Tim Cushing, Techdirt
God help you if you lie to a cop. We’re not even talking about court, where everyone swears to tell the whole truth, etc. before being subjected to testilying by law enforcement officers.
We’re talking about the questioning that happens after law enforcement decides someone is a person of interest. Cops are terrible at solving violent crimes, so it behooves them to obtain a “confession” by any means necessary. “Any means” often means lying. But only cops can do it. If federal officers are lied to it’s a federal crime. Lying to people suspected of committing federal crimes is just considered good (government) business.
John Oliver — who has already tackled (and ridiculed) a number of police traditions — recently addressed the tactics (and lies) officers use to drag confessions out of arrestees, including those who are innocent.
TMC for ek hornbeck