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Never Talk to the Police. Period

Hacker News · Jun 16, 2026, 4:16 PM

Key takeaways

  • When I was a prosecutor, the first thing I would ask when given a case was "did he say anything?" Nothing lights up a prosecutor s face when he is faced with a difficult case and finds out the suspect talked.
  • The police tell someone they need to have a friendly chat and get their side of the story.
  • If the police ever ask you to come to the police station or are stopping by your house because they only have a couple questions for you — that means one of two things:

When I was a prosecutor, the first thing I would ask when given a case was "did he say anything?" Nothing lights up a prosecutor s face when he is faced with a difficult case and finds out the suspect talked.

I ve seen it all too many times as a prosecutor. The police tell someone they need to have a friendly chat and get their side of the story. It won t take long, and then they can leave. So, the person talks. Maybe because they didn t do anything wrong. Maybe because they genuinely want to do the right thing and help the police solve a crime. And guess what happens? They get arrested.

If the police ever ask you to come to the police station or are stopping by your house because they only have a couple questions for you — that means one of two things:

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