In so far as you may be a resident, a citizen, and a constituent of a city, county, or state within the country of The United States, you really need to understand a very, very simple thing:
Do not talk to the police. Ever. About anything.
I know what MY visceral reaction to that statement was… and I can guess what yours might be and, if we shared in it, we were (and are) both wrong in our understanding of things.
Regent University – related article link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1998119
It’s unfortunate that the primary presenter talks so fast, but then, he had a lot to say and he was clearly passionate about the need for his audience (law students) to understand the “why” of it all.
The professor in the above video says (in the article linked as caption) that, if you must speak, there is only one thing worth saying:
On the advice of my lawyer, I respectfully decline to answer on the basis of the Fifth Amendment, which—according to the United States Supreme Court—protects everyone, even innocent people, from the need to answer questions if the truth might be used to help create the misleading impression that they were somehow involved in a crime that they did not commit.
I happen to find that a very clear, concise, and completely accurate statement. Should I ever find myself in such circumstances, I will use it.