Police Detectives are police officers who investigate crimes that require more than observation of the crime. In Columbus Ohio detectives investigate almost exclusively felony criminal allegations.
If a detective is investigating it is normally a serious allegation and you should consult with a criminal defense attorney before you talk. Detectives do not wait for people to get a defense attorney before they begin investigations, so it is normal for a person to be contacted by a detective wanting to talk.
You should not talk to a police detective without an attorney present. If you do so it waives your 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination and leaves you vulnerable to making incriminatory statements that police and prosecutors will use against you.
If it is possible, get a detective’s business card with their name and phone number. Take it straight to a defense attorney and make a plan.
Detectives can lie as a tactic to elicit answers from a subject. They can lie about what happened, who was involved, and what will happen in court. You should always have a defense attorney with you when you speak to a detective.
Detectives are police officers and they have authority to immediately arrest you. Detectives are police officers who are assigned to cases that need more investigation than simply observing a criminal or traffic offense. They can arrest you, issue a warrant for your arrest, and interrogate you once they arrest you.
If you tell a detective that you want your lawyer, they have to discontinue their investigation. If the detective already has probable cause to arrest you, they may do so. They may simply continue their investigation without your statement.
A Detective Can Issue a Warrant if You Will Not Talk to Them (or if you do talk to them). Detectives only need probable cause that a crime occurred to issue a warrant to arrest or take you into custody immediately. Probable cause is not enough evidence to prove a case once it enters the courts though. For that reason, a detective might want to talk to you to see if they can make the case stronger when you talk to them. That means if you won’t talk to a detective they may try to persuade you to talk by threatening to arrest you. They can do this. Demand your lawyer be present before you answer any questions.
A detective may want to talk to you for anything. Detectives may want to talk for any of the following reasons:
Detectives want to talk to people for many different reasons including the following:
1. Figuring out if a crime occurred
2. Establishing if a person(s) was involved in a crime
3. Establishing how a crime occurred including the timeline in which it occurred
4. Trying to get statements that further incriminate the subject(s) of an investigation
5. Trying to see if other people than the suspect were involved and should also be investigated
6. Take your Cell phone and physical evidence you may have with you
7. Collecting DNA samples as evidence
If you do not talk to a detective who wants to talk then you are missing an opportunity to put yourself in a better position during a criminal investigation. You may also be making the best decision by not talking because you may incriminate yourself if you talk. You need a defense attorney to understand what the circumstances are before you talk to the police.