A follower asked me what to do if a police officer is overly aggressive when he approaches you while you’re conducting a surveillance and even gets to the point where the cop threatens to arrest you if you don’t tell him who your watching!
He also asked if I thought showing the officer state law about private investigator or process server confidentiality might help.
Let me share with you my experience interacting with the police while working surveillance.
First of all, most of the time, you won’t have to deal with an officer.
Maybe you’ve called ahead to let them know you’re working near this or that intersection, but they really don’t approach you unless someone calls you in as a suspicious person. That does happen sometimes.
As far as an aggressive officer demanding information about my case or client? I’ve never had an officer be like that.
Here’s how I’ve handled the question about who I’m watching…
I have found if you tell him, “It’s a civil matter” that usually makes sense to them and they realize they are on the street for criminal maters only.
Also, and I’ve never had to do this, but I suppose one could ask to speak with a Sargent.
Finally, I don’t believe any citizen has ever been able to show an officer a legal statute and had the officer change his mind about how he’s handling things.
Always, I would move on if he want’s me to move on.
The #1 rule on the street is: The police will always win on the street. Always.
You can challenge that win later in court, but on the street, the cop always (Every. Single. Time.) gets his way. Don’t try to fight it.
In the meantime, this is Larry Kaye reminding you to do the right thing, even if it’s the hard thing.
Committed to your success and safety,
Larry Kaye, P.I.
P.S. – And, of course, don’t miss my special report titled… If You Want To be a Private Investigator Give Up… Unless You Do These Three Things. You can get it right here…
