UPDATED (10:15 a.m. March 25, 2015)

While most of us know it’s a good idea to be polite when stopped by police, just as many could use a primer on our legal rights in such situations.

That’s why Port Townsend defense attorney Sam Feinson spent an hour on March 10 reviewing the law and taking questions from more than a dozen people, young and old, at the Boiler Room in downtown Port Townsend.

“It’s really critical for people to understand what their rights are when interacting with law enforcement, but also how to effectively use those rights,” said 32-year-old Feinson, who came to Port Townsend in April 2014 to be one-half of Faber Feinson PLLC. “It was clear to me that there was a need here. I think there is a need, generally, in any city in the U.S. for people to know what to do when interacting with police.”

Feinson graduated from Seattle University’s School of Law in 2012 after moving to Washington in 2005. He has worked as a public defender in Washington. He has also worked on state and federal felony cases as well as class-action lawsuits.

Feinson said he grew up in a small, “overwhelmingly white” New Hampshire town.

“Young people and people living at or below the poverty line were those having the most frequent interactions with police and those least likely to know their rights,” he said. “I wanted to target a younger demographic, such as teenagers, and I thought [the Boiler Room] would be a good place to do that.”

Feinson said he’s not sure if he’ll offer such a presentation again, but if he does, he hopes to include a local police officer and expand discussion to other topics, such as landlord-tenant issues, immigration issues and parents’ rights related to student discipline in public schools.

PRIVACY IN WASHINGTON

Washington is one of 10 states whose constitutions protect privacy more explicitly than does the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment. It is also one of 12 states that do not allow police to conduct DUI (driving under the influence) checkpoints.

Washington police cannot dig through someone’s trash. They also cannot search a motorist’s vehicle upon arrest, unless a search is necessary to preserve officer safety.

“Those are some strong protections,” Feinson said. “In any other state, police can root through your trash looking for anything incriminating. And [in Washington], without probable cause to think they’ll find something incriminating, police can’t search your car.”

CONTACT, SUSPICION

Public interactions with police can include casual conversations, questioning, investigative detentions and arrests. For each, police need certain levels of suspicion, which include a hunch, reasonable suspicion and probable cause.

“There are real shades of gray in all of this,” said Feinson, describing levels of suspicion as existing on a spectrum. “If the officer doesn’t have a warrant, the more intrusive their actions, the greater level of suspicion they need.”

To arrest for a felony, an officer needs probable cause or enough evidence to lead a reasonable person to believe a felony has been or is being committed.

To arrest for a misdemeanor, an officer must witness the offense, except in certain cases, such as underage drinking, driving under the influence, domestic violence and assault, among others, which are spelled out in RCW 10.31.100.

“An arrest is the worst interaction you can have with an officer in terms of your rights,” said Feinson. “That’s where the strongest safeguards apply and that’s where there’s the highest possibility for the abuse of your rights. But most of your interactions with police are going to be something short of an arrest, like casual conversations, questions that go beyond casual conversations and investigative detentions.”

An investigative detention requires reasonable suspicion and allows an officer to conduct a pat-down if they have a justifiable belief the subject is armed and dangerous.

Without probable cause, an officer may detain someone only for as long as it takes to reasonably investigate a crime and may only use a reasonable amount of force, Feinson said. If an officer has reason to think a person is a flight risk, they can command that person to sit down or stand in place.

In fact, a traffic stop is considered an investigative detention. Feinson said police often use traffic stops to investigate other crimes, such as DUI.

“Officers use ‘a tail light out’ or ‘didn’t put on their blinker’ or ‘seemed to be driving kind of funny’ to investigate DUIs after the sun’s gone down,” Feinson said. “People are committing traffic infractions all over Water Street all day. People make bad turns, they drive over the center line, etc. But those are the kinds of things that get enforced after dark when officers think all the drunk people are out driving.”

HOW TO BEHAVE, RESPOND

In any interaction with police, be polite, be respectful and invoke your rights, Feinson said.

“Police are trained to de-escalate situations, but it’s important citizens know how to do that as well,” he said. “When you invoke your rights, the way to make sure they are respected is to also be respectful. ‘Sir’ and ‘ma’am’ are sometimes magic words.

“Police are hardworking people with difficult jobs who are sometimes wrong about stuff. If they are, the time to deal with that is after the fact. You will never get anywhere by arguing with a police officer over whether they are applying the law correctly.”

Remaining calm is the first step to positive interactions with police, Feinson said.

“When you get pulled over, sometimes the adrenaline can start pumping,” he said. “It’s important to know what’s a command and what’s a request. If you don’t know if something is a command, you can always ask the officer. If they ask you a question, you can respond with a question. You are always free to decline a request.”

That, he said, goes for any interaction with police.

“My suggestion is to always decline a request, unless there is a really good reason you might have to stay and talk to an officer,” Feinson said. “Don’t answer questions unless you are reporting a crime or need help. Don’t answer questions like ‘Where did you just come out of?’ or ‘Do you know why I’m stopping you tonight?’ Those are questions with no good answers.”

Feinson suggested learning some go-to questions and statements for interacting with police, such as “Is that a command or a request?” “Am I free to go?” and “I don’t answer questions without an attorney present.”

“If you are a witness to a crime, talk to the police, unless they start asking questions about what you were doing,” he said.

Everyone has a right to remain silent, Feinson said, but state and federal courts have found a person must invoke that right.

When asked if unwillingness to answer an officer’s questions could be construed as probable cause and used against someone in court, Feinson said, “Never, so long as you are invoking your right to have an attorney present.”

SEARCHES

“On top of that, don’t consent to searches,” he said, suggesting a go-to response of “I do not consent to searches.” “There’s an entire game that officers are trained in to try to get you to give up your right to be free from a search, to get you to consent to a search and get you to elicit information. If an officer is asking to do something – like asking to look in your bag, asking to enter your home, asking to look in the trunk of your car – that probably means he or she does not have the level of suspicion necessary to go in there. Otherwise, they don’t need to ask.”

Officers’ requests often come off as pretty reasonable, Feinson said.

“Most searches happen because people allow them to happen,” he said. “The real key here is to not let things an officer says influence your decision to invoke your rights.”

If an officer does not have a warrant or consent, exceptional circumstances can allow a search, such as spotting contraband or evidence of a crime in plain view, pursuing a fleeing suspect or preventing imminent danger to others, for example.

If an officer does ask to search, Feinson said, it’s best to remain calm.

“The thing to do is not to get angry, it’s not to get upset,” he said. “If they’re not asking and they’re going to find something that’s not good for you and they don’t have a legal right to search, it’s going to come out in the wash; it’s something for an attorney to deal with later.”

POLICE RESPONSE

Port Townsend Police Department Detective Luke Bogues echoed Feinson, saying that any disagreement with an officer’s decisions or actions should be addressed in court. The police were not invited to the March 10 discussion.

“He’s absolutely right,” Bogues told the Leader. “Nobody should get into a confrontation on the side of the road with anybody, especially a police officer. The way you interact with the police tends to be the way you’re going to be treated, as well. If you think a police officer is doing something wrong, take it up with the court afterward. Nobody’s going to win in an argument on the side of the road.”

Contrary to popular belief, Bogues said, police are proven wrong in court about half the time. In fact, it’s a key piece of the job to stay up to date on case law, which is why he and his fellow officers keep up with a monthly law enforcement digest of such case law prepared by the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, he said.

“We appreciate what Mr. Feinson is doing,” Bogues said. “Too many people get their knowledge of the law from TV, and that makes our job harder and his job harder.”

Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Stanko said deputies are human and inevitably bring personal baggage to their work.

“You and I hire them and expect them to come to us and help solve our problems fairly and equitably,” Stanko said. “My job is to make sure those officers have the tools to do that.”

Deputies who are connected to and invested in their communities stand a better chance of sympathizing with those they interact with while in uniform, Stanko said. Getting deputies better connected with the community is one of Stanko’s top goals for the department.

“When deputies confront a belligerent citizen, their training must kick in,” he said. “They are trained to keep themselves under control. If they can do that, it will help de-escalate any situation. We can’t control what the other person does, but morals and basic courtesy should kick in for all of us.”

REACTIONS

O’Neill Louchard, 71, who has lived in Port Townsend for 26 years, said she attended Feinson’s presentation out of a general interest in police issues.

She said she is concerned by how police interact with young people, elderly people, homeless people, people with disabilities and people with mental health issues.

“In this day and age, I think our police should be aware of certain issues and situations,” said Louchard, whose father was a police officer and whose former husband was also a police officer. “We want to make sure our police understand mental health issues and elder issues, for example.”

She said she learned to keep her license and registration handy, keep her seatbelt buckled and turn on the dome light when it's dark outside.

“I also learned a lot from this about invoking my rights,” she said.

Max Richter, 31, who has lived in Port Townsend for five years, said these issues are nothing new to him, but he was interested to learn that Washington’s privacy protections are stricter than those in the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment.

He also said Feinson’s message about being polite to police was important.

“Basic respect is a two-way street,” he said.

Rachel Lee, 24, who has lived in Port Townsend for 20 years, said the presentation helped her better understand an incident in which she was arrested as a minor.

Lee, who was 16 at the time, said she had refused to answer an officer’s questions pursuant to an investigation of a boy smoking marijuana nearby until her parents arrived. Upon arrest, an officer told her she had obstructed the investigation.

“They were very aggressive with me and with my parents when they arrived,” she said. “If I had known better, I would have filed a report after it happened.”

Such aggravation goes both ways, Lee said.

“I’ve seen plenty of helpful, respectful police interactions, especially here in Port Townsend compared to anywhere else,” she said. “I’ve also seen situations where police were maybe too aggressive with children.”

Lee said she’s seen others offering up more information than is necessary and getting themselves into more trouble than they might have otherwise.

“I think it’s important for us to know what we should offer up to police,” she said, “and what we can refuse to offer up.”