That may be true, but it's not a solution. Personally, I want to live in a world where law enforcement is the ally, not the enemy. And if this is not possible, that's the bigger problem.
If the police are talking to you then by definition they are trying to incriminate someone, that's their job. Police officers are obliged to use any legal means available to obtain evidence - anything less would be negligence. As they are obliged by law to tell you, anything you say or do can be held against you in a court of law. You have a legal right not to incriminate yourself, but you don't have the right to un-incriminate yourself in hindsight, even if you incriminated yourself only inadvertently. If you have evidence that proves you did not commit a criminal offence, then it is in your best interest to use your right to legal representation to ensure that you give that evidence as clearly as possible and do not say anything that could undermine that evidence.
Not talking to cops is a basic principle of privacy, like shredding your credit card bills or using a password on your e-mail account. Once information is out there, you can't get it back, so it's your duty to preserve it at all costs.
If talking to the cops made sense, the cops would be doing a lousy job.
This is a poor attitude and probably explains why dealing with police in the US is such a big deal. It doesn't have to be like this, and isn't in a lot of other countries.
How could we possibly architect a legal system in which it doesn't make sense to speak to a lawyer before giving evidence? Unless we massively simplify the law and train every single citizen in the law to a fairly high standard, the benefit of representation will persist. The system recognises this and enshrines the right to legal representation.
This claim is even more extraordinary than the first. I'm living in Switzerland and I can tell you dealing with the cops is not a problem here because they use their heads (instead of just trying to close a case). Of course if they think you're a scum bag then you won't get the benefit of the doubt, but I can understand that.
>but by global standards the US legal system isn't exceptionally bad.
To be honest, I would trust the US system more than I would the UK system because at least if something stupid happens I would expect to be able to sue someone for lots of cash. The UK could just D-notice me away.
Unfortunately, the job of law enforcement is in fact to enforce the law. The same law which is written by people you don't know and are not asked your opinion on. The same law which is influenced by people richer and more connected than you. A government consists of a group of people who threaten other people with violence (through the police) when they do not agree with their actions. The only way to have real justice is to not have a police force, or a government, for that matter.
I'm shredding my credit card bills so that the "bad guys" don't get their hands on them. What we disagree on is whether law enforcement _has_ to be one of the bad guys. I certainly do not disagree on whether they are right now - I've downloaded my share of music and smoked the occasional pot.
But can't their incentives be changed?
I think they can. Dropping prosecution on a handful of "crimes" would most likely instantly slash over 90% of the problem. Instituting a number of well-thought policies would most likely chip away at the rest 10%. I don't really see any reason why it'd be a futile endeavor...
Two scenarios that have serious, counter-productive effects upon society.
Police used to non infrequently be called "peace officers" ("officers of the peace").
We used to use the term, with at least some genuine meaning, "good corporate citizen".
Assign skewed metrics, and you'll get skewed results. Judging someone solely on their arrest record, or on the financial profit they acquire, misses much of what people contribute in life -- or don't.
well, we know that the law enforcement is ally to some, it is just not to you or to me. Everybody wants to have the Power on their side, just not everybody can by definition.
Law enforcement is a massive, for-profit industry. Everyone is out to improve their arrest/prosecution record. If you can't afford to defend yourself, you are an easy target. Even if you win, you still lose for having to go through the process.
I would like that too, the problem is that because a cop wields so much power one bad apple really does ruin the bunch. As a citizen you never know if you're going to get the cop who does his job well and isn't out to get people or the cop who is drunk with power and can't wait to flex on someone.