Everyone else is cooperative, but I'm not.
I've now drawn attention to myself and am probably going to be in for a lot of scrutiny, and at some risk for getting into trouble even if I had nothing to do with the girl's disappearance.
All could have been avoided by saying "I'll have my attorney contact you" and later he contacts them with the message "Mr. TZS knows nothing about this case as far as he knows."
If I were to take your suggestion and avoid the initial question by having my attorney answer it--nothing changes because they still have the security video showing I saw the girl, so now they will just think I'm lying through my attorney install of lying directly, and I'm still going to end up getting brought in for questioning and possibly have my house searched.
you seems to miss the point of getting an attorney.
Presumably the comparison of what you say vs. what the video camera shows will happen after when you talk (plus if they know you've seen her their approach to you is likely to be different).
You lawyer will presumably know how word your statements so they are both true and won't get you caught in this sort of scenario. I'm not sure what works for real, but think of the difference between the statements "I didn't see her" and "I don't recall seeing her." Both say the same thing, but the former is obviously more dangerous.
Again, it comes down to the question of "What's in for you?" Nowadays there's pretty much nothing but downsides for you with no upside aside from the occasional situation where saying something will avoid your getting taken in for questioning or worse.
This is something that comes up a lot in the concealed carry/self defense community. Missouri requires a thorough 8 hour course to get a license and the one I attended was taught entirely by police, most or all of them still active in one way or another. Their advice, and they said they didn't like saying this---and I'll note SW Missouri is very favorably inclined towards legitimate self-defense---was that you shouldn't talk to them but retain a lawyer and speak through him.
I do agree that in cases like that, you will make it harder for yourself if the police stop and ask you and you refuse to say anything. I think the talk linked refers more to people who are considered potential suspects rather than witnesses.
What everyone else is doing doesn't matter. You can't talk your way out of being investigated.
care to elaborate how your talking would help then?
Being the only person who won't make such a simple statement is practically shouting out "INVESTIGATE ME! I SHOULD BE A MAIN SUSPECT!". At the very least that will lead to considerable hassle and expense.
Whenever this comes up on HN, I find the pattern of comments to be a little baffling, in that very few people want to acknowledge that there are significant downsides to this.
One that isn't mentioned is that, frankly, I don't trust cops nearly as much as you'all seem to. I've been in dodgy situations with cops. I've been pulled over by cops on a dark, out of the way road, and it made me nervous. There is zero chance I'm not cooperating with him as much as I can under those circumstances.
I would never pull over on a "dark, out of the way road".
> Mary Ann Viverette, the President of the International Association of Cheifs of Police [...] but she also thinks Karen was smart to follow her instincts in that situation.
As an aside, it would also help the investigators, by not distracting them with irrelevant suspicious behavior.
>As an aside, it would also help the investigators, by not distracting them with irrelevant suspicious behavior.
and that too.
What you really need to weigh it against is the fact that you don't want crimes to happen in your community. I think the thing to do is pay attention, and as soon as they seem to go from talking to you as a witness to interrogating you as a suspect, shut the fuck up. If you are a suspect, they might start off treating you as a witness so you lower your guard. Don't lower your guard, be careful to only make true statements ("I don't recall X" is always better than "I didn't do X" or "I didn't see X").
From personal experience, being questioned by police is very, very draining and difficult, especially when you are innocent. And they're assholes when they question you.