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

Dale C. Carson and Wes Denham (View Bio)
Chicago Review Press, 2007

This is an essential "how not to" guide by two criminal defense lawyers.  Wiith wry humor and horrifying examples of what can happen to more or less innocent people who happen to get in the face of the cops, Carson and Denham explain what to say, and how to behave, in the presence of police that will minimize the chances of getting arrested and becoming a permanent resident of the dreaded "electronic plantation."  Getting arrested can lead to permanent disqualification from jobs, financing, and education.  Learn the basic tricks cops use to trick people into incriminating themselves and what, if you get in trouble, you need to do to avoid add-on charges.  This is an urgent and eye-opening book about the injustices that can easily occur if you neglect the authors' advice—everyman's guide to criminal justice at street level. 

"Carson has been both a cop and a criminal defense attorney. Here, he puts his years of experience into a "how-not-to" book. He feels that most people who get arrested aren't the worst criminals; they are just the most "clueless"—small-time offenders who make bad decisions and end up in what he calls the 'electronic plantation.' Now that computers make it ever so easy to track people, getting arrested, even if you're not ultimately convicted, can and will come back to haunt you. Carson has three golden rules: 'If cops can't see you, they can't arrest you,' 'Keep your dope at home,' and 'Give cops your name and basic info, then shut the f*@# up!'.... Carson uses a blunt style to make these points, but it's a style that is sure to hit home with his target audience—the underclass. And he does make it plain that while there are many middle-class and white-collar criminals, the police tend to focus their patrols in bad neighborhoods. Those most likely to be in situations where they or those they know might get arrested will get the most out of this book, but even readers in more lofty areas with an interest in law enforcement could find much to discuss" — School Library Journal