about?

It is important to realize that police officers are not necessarily on your side, regardless of what they might tell you. If they think you are guilty, they might tell you a variety of untruths to try to induce a confession or obtain incriminating information. Indeed, officers usually can lie to you about the following:

• The physical evidence they have and do not have

• Your performance on a polygraph test

• The statements witnesses have made

• The severity of your sentence

When can police officers not lie?

As you can see, police officers can offer you wide-sweeping misrepresentations. They cannot be untruthful about everything, though. Specifically, officers can not lie to you about your legal rights, such as your right to remain silent or your right to consult with legal counsel. They might not volunteer this information more than once, though. Ultimately, because you might not know what is true and what is false during a police interrogation, it is critical to exercise all your legal rights.