Customer Reviews

Arrest-Proof Yourself: An Ex-Cop Reveals How Easy It Is for Anyone to Get Arrested, How Even a Single Arrest Could Ruin Your Life, and What to Do If the Police Get in Your Face

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I almost cannot believe this book was written by a cop. If Hunter S. Thompson were not dead before the publication date, I would swear this was ghost-written. When he advises the reader to consider SOILING his or her PANTS to avoid being taken into custody, I can't vouch for the quality of the advice, but I have to admire the author's balls. Other bits of advice are undoubtably real gems; when the author recommends to always ask the cop for a Notice to Appear in court (or "NOA" - this is to be attempted before resorting to the pant-pooping) he is dispensing uncommon practical wisdom. His discussion of racial profiling, and direct advice to young black and hispanic men, is jaw-droppingly frank. Not unlike Thucydides, the author says, in effect: "Let us have no talk of just and unjust."

The bulk of this book is not unlike the various "Know Your Rights" resources published by groups like the ACLU, but it is vastly better. Those other resources give sound advice in the form of "rules," but it is abstracted from 4th and 5th Amendment case law. The truth is that the justice system exists primarily in the cracks between the laws - in the form of police and prosecutorial discretion. The subjective aspects of an encounter with the police - namely police incentives and psychology - are at least as important to your outcome as the positive law is. Any student of the Supreme Court can tell you what to do in a police encounter (e.g. "shut up"), but without any understanding of why you are doing it, it may be VERY difficult advice to follow.

Following the old adage "know your enemy in order to defeat him," the author shows you what a police encounter looks like from the cop's perspective. Police, the author emphasizes, are NOT "just people" - they are "Great White sharks" (his words) trained to churn as many arrests and seizures as possible. But -like sharks- they share certain natural tendencies that make them predictable, (to a limited extent) manipulable, and (above all) avoidable.

Another way it differs from the ACLU brand of rights books and videos is in its urgency. The author argues that, in the electronic panopticon that is today's justice system, an arrest is effectively as damning as a conviction. Computer databases mean that today, not just your penal interests, but also your future employment and your credit can be ruined by an arrest. This is why you - the citizen - must read this book. Not even the best attorney can get you "un-arrested" - you must help yourself by staying free in the first place.

That said, I think the author overstates this point a bit. The class of the offense and your age at the time still matter a great deal. Not even the CIA can afford to exclude everyone with a blemish on their record. Moreover, the panopticon is not really all that efficient (yet). If your name is "Joe Smith," from "Los Angeles," your legibility to the system is still pretty minimal.

Carson limits his advice to those bits helpful to the "clueless" petty criminal - the people most likely to be arrested in a random police encounter. This book tells you only how to navigate what the law calls a "Terry" stop. He's not interested in helping dangerous and/or professional criminals - who are in any event much more likely to be arrested pursuant to a warrant of some sort. (If your house is going to be raided, get a book on prisons, because this won't be of much help.)

This brings us to the author's very interesting editorial thesis: namely, that economics keeps petty offenses criminal. On this account, simple possession of marijuana remains a criminal offense primarily because courts and cops need something to do while they are between rapists and murderers. Petty crime is the daily bread of the justice system. This is a very interesting hypothesis, and while it probably deserves a more scholarly treatment than it recieves here (any U of Chicago grad students in the room?), it seems to me intuitively correct. This beast must eat a steady diet of petty offenders so that it's still in shape when we really need it. But this obviously sucks for the petty offenders (who, when you think about it, are really doing a public service) and Carson is interested in teaching them how to avoid the beast's jaws.

Sadly, the few people who really need this book are unlikely to have the foresight to read it. But, if you are at risk of being arrested this book is for you. If you look weird, are a young male, belong to a racial minority group, travel on foot, drive after midnight, use illegal drugs, have a prior record, or have friends or family who do any of the above, this book is worth taking a look at. Also highly recommended for people who work in the CJ system (except cops, who know this stuff).

This is a very good book about how not to get arrested. To summarize the main themes of the book, on how not to get arrested:

- Don't carry guns in your vehicle
- Don't have drugs in your vehicle
- Don't mouth off to cops (actually, shut up when around them)
- Never, ever touch a cop or physically invade his space, etc.
- If a cop sees you, just keep doing what you were doing before he saw you (i.e., the police look for people who change their behavior around the police suddenly).

The entire book is basically variations on those themes. His basic point is that the "clueless" get arrested, because they do one or more of the above. One main message of this book is "if they can't see you, they can't arrest you". Think about it. Who gets arrested ? The guy who is highly visible to police. The white collar criminal, operating behind closed doors is just not visible. The hurdle of a warrant to search a private home in the U.S. is massive. But the hurdle to stop and search a vehicle is not great at all. For that reason, the people who get arrested in the U.S. are people who do stupid stuff in their car (transport guns, transport drugs, get an attitude when stopped, physically touch the officer, etc.

Of the How To" books, this one may be the most important one that you will every read.

Author Dale C. Carson is a former Florida street cop and FBI agent. He is presently a practicing criminal defense attorney in Jacksonville, Florida. As such, he is in a perfect position to reveal the brutal truth about how police work, their methods, dirty tricks, and motivations. He stresses that cops do not receive promotions or accolades for keeping the peace, or resolving disputes by negotiation, but are evaluated and promoted strictly on the number of citations issued and arrests made, especially felony arrests.

He goes on go to explain how easy it is for *anyone* to get arrested, a subtitle of the book. Most non-criminal "upstanding" citizens" can inadvertently become caught up in the criminal justice "plantation," to use a word coined in the book. Arrest records can have serious consequences, even if the charges are subsequently dismissed, not pressed, or you are acquitted. Such an arrest will doom you (especially young people) to a lifetime of low paid jobs, since many employers will not hire anybody with an arrest record, regardless of the judicial outcome or merit of the arrest. This is particularly dangerous in the age of electronic information, where records can last indefinitely. Before the computer age, written records often got lost with age. Not so now.

So the only practical approach is a defensive/preventive/proactive one. Sadly, most people with not read this book until it is too late, if at all. The "clueless" people, who don't even understand the basics of the system, but are either petty criminals or non-criminals, because in their addition to their lack of ability to keep court dates (they do not own or do not use calendars or alarm clocks), frequently turn minor charges to major ones by failure to appear and other add-on charges. Probably most of them are not even literate enough to understand the simple advice in the book.

This book explains how to keep from being sucked into the system. Once you are, it will be very expensive to get out, if it is possible at all. Numerous parasites in the criminal justice system, including cops, lawyers, prosecutors, jailers, social workers, psychologists, have a big interest in perpetuating the system. The most important battle to be won is for custody of your body - remember, cops are visually oriented predators, whose main motivation is to arrest you and take custody of your body.

Buy this book BEFORE you get sucked into the system, and save a lot of money and heartache. As noted by the author, if you are a real, habitual, or big time criminal, this book will not be of much use to you - you will eventually be residing at the "Graybar Hotel" sooner or later. This book, however, is a must read for the non-criminal, petty criminal, or "victimless" criminal, or just for anybody that is naive about a dangerous, unforgiving system, in which ANYONE can inadvertently be caught up in for a momentary lapse of judgment.

I was in the bookstore buying some books on theology when the cover of this caught my eye while walking past the "law" section...I picked it up and it looked interesting, so I bought it.

I read it in one sitting. The writing style is nothing to brag about, but this isn't supposed to be some scholarly piece of literature -- this is a gritty, down to earth offering of practical advice. The content seemed to make sense, but there is one thing which I hated about the book. The advice offered is, essentially, stay in your house as much as possible hiding from even being seen by the police, and if you must go out, do everything in your power to dress and groom a certain way or else you're looking for trouble. And this is the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

What don't I like about this advice? I don't like it because it's true. This is basically the state of affairs in the United States (ever wonder why we have such a huge percentage of our populace behind bars?) -- every time you walk out of your doors you are taking a risk of having an encounter with members of a well-armed, well-organized gang that may, if they feel like it, arrest you for whatever reason they come up with that day. It almost seems as if the author (a former law enforcement officer himself) is essentially saying that law enforcement are psychotic, wholly corrupted, and have real and entrenched self-image and ethical problems, and they have the might and power of the State behind them.

I feel ill.

This is an essential guide for everyone--it doesn't matter what your previous encounters with law enforcement have been. Carson explains that in the world of criminal justice, it's all a numbers game: how many arrests can the beat cop make? how many tickets can he write? how many convictions can the prosecutor get? how can the city/county/state make money off the people who end up in the endless cycle of the justice system? (Don't believe me? Read Reason Magazine's story about Tracy Ingle. Unfortunately, most police officers are in the business of policing because they want to play cops and robbers; they aren't in it to help people.

The most eye opening part of this book was when he explains how someone can be inexorably caught in the "social services plantation," as he calls it:

Joe gets arrested for carrying a joint (or DUI, driving without a license, mouthing off to a cop, etcetera ad nauseum). Joe needs to have the financial resources, familial support, and a very understanding boss for the needed time off to make it to his court appearances, probation officer meetings, court ordered Narcotics/Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and he needs to make it home from all these appointments in time because he's also ordered to complete in-home detention.

One day Joe's car breaks down on the way home. He calls a tow truck. After the tow truck drops the car off at the repair shop, he calls for a taxi to take him home. He gets home an hour later than he's allowed, and fully expects to hear from his probation officer, but he's sure the tow truck bill, repair shop bill, and receipt for the taxi are enough to prove he is telling the truth. Sure enough, he gets a call, and he goes about explaining the situation. A few short minutes later, the police show up and arrest him for violating his probation. The probation officer tells him that the GPS device Joe is required to carry shows him being in the liquor store next to the repair shop, and any drinking is prohibited on probation. Joe insists he was only in the repair shop, but the probation officer doesn't believe him, and that's all that is required to put Joe in jail.

Now Joe, the kid arrested for carrying a joint in his pocket, is a part of the local jail population for the next month. Career destroyed, family starting to have enough of Joe's getting in trouble, and financially buried by the court costs, the cost of the in-home detention, the cost of probation, and the cost of missing work for the required appointments throughout the day, Joe gives up on living a "proper life" and gets mixed up with illegal activities in the jail, and the process continues. All that from an arrest for a non-violent legal infraction.

I know the above is a long anecdote, but it's a perfect illustration of one part of Carson's subtitle: "How Even a Single Arrest Could Ruin Your Life."

The only part that seems a little bit paranoid in this book is when Carson demonstrates how to make an arrest-proof car, complete with filling the glove box with expanding foam and super gluing the trunk shut. That's a bit much, but still understandable.

The best part of the book are the "Creds" he offers: Sheets of paper that have all the pertinent information a cop would ask for, along with a statement that your lawyer has told you not to say anything in those situations. That's worth the price of the book alone. I'm putting my Creds together right now.

Highly recommended for everyone--especially those in the most arrestable demographic: young, poor, minority males.

Iv been stopped by the Police 3 times in the past 2 years just for walking on the street. The third time really made me paranoid so i ordered this book.
It's a fun read and i enjoyed it..but it pretty much just tells you about common since..He mentions in the book a lot about his number 1 rule "If they can no see you, they can arrest you" (easier said then done, if you ask me) and then the rest of is just telling you to not be Rude, Use your Please and Thank yous.

The best part of this book is the details it goes into on tell you how your life can get really screwed up if you get arrested even once. And how once in the system always in the system. Even if found Not Guilty it still shows you were arrested for the crime.

I give it 3 stars. had the title not been "arrest proof yourself" and called "how to talk to the Police" or "Life in the System" i would give it 5 but i took of a couple just cuz i feel the title is a little misleading then the info inside

There's more to the book than the other reviewers are acknowledging. The advice on what to do is very specific and detailed, and as a person who has had some professional involvement with law enforcement, and who is fairly tuned-in and intuitive with cops, I still felt I learned some important advice, and to have some of my existing practices confirmed by an insider. In terms of pure amusement, the section on "jits" is especially funny and insightful. As a citizen, I found learning about the injustice and range of effects of an arrest to be sobering and scary. And seeing the world though a cop's eyes while getting some really good advice may just prove to be worth a million bucks someday. But the people who need it the most are young folks, especially guys, especially other-than-white, and the people who care about them.

We live in a police state. Digest that. Suppress your need to think you are protected by provisions in the Bill of Rights of the american constitution, that cops themselves obey the law, that you as an individual are safe from abuse by the bounty hunters of the american plantation system, or simply because you think you have committed no crime. Cops form the input system for a self-perpetuating constellation of courts, jails, prisons, probation, rehab services ... This is industrial strength oppression. Cops are employed to get you into this system, to keep all its employees working steadily. The US has a greater percentage of its population in jails than any other country. This is profitable for corporations. It will never stop.

You must not think of a cop or anyone else employed by this predatory system in the same way you think of other people. They are functionaries of a machine system. They get ego satisfactions from controlling people. For example, the police in WWII Paris helped the german GESTAPO round up french patriots and non-aryans for transport (from a site along the railway line to the east of the city) to extermination camps. During that same war, american cops rounded up japanese-americans to send to prison camps here. You get the picture; they will just do what they are told to do. If it involves brutality, no problem. Using provocation or deceit to augment his arrest totals is no moral problem for a cop. Remember, they have backup; you don't. You are virtually helpless but for the priceless bits of advice in ARREST-PROOF YOURSELF.

I bought 'Arrest-Proof Yourself' for my 16yo nephew, who just got his driver's license. Since, our family happily chipped-in half for his first vehicle, we insisted that he READ this 'MANUAL' and fill out the "CREDS", Before we handed him the KEYS. Now, at least he is Aware of the electronic plantation and how to avoid being 'Clue-less'. For me, I found about 10 to 15% new information, the rest I was already aware of, and the Fact that the Ex-Cop "Repeated" his Golden Rules, over and over, got me thinking that this would be a great Manual for Teenagers ... and it is. Of course, some this manual information will also be of some benefit for the older generations, that are are Not savvy about law enforcement procedures, civil/traffic law enforcement, etc.
Some of the other Reviewers, did a great job in pointing specific points of interest, so I won't be redundant, however, I did want to point out that Teenagers and into the mid-twenties, are one of law enforcement's 'Sweet Spots', Due To #1 Accidents, Tickets/Public Endangerment (Racing, running red lights/stop signs, etc), to DUI/DWI's, Public Intoxication, Physical Assaults (fighting), etc, etc. I think most families are aware or should be aware of the consequences, as a result of any of the above infractions; not to mention the financial burden on some families, either.
For most families, handing out this Manual to their young drivers, could also potentially save them money in the long run, on their multi-car insurance policy's.
A Must Have Manual!

I have been studying police culture and have been friends with many police. One of my close mentors and teachers was a police instructor. Where I live in SW FLA, in Collier County Naples we have the best and the worst police. Tampa is the same way.

I was a powerful pro-police advocate deeply grieved at many thousands killed in service, until patients in my 49 state practice started telling me stories similar to the police in my church about "cooking reports" and a strong bias toward arrest. Further research and interactions with the police arrest detention mill made me realize I had never met a sadistic or sociopath or overly aggressive cop in my life, and I was markedly naive.

Over the last twenty years, in working with ones I treated, interviewed, met, studied, read their ultra filtered PRO ARREST VS. STERILE FACTS reports--sometimes literal perjury reports when dealing with annoying citizens, made me realize that some are grossly impaired and not "peace officers," but are really out-of-control paramilitary.

Read a police magazine and replace police officer with army ranger, green beret or other military service person, and the articles are the same.

THE BRILLIANCE OF THIS AUTHOR IS HE HAS WORKED TO STOP AND STRONGLY ARREST REAL CRIMINALS, INCLUDING SERIOUS AND FATAL FELONIES. He might have occasionally been biased to prosecution, but he was really a "COMMON LAW" prosecutor--meaning any person with an IQ of 80 would know the act was wrong. Now with all the amazing rules, rules, rules made by lawyers [so you need lawyers to even know the law--and not just one] and who with powerful insurance companies have destroyed optimal medicine, in the same way we see the ending of American liberty, with laws, and more laws, and paper with more paper laws, so now you need a lawyer almost to simply drive to get a carton of milk.

His book is very clear and has pearls for someone who has studied these topics in the top 1% of professionals. Meaning, professions who ARE NOT LAWYERS OR PARALEGALS OR JUDGES.

His insight into citizen naive acts and police perceptions is exceptional, and this is a very real and practical book.

After putting away many REAL criminals, he now defends citizens.

I never realized the immense importance of having good defenders until I started as an expert witness in both defense and prosecution cases. Not many people, perhaps 1/100, has the income to fight the power and resources of an entire state.

I am embarrassed that many of his pearls were new to me. And feel this is required reading for young adults, and basically anyone that would like to avoid time arrested in utter hell, in which you are "detained" but really treated like scum for one or more days while they "process," you at the turtle pace only the government could do. YOU ARE ALWAYS ASSUMED GUILTY BY ALL PEOPLE UNTIL YOU GET A TOP LAWYER AND ARE RELEASED. Consider having bail cash on your possession if modest charge. Cell phone collect calls usually are not possible--so discuss this ahead of time with loved ones.

Also, consider a tape recorder and cheap video--perhaps a video phone or high quality stealth high resolution recorder--199.00 stealth perfect resolution recorded digital pen recorded of all images. If you have a poor attitude, this can be "resisting arrest" and can cause this to be a charge "added on" or you can be threatened. You will not be believed over a police officer--but your hidden tapes will not lie. DO NOT TELL POLICE YOU ARE RECORDING--THEY TAPE YOU--TWO CAN PLAY THAT GAME. And if they lie on tape, such as saying you tried to hit them, which is a profound jail charge, their career is over, and possible media and civil or other charges against them for treating frustation with add on felonies.

But make sure you know the law. You most likely do not, and the police might not know all aspects, but they know more than you, and an arrest will show up in possible future pull overs, etc. For some police the constitution does not apply. If you are a better shot than most police and have a permit to carry a firearm [because you know in 10 seconds most attacks are over], they may arrest you for carrying while they find some other reason to arrest you. Perhaps since police are shot at routinely, this is understandable. It is not legal, but understandable, and street law.

Internal Affairs, like the one here in Collier County Naples is a joke and police threats and attempts to lie on police reports are ignored. It appears only the FBI, who are massively more gifted and intelligent then most local police, are often your only real defense against corrupt actions. Other options very serious upset "detained innocent" people have done, in addition to the use of a top lawyer like this author, is the use of a private investigator recording arrests that are captured on distance video with lies or immense biases in the reports. This is not legal advice--seek it first on the topics above.

THIS IS AN UTTERLY FANTASTIC BOOK.

AND SINCE PAPER LAWS WILL GET YOU ARRESTED, AND SO MANY LAWS ARE NOT OBVIOUS, YOU NEED TO BE ON GUARD AS POLICE ARE MAKING HIGH VOLUME MILL ARRESTS, AND DUMPING MASSIVE NUMBERS INTO "DETENTION" FOR "PROCESSING" IN HELL HOLES WITH STAFF THAT ARE SOMETIMES TOTAL PROFESSIONALS OF SUPERIOR CHARACTER. WHILE OTHERS YOU MIGHT MEET IN YOUR "DETENTION" OVER MANY HOURS TO DAYS, HAVE A MODEST INTELLECT AND FAIR STABILITY AND "ARREST" QUICK AS A KNEE JERK REFLEX. THEY ARE HUNTERS AND NOT PEACE OFFICERS.

YOU MAY MEET UP WITH A SADISTIC ARRESTING OFFICER OR A SADIST IN THE HOLDING ARREST AREA--BASICALLY GUILTY UNTIL FINISHED BEING "PROCESSED."

IN THESE HOLDING AREAS, A FEW VERY DANGEROUS CRIMINALS ARE PRESENT--YOU WILL BE HOUSED WITH THEM.

This book covered a profound number of real world issues that are very useful. If he is off in a couple law issues per a few lawyers, or slightly overstates to get heard--who cares? I have heard the issues and experiences he mentions from many solid ethical people and he knows what he is talking about.

This is a home run.

A final warning, we have researched the few field sobriety tests used and "approved" by non-neurology experts and which non-neurologists, police and sheriffs, believe to have merit.

Field sobriety testing is utter junk science, and the research shows most police and even state troopers guess Mr. Smith or Ms. Jones is impaired when they are stone sober. Police are not advanced neurologists.

Roughly 75% of my patients fail field sobriety testing, and really this testing is a way to make you like stupid. I personally cannot do these tests in the last 19 years, with my increased age and poor balance. Over 500 things undermine these tests and no police officer in the USA knows even 100 of them.

Again, this book is a diamond. It is profoundly practical.