Edit:
Since people don’t seem to believe that police are actually legally allowed to lie during an interrogation:
An interrogation like this is not an example of outright lying, which is legal and commonly practiced, but it is much more sinister. It is an example of an interrogator assuming another identity and drawing the suspect into a false sense of warmth and security in order to make the suspect incriminate himself. To me, it is the same as having a conversation with your mother after a traumatic event, only to see her rip her own face off, a mask, to reveal the grotesque face of a police interrogator, and then going to jail for what you disclosed. Absolutely terrifying and dystopian. You absolutely must be proactive and protect yourself in this world. Even in “free” countries like the USA. https://youtu.be/rBpDHJIwcUk?t=1495
TLDR: the police are allowed to lie to you https://youtu.be/_WnhP91NJeU?t=1600
Then maybe it would make a better example for discussions like this. As it stands, that anecdote is little more than "the police are good at their jobs and they caught a murderer which is unambiguously good for everybody, but what if they were instead using their skills for something bad?"
> "Furthermore, considering testimony given while under the influence is ridiculous."
I'm sorry but expecting cops to never talk to drunk people is just absurd. There are plenty of valid objections to modern policing, but this isn't one of them.
> "Cops lying"
You already admitted the cops in your example didn't lie. They're guilty only of having a calm demeanor when interrogating a murder suspect, which for some reason you consider morally abhorrent.
It isn’t meant to directly compare this to witch hunting. It’s a case of people overlooking brutality because witches are bad anyway right? There are zillions of examples of this. It’s the concept that’s important. Saying that the technique of lying is ok because it gets rid or murderers is wrong especially in light of the fact that there are other ways to do it.
And yes, there is a grey area where interrogators don’t outright lie but are still highly deceptive. I don’t care about the grey area, I just care that police are allowed to outright lie. That is not grey. The example that I illustrated reveals how sinister the police can be. It is more emotionally stirring than mechanical lying. But the interrogator did reveal her title and so whatever. Seriously twisted still. But making outright lying routine is wrong. I don’t want to live in a world where police tell flat out lies to people. That is why we have Miranda rights. Under your logic there should be no reading of Miranda rights, allowing the police to tell the suspect literally anything like “if you don’t confess we will do x” or “you have to tell us something or you’ll be locked up forever” or whatever. Miranda rights exist for an extremely good reason. And stopping outright lying is a continuation of the spirit of Miranda rights.
There are many, many, much worse examples.
The first one that comes to mind to me is when they interviewed that simple guy on the Netflix show, Making a Murderer. They basically told him everything would be ok if he just admitted to murdering someone, and prompted every detail by just badgering him. He had no idea how serious the charges were that he was admitting to, and clearly had no idea of the details of the murder until they prompted him. I'm sure he should have had a lawyer or guardian helping him, as you would with a child.
He's still in jail AFAIK.
They just dont like what you say