Examples of lies police can legally tell suspects

There are certainly situations in which police officers will find it advantageous to lie. They may be attempting to get someone to confess to a crime, for instance, and lying can be used as a form of manipulation.

But what types of lies are they going to tell? Suspects should be wary that the police are not obligated to be honest, and so they need to watch out for certain common tactics. With this in mind, here are a few examples.

Possession of related evidence

First of all, the police may lie about the evidence they have. They could say that there are phone records implicating someone in a crime, for instance, or surveillance footage from a nearby security camera. They may also claim that they found fingerprints or even shoe prints.

Failing a polygraph test

One potential issue is if a suspect takes a polygraph test, or a lie detector test. If the suspect tells their story and the police officer wrongly claims that they failed the lie detector test, the suspect may believe that they are going to be convicted. In reality, they passed the test because they were telling the truth.

Statements from other suspects

Finally, there are situations in which the police may have multiple suspects. They may tell one person that the other one already admitted to the crime. They usually split up suspects and do not have to be honest about what they say to either one.

This helps to show how complicated a criminal case can get. Those who are involved need to understand all their legal options.