I have been teaching myself basic typography. It is so exciting, srsly. I redesigned the Copwatch New Haven know your rights posters that I made a long time ago, because now that I know better I know they were fugly.
Full text of the posters is at the old link, although I changed it slightly since then. As before, feel free to use the posters in any way you need to. It’s mostly split from a (even fuglier) Crimethinc poster and edited from there. Contact me if you need better resolution pdfs.
These are 3 posters from our almost-off-the-ground Copwatch group. For the past year though we’ve been wheatpasting these around, especially in areas where cops hassle people a lot. It’s nice to have a reminder posted up on the wall of what your rights are with cops. Obviously this is all easier said than done, and there are plenty of reasons cops will use to trample all over you. Still, it can be helpful as a buffer to know what your rights are in dealing with them, especially when it can show that you’re not just going to be intimidated by them.
Much of this text was adapted from a Crimethinc poster about dealing with cops. I hated the layout of that one & how much text was packed into a single poster.
ETA: Feel free to use these posters, and take our name off them & replace it with your own. Also if anyone wants decent pdfs of them, hit me up.
The text on them reads:
If you have to deal with cops, do it right!
If the police stop you:
* Ask, “Am I free to go?” If not, you are being detained. If yes, walk away.
* Ask, “Why are you detaining me?” To stop you, the officer must have a “reasonable suspicion” of your involvement in a specific crime (not just a guess or stereotype).
* If a cop tries to search your car, house, or your person, say repeatedly that you DO NOT CONSENT to the search. If in a car, do not open your trunk or door. If at home, step outside & lock your door. Ask to see the warrant & check for proper address, judge’s signature, and what the warrant says the cops are searching for. Everything must be correct in a legal warrant; otherwise send the cops away.
* Cops can do a “pat search” of the exterior of your clothing for weapons during a detention; they cannot go into your pockets or bags without your consent. If you are arrested, they can search you & your possessions in great detail.
* Do not physically resist. Keep your cool.
If the police arrest you:
* You may be handcuffed, searched, photographed, & fingerprinted.
* Say repeatedly, “I don’t want to talk until my lawyer is present.” Refuse to talk until your lawyer arrives.
* Don’t talk to other inmates about your case.
* If you’re on parole/probation, tell your P.O. you’ve been arrested but nothing else about the incident.
Remember: you have legal rights, but don’t expect the police to always respect them. Stay safe, keep your eyes & ears open!
Hey Officer, can I get your digits?
If you are a victim of police brutality, harassment, or other misconduct, or see a cop doing those things to someone else, it’s important you find out the officer’s name, badge number, and car number if possible. They might try to hide this information from you; ask if you need to.
Write this information down so you don’t forget it. In fact, tell your friends & neighbors, so they can also look out for the offending officer.
To file a complaint, you have to have the cop’s exact name & number or your complaint gets thrown out.
When we keep track of this information, we can help out friends who have run-ins with the same cops later.
And when the cops know the whole neighborhood is watching them, they are less likely to beat & hassle us and expect to get away with it.
This is an excerpt from the Feminists with Disabilities for a Way Forward blog about ableism, police interactions, and rhetoric around those two things. It’s very good. Copwatch New Haven is my crew.
copwatchnewhaven:
Very good critique of how the discussion around police interactions leaves out the complications brought up by disabilities. Important things we need to be aware of when we talk about tactics in our organizing.
The outcome of interactions with law enforcement is highly inconsistent and is very much tied in with intersectional issues like race. Let’s say you have a situation where a person who uses a cane is pulled over and ordered to get out of the car. The person says ‘ok, but, Officer, I want you to know that I use a cane for mobility. It is not a weapon, but I do need it to stand and walk safely, and I wanted you to know that before I got out of the car.’ The race of the person being pulled over shouldn’t affect the way the officer responds to that, but it will, and the colour of your skin should not determine whether you get your mobility device seized or not.
The idea that you just tell the Nice Officer about your disabilities and everything is ok is quaint and all, but really does not work out in practice. I’m trying to imagine a situation where I say ‘Officer, I’m not trying to give you the sideye, I just have a very difficult time making eye contact with people.’ Yeah. That’s going to go over real well. How many cases of ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ do there need to be before we acknowledge that the ‘communication breakdown’ here is not on the side of people with disabilities, but on the side of law enforcement?
…
But one thing I see repeatedly being left out, not just from guides for civilians, but also in pushes for police reform, is better training for interacting with people with disabilities. I see lip service occasionally, usually in the wake of really awful cases like Deaf folks being shot for ‘refusing’ to comply with verbal orders from police, but I don’t see much follow through. Some disability rights organisations are working with individual police departments; I’ve actually interacted directly with several police officers and provided advice and suggestions on making encounters with people with disabilities go more smoothly, but this reduces the situation to individual cases. It’s good that something rather than nothing is happening, but I would like to see nationwide policy initiatives, like very clear requirements that all law enforcement officers receive appropriate training in working with people with disabilities.
