What should I do when confronted by police?

1. Always be calm and cool.  Always control your words, tone of voice and body language.
2. You have the right to remain silent.  This is arguably one of your most important rights and often the least exercised.  Do not talk.
3. You have the right to refuse searches.
4. You do not have to let police into your home without a search warrant.
5. Police can lie to you.  Do not be tricked or intimidated into waiving your rights.
6. Determine if you are being detained by police or if you are free to leave.
7. Do not expose yourself to police by being a public nuisance.
8. Do not run from police.
9. State your rights, but never touch police or physically resist.
10. Report police misconduct.

These rules are taken from www.flexyourrights.org.  They have an excellent 40-minute DVD entitled 10 Rules for Dealing with Police that can be viewed on YouTube.  They also have a similar DVD entitled BUSTED: The Citizens Guide to surviving Police Encounters.