As activism grows, so will the harassment of activists by the 'authorities'.
As we already have seen recently with the raids and arrests of activists
that have taken part in peaceful AAA demonstrations, even peaceful legal
protest can come under attack.

This attempt of intimidation by the police is unlikely to cease, as they
grow more determined to try and stamp out free speech in favour of
protecting corporate interests.

The police are looking for any information they can obtain about us and this
is why it is very important that anyone involved in any way in speaking out
for animals, know their rights.

Armed with this knowledge you will also hopefully feel more confident if you
come up against police oppression at any time.

NO CHAT WITH THE POLICE IS HARMLESS

Often at events such as protests, police approach activists. Questions commonly
asked are things like: What group are you with? Who organised this demo? Who's
in charge? Etc. All these may seem like harmless questions, but even answering
questions such as these are giving the police information about agroup and can get
people in trouble. For example telling them who the organisers are could make these
people targets for the police who then may focus on these people.

If the police approach you, politely say that there is nothing you wish to
say to them and walk away. Remember you are not obliged to talk to the
police in these circumstances at all!

If the Police want you to go with them always ask if you've been arrested
because you DO NOT have to go with the police unless you've been arrested.

IF YOU ARE ARRESTED

If you are arrested always ask WHY and WHAT FOR. Once arrested you are
required to give your name and address, age, date of birth, occupation (but
not employer(s) details) and nothing else! You will be asked for additional
information eg ph numbers, where you were born and place of work etc but you
do NOT have to give these details.

It is also highly likely that you may be further questioned as police try to
get more information out of you. While this can seem frightening, a simple
mantra can make it less intimidating: "I HAVE NO COMMENT TO MAKE AT THIS
TIME". You are NOT obligated to talk to police or other investigators and
anything you say CAN and WILL be used AGAINST you.

You may be asked if you would like to make a statement, we advise against
doing this at the police station as you may say/write something that could
be used against you without realising it at the time. You can make a
statement at a later date, which gives you time to get advise from a good
lawyer and to think clearly.

Police and investigators are highly trained at getting people to talk and
tripping those up who are lying to them. They will say anything to start you
talking eg We're just trying to help you; My daughter is a vegetarian; You
don't want to ruin your life do you? ; We already have all the evidence we
need, just talk and we'll go easy on you; Your friends have already told us
that you were involved; We're not after you, we're after so-n-so; and they
will play Good Cop/Bad Cop which involves one cop being really nasty to you
and another cop being really nice, often apologising for his colleges
behaviour.

These are empty threats to start you talking. If they had all the
information they needed to convict you or other activists, they wouldn't
work so hard getting you to talk and they will do anything to keep you
talking.

Many interrogations are fishing expeditions, and they are looking for any
information you might drop. They will discuss unrelated things to get you
talking, hoping you'll drop seemingly harmless information like the names of
other activists, etc. And the more you give them, the more questions they
will ask and all info will be added to their files. You have the right to
remain silent; USE IT!

A common tactic used by police is trying to scare you into co-operating. A
common threat that has been used by police in the past is "If you do not
tell us what you did etc, we will hold you in the cells for.... days. It is
highly unlikely that this will happen, unless it is a very serious crime
i.e. arson. They can hold you though if you don't give them your details as
listed above or you refuse to sign a bail form that gives you the date of
your court appearance and often has a condition of residing at your house.

You have the right to talk to a free lawyer, and in private, once you have
been arrested and if you're being questioned about an offence. Tell the
police you want to speak to one on the Bill of Rights list. But be wary
about using lawyers on this list as from some activists' experience these
lawyers are not very helpful at all and nearly always suggest that you
co-operate with the police. If you don't have a lawyer that you know then
call one of these but don't say too much and never admit anything, some
times these lawyers will ring a friend of yours if you ask, to let them know
you have been arrested, which is good.

Our advice is once arrested, keep your mouth shut, never admit to anything
and once released get in touch with your local animal rights group for
advice as soon as possible.

GOING TO COURT

You can enter "no plea" the first time you're in court. In the week or two
that you are then given by the court you can get a copy of your police file
from the police and get legal advice. Check with the court if you can get
legal aid or see the duty solicitor at court on the day of your case. Duty
solicitors (free lawyers) are usually not too good and often suggest that
you plead guilty and take diversion (first time offenders usually get
offered diversion which means that if you plead guilty, your 'crime' is not
marked so you don't get a criminal record.) Even if you are not entitled to
diversion these lawyers still often suggest pleading guilty. For this reason
we don't recommend using these lawyers.

SEARCHES

As we have seen this is becoming more and more common. The police can only
search you, your bag or car if you let them; or they arrest you; or they
have a search warrant; or they have reasonable grounds to think you have
drugs, or an offensive weapon. They can also search your car if they have
reasonable grounds to think it contains stolen goods.

The police can search your home if: you're the lawful occupier and you let
them; or they have a search warrant; If you don't agree to a search you must
say so. Silence is taken as agreeing.

WHEN A COP KNOCKS

Firstly if the police turn up at your home, and ask to come in, ask if they
have a search warrant. If they don't then DO NOT let them in. Even if they
say they just want to have a chat with you, we recommend that you don't talk
to them at all. Politely say that you have nothing you wish to say and close
the door!

If the police have a search warrant ask to see it. Plain clothed officers in
unmarked cars usually carry out raids, before executing the warrant they
must let you read it and go through it with you. After that there is
unfortunately nothing much you can do, they will then start searching
through your property and remove what they want. We suggest being as nice as
possible and be helpful during this process, it will make it go faster and
will be much less stressful in the long term.

Ask for the officer's details (name and ID number). As they will unlikely be
uniformed police (so they will not have numbers on their shoulders) ask for
their names etc. Also make a mental note of any things they may do or say
that you don't think is right and write these down as soon as you are able to.