For anyone else in this 'orrible situation, it's always best to say NO COMMENT to the cops at least until you get to see a solicitor. That means even if you think 'you have nothing to hide'.

If you are one of them, or know one of them, please get in touch with the Legal defence and Monitoring Group ( http://www.ldmg.org.uk/) which will be launching a Defence Campaign in the New Year

If you fear you may be arrested as a result of identification by CCTV, FIT or press photography;

DONT panic. Press photos are not necessarily conclusive evidence, and just because the police have a photo of you doesn’t mean they know who you are.
DONT hand yourself in. The police often use the psychological pressure of knowing they have your picture to persuade you to ‘come forward’. Unless you have a very pressing reason to do otherwise, let them come and find you, if they know who you are.
DO get rid of your clothes. There is no chance of suggesting the bloke in the video is not you if the clothes he is wearing have been found in your wardrobe. Get rid of ALL clothes you were wearing at the demo, including YOUR SHOES, your bag, and any distinctive jewellery you were wearing at the time. Yes, this is difficult, especially if it is your only warm coat or decent pair of boots. But it will be harder still if finding these clothes in your flat gets you convicted of violent disorder.
DONT assume that because you can identify yourself in a video, a judge will be able to as well. ‘That isn’t me’ has got many a person off before now.
DO keep away from other demos for a while. The police will be on the look-out at other demos, especially student ones, for people they have put on their ‘wanted’ list. Keep a low profile.
DO think about changing your appearance. Perhaps now is a good time for a make-over. Get a haircut and colour, grow a beard, wear glasses. It isn’t a guarantee, but may help throw them off the scent.
DO keep your house clean. Get rid of spray cans, demo related stuff, and dodgy texts / photos on your phone. Don’t make life easy for them by having drugs, weapons or anything illegal in the house.
DO get the name and number of a good lawyer you can call if things go badly. The support group has the names of recommended lawyers on their site. Take a bit of time to read up on your rights in custody, especially the benefits of not commenting in interview.
DO be careful who you speak about this to. Admit your involvement in criminal damage / disorder ONLY to people you really trust.
DO try and control the nerves and panic. Waiting for a knock on the door is stressful in the extreme, but you need to find a way to get on with business as normal. Otherwise you’ll be serving the sentence before you are even arrested.

You are new here, aren't you? You might be very intelligent but you are certainly naive. If you don't know how to talk to cops then say nothing. Assume the cops are the most dishonest, disingenuous people you have ever met, they even admit that as 'anything that you say will be used against you', whether it is an irrelvant detail or a claim to innocence is irrelevant, it will all be used against you. It is safe to assume that even if the cops know you are innocent then they will still try to convict you. So never confirm any fact, if you want to speak to them then speak obliquely. What you should've said, if you were experienced enough to speak at all, would'[ve been "Half the people in that video could be me, but I never threw that firework'.

Most people convict themselves in interview, and even the smuggest of us says things we shouldn't even if we are trying our best not to, or let's something slip that we falsely assume is irrelvant to the police. If you have experienced all this, then there can be some advantages in talking to the police, but if you are so innocent that you think your innocence defends you from police injustice, then repeat the mantra "No comment" until enlightenment occurs.

Conspiracy to Conspire to...
It's the most bogus of charges, the renamed SUS laws. There shouldn't be any trials without juries, and there shouldn't be any juries who aren't told about Jury Nullification. The elite again have convinced us that the law is what they claim it is, but since the Magna Carta that is a lie.

cos its worth repeating over and over again: never say anything - not at interview, not at the custody desk, not anywhere. NO COMMENT. It is NEVER in your interest to say anything to a police officer. Police are not friends so do not feel obliged to talk to them, EVER. They will record everything and use it against you or against others.

you dont have to say no comment though that is definitely an option, but one the police will try to use against you in court. If you have aspects of your defense (such as that couldn't have been me, I left ages before you said I did that) which you would like to use in court, and you say no comment, they can argue you have made up this defense after the fact, otherwise you would've said it in the interiew.

One thing you can do, which seems to work well, is when you meet your solicitor before the interview (and refuse to take part in the interview if you have not spoken privately to your lawyer before), write a statement of whatever you want to say, your version of events, or whatever. Then during the interview, inform them you will not answer any of their questions as you already have said everything you wish to in your statement. They will then ask you many questions to which you can answer no comment knowing that it will not harm your future defense

previous comments are correct. do not get blokey with the cops, they are only trying to get you to say something. Do not admit anything. Do not ANSWER them anything. Only tell them what you want to say

Here's the freebeagles line on interviews:

3.5 Interviews

Do not agree to be interviewed without a solicitor present. Any interview will be tape-recorded and you are entitled to have a solicitor present free of charge, regardless of your income. These safeguards exist to prevent the police from fabricating evidence or being too aggressive.

Before questioning you the police must caution you along the following lines: “You have the right to remain silent, but it may harm your defence if you fail to mention now anything which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be used against you.”

You have the right to remain silent and you should exercise this right during interview and at all other times. If the police sense that you are scared or in any way unsure, they may use any number of tricks to try to get you talking. Eg:
The sooner you make a statement the sooner you can go home.
If you don’t make a statement then you won’t get bail.
If you’re innocent then you have nothing to hide.
We just want to hear your side of the story.

These are all just tricks to get you talking. The only reason you are being interviewed is because the police are seeking more evidence to charge you with an offence. The interview is for their benefit, not yours.

One trick they sometimes use is to say that the main activists – “the ringleaders” – won’t risk getting arrested themselves and are using you and letting you take the rap. Don’t be taken in by it. This is a classic ploy adopted by the police to turn people against each other in order to gain evidence. They have arrested you, because the arresting officer thinks you are guilty of an offence. The custody sergeant has authorized your detention in order to gain more evidence to secure a conviction by questioning you.

Anything you say outside the taped interview may also be used in evidence against you – for example an informal chat in the police car after you have been arrested. The police often try to engage you in friendly conversation as they are taking your fingerprints or DNA – make no mistake, this is an attempt to gather evidence and you should not be taken in by it. If you are in any doubt about this, have a look at news archives on the internet and you will find any number of cases in which evidence was produced of what a suspect said outside the interview room.
You should also be aware that the police sometimes bug police cells and any evidence obtained in this way is admissible in court.

3.6 Right to silence and the “Adverse Inference”

Despite what the police or anyone else might tell you, the right to silence has not been abolished. A magistrate or jury may take in to account the fact that you remained silent during interview and draw an “adverse inference” from this (ie this could count towards evidence that you are guilty). Because of this solicitors sometimes advise suspects to make a short statement to the police. Our advice however is to remain silent for the following reasons.
Firstly, the police are only interviewing you because they are looking for evidence in order to charge you. They cannot charge you simply on the basis that you refused to make a statement.

Secondly by talking to the police, you may not only implicate yourself in crime, but also others as well. Your interview could lead to other people being arrested and charged. They may then make statements implicating you.Your solicitor may not care what happens to other activists, but you should.

Thirdly, most people – even experienced activists - find that once they have started talking it is very difficult to stop. If you try to lie you may soon end up tying yourself in knots and making matters worse.

And its worth adding, if they think they have enough evidence to secure a conviction they won't even interview you.

So, if you haven't blown your chances, I would say that the fact they interviewed you is encouraging. Even more so that they went through the rigmarole of the five o'clock knock etc. to soften you up. Also they may know full well it wasn't you, but by putting the frighteners on you hope you will incriminate someone else.

No comment every time!

I trust your first taste of repression whets your appetite to resist.

All the best.

NEVER, EVER, admit to anything that the police accuse you of. Not even of being the person in the said video.

I have also been in a similar situation - I was advised to make no comment. So the arrest for 'violen disorder' was reduced to a caution for affray (which my solicitor still thought too severe).

Anyway, good luck - but don't admit anything in the future!

the pigs love to do this to gather evidence and trap people into unknowingly implicate themselves or their friends. keep calm and dont stress. they want to make you think twice about going on demos/actions and the first few times it can be scary but you get used to it. take a book on actions as some times they let you take it in to your cell and you can also ask for shoes and a jumper so you can get some nice clobber too. but always say no comment. dont let the pigs get you down. love and riots.

I would like to say thanks to the poster for putting forward this account. Its not clear if this was your first time being arrested but if it was, then it is a strong thing to do.

While I'm completely in accordance with all the posts that always "no comment" in the police station I am really wary of those (on this post and others) which are arrogant and knowing. Its great we have the benefit of this knowledge and experience - it certainly helped me when I first got arrested - but simply shouting without setting out why is not helpful. This is why the post from freebeagles was useful - it explained why no comment is important. Its a bit hard on those people who have not ever been in a position of coming up against the state like this. Otherwise all you are doing is coming across as if the only people who should break the law or go on demos are the "experienced militants".

Please, acknowledge that people are pretty shocked by the violence of being arrested and give encouragement/explanation. It is all self-evident once you've been arrested, but if you've not had that experience or a group around you with that sort of experience then its not necessarily that obvious. Being sneering and criticising is the best way to drive away people who have been potentially further radicalised by the experience.

The police often require you to identify yourself in any video or images.
in order to charge you a "s1-11 form" must be submitted to CPS, this is the only reason you are questioned to obtain these answers, not to explain its all some big mistake, the police dont do innocent !
On this form they need the answers to 3 questions to proceed.

1: Was the person at the scene :
2. Has this person confirmed they were anyway involved in the incident:
3: Has the Person admitting to the possible charge: yes or No

how they obtain this:
1: Was the person at the scene :
By Asking you where you were at such and such time , or by showing you pictures and asking you to identify yourself, by obtaining any other evidence such as mobile phone records or pictures you took from your computer
2. Has this person confirmed they were anyway involved in the incident:
Tell us Your side, "soft soap story time", tell us how you were not doing anything wrong, this establishes you WERE involved in a incident.
3: Are they admitting to the charge: yes or No
If Yes : you get nailed, If No then the 2 answers above will be used to formulate a case.
You must always stay cool remember they have only one Aim, to nail you, they only "do" +++ results and never forget that the police do everything by the book, but as soon as you do it by yours they accuse you of trying it on, been awkward, coming the **** but always remember they never put their book down, stick to yours and shut your mouth !

You're in the wrong place at the wrong time and despite my wise words to remain peaceful when in the presence of those we pay to keep the peace, you are suddenly in the back of a Police Van.

Now it's going to get interesting. Many avenues are open to you. Consider them wisely as you are driven to the Police station.

Firstly, golden number one rule. Remain peaceful. The people who now hold you are bigger than you and there is more of them than you. No one ever escapes from a custody suite by violence or shouting. Plenty escape by simply knowing their rights. Do not resist. Do not struggle. You are going to use your brain, not your brawn.

Contrary to what your surroundings may tell you, you are very much in control. Be confident.

Firstly, the custody officer will want to see you. His job is to protect you, so make sure he is qualified. Politely ask to see his warrant card. You have now established in one question that you are not an ordinary customer. You have made it clear to him that you know the system and your rights. His attitude towards you will change immediately. You are going to be challenge to him.

Now shut up. Simply do not say another word. There is a process to be played out and you being a wise guy is not going to change that. You will be searched. I never carry ID, credit cards, driving licence, nothing. I rarely carry a mobile phone and keep a special blank pay as you go sim for when I am out and about as Old Holborn.

You may have me in custody, but you have no idea who you have and I'm not going to tell you. Assuming you were not arrested for stabbing the Queen, all you have to worry about is time.

You may now begin your demands. Tea please. Lots of it. Every ten minutes. A drink of water. Some food. Some paper and a pen. You are cold. You are hot. I'd like to see the duty doctor. I have a headache. All done with the utmost politeness.

Expect hours and hours to pass. You are sitting in a cell because you will not cooperate with them. You will not answer their questions. You have done nothing. Demand to see a solicitor. Immediately. Do not be aggressive. Remember, you are in control.

They will take your photo and your fingerprints plus a sample of your dna via a cheek swab. Again, they no idea who it belongs to. You on the other hand want the name and number of every officer anywhere near you. And more tea.

Now they will ask you more questions and tell you what offences you have committed. Shut up. Being open and honest and hoping to talk your way out is not going to work. It never does. It just makes it easier for them to process you, tick some boxes and file some reports, hit some targets and go back to reading the paper. More tea please. And the doctor again, I feel unwell. Remember, the Police are not the slightest bit interested whether you are innocent or guilty, they are just looking to charge you with a crime. Any crime It is their JOB.

Remember, the Police are allowed to lie to you. They will tell you awful things will happen to you. They will tell you about how they deal with "awkward customers " like you. Simply smile. And demand more tea. The police have HUGE discretion over who actually is charged and who is quietly released with no further questions.

If they really have evidence, they will use it. If they don't, just opening your mouth may well provide them with all they need. So don't.

The above scenario will see you in custody for anything up to 24 hours until, quite literally, they are bored with you. So what, you have all the time in the world. You have no charge, no record and no bruises. Remember, your name and address are useful to them. So don't give them.

firstly do stick with the no comment line in interviews as a general rule... UNLESS you have been denied your right to counsel (contrary to popular belief you don't actually have a right to a phone call made by yourself but they should let someone know where you are if you ask them to especially if you are under 18 or a 'vulnerable adult')

Secondly if you have not been allowed to speak to a solicitor then wait until you're in an interview room being taped then ask for a solicitor... repeatedly... "I will not answer any questions until I have spoken to a solicitor" simply because it is very difficult to draw an adverse inference from someone who has implied that they will answer questions provided they can speak to a solicitor first and it may provide you with the opportunity to bring an action against the police yourself at a later date. (They can't lose those tapes and they have to let you have access to them)

Thirdly learn the Police And Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) like the back of your hand because this covers the way they can arrest you and how they can collect evidence... if they breech it you may be able to get evidence excluded if it comes to trial or if it's sufficiently serious you may be able to get the entire case thrown out (and possibly bring a case for wrongful arrest against them) if you think it has been breeched ask your solicitor to investigate it.

Fourthly do not do anything stupid like telling your counsel that you did whatever you are accused of even if they're a friend or family member. They CANNOT defend you if they know you are guilty.

Fifthly if you're arrested outside office hours don't let them try and tell you that it's too late/early to get a solicitor... the vast majority of criminal solicitors have out of hours numbers even if you are planning on changing solicitors at a later date take the one they offer you until you can get hold of the one you want. (although you can request a new solicitor if you don't like the one you've been given)

... only interview you under arrest to gather evidence to hand to the CPS in order to lock you up. They don't interview you to eliminate you from their inquiries.

You don't have to prove your innocence to the police but they can use anything you say to help the CPS prosecute you. The only people you have to prove anything to is a judge and/or jury so save anything you've got to say until you are in court.

NO COMMENT!

..that its wise to remember that the police are as individuals, ordinary geezers... and dont fall into a 'them and us' mentality. I was arrested in Hyde Park for cannabis possession the other day whilst passing through London. The vibe from the experienced officers was very seige mentality...trying to put me in a catagorisation...thats not going to be helpful. Just chat normally...and obviously only tell them what you want them to hear. Ok I know that it can be difficult to break down the barriers in this way...but the police need to realise that, I, us, are human beings and not 'issues' or subhumans.

You get bad cops and worse cops. They have to be a little screwed to want to be a cop but the training and their experience makes them worse than they were when they enrolled. The most genuine cop should be treated like the worst of them. Judge them by their deeds not their words.

I had the opposite experience from you, I was raided on a serious but false allegation. They didn't have a warrant, but they had enough robocops deployed to suggest a warrant wouldn't have been much of a delay for them given the circumstances, so I negotiated them free entry as long as they didn't prosecute or investigate anything irrelevant to their stated reason for the search. That may seem stupid to the folk who say 'all cops are bastards', but lives depended on it so I had no choice. During the search they could have done me for possession or incitement or maybe even terrorism but they stuck to their word and left. The mass of cops perform their assigned task amorally and those retaining a moral sense stop when they have done the bare minimum. An anology is the fact that a majority of conscripted soldiers deliberately aim to miss. Even most cops don't want to be bastards, but you have to treat them as such when they accost you, the way they'd act if their fellow police interviewed them on an unjust charge. In general, it is safer donating a kidney to them than confirming anything in interview.

loop, though that is the wording of the warning (anything you don't say and later rely on in court blah blah), your advice is loopy. I like the comments that are about turning the tables and regaining your power in the cop shop, but it is still their territory and it's best to wait till afterwards, when you and your solicitor of choice (not the duty) are in good mind and at ease, to figure it out - do it in a police station and you'll end up inadvertantly incriminating yourself.

Tree, do NOT chat normally - that is exactly how you dob yourself in. Of course they are individuals, but they are in and part of a system that is out to fuck you up. Doesn't matter if they are loving parents are kind hearted in other situations. End of.