If you come into contact with the police, it’s a good idea to make sure you stay calm and respectful. Being aggressive or violent with police will probably make things worse even if you have done nothing wrong. You can get into trouble just for behaving badly with the police. For example, if you swear at or even swear around the police, or if you try to dodge police while they are trying to arrest you, you could be charged for doing these things.
If you feel like you’re being treated unfairly by them, there are ways to fix this later on by getting legal help. It’s a good idea to take notes of what’s happened either with a pen and paper or in your phone so you can better remember these events later.
Sometimes the police can ask you to leave a place and not come back for up to 24 hours. This is called being told to ‘move on.’ You can be told to move on from a place by the police if they have a reason to think you:
Sometimes you have to give your name and address like if:
It is against the law to give the police a fake name or address. You could be fined or imprisoned for up to 12 months!
Besides from giving the police your name and address in the situations above, you do not need to say anything else. The officer must tell you that you don’t need to answer their questions, but that anything you do or say can be used later as evidence (proof that you did something) in court.
If you think the police don’t have a good reason to ask for your details, or to search you, it is a good idea to ask for their name, rank, and place of duty. You should write this down so you don’t forget.
You can also politely ask them questions such as “Can you tell me why you need my name and address?”
You can’t be forced to attend a police interview unless you are under arrest. If the police ask you to go to the station with them, you should ask if you’re under arrest. If you aren’t, you don’t have to go.
Before the police interview you, they have to tell you that you can call a friend or family member and a lawyer. Also, you will normally be allowed to have a parent or carer with you.
Police cannot keep you to ask questions for longer than 6 hours, unless a senior officer has a valid reason.
You also have the right to remain silent. This means you don’t have to say anything in an interview except your name and address.
If the police don’t arrest you and they don’t have a warrant (a warrant is special permission from a court), they can still search you if they reasonably think you have something that’s related to a crime.
If the police have a warrant, they can stop and search you, your car or your house.
There are two main types of searches, frisk and strip searches.
It’s a good idea to cooperate with a search and you can ask questions such as “Can you tell me why you’re searching me?” If you think the police have behaved inappropriately, you can make a complaint afterwards rather than stand there and argue with them.
A police officer can pat down or run a metal detector over the outside of your clothes to feel for guns, knives, drugs or other items. The police may also check your outer clothes and any pockets for the items listed above.
A police officer can ask you to remove all or some of your clothes but they can’t search private areas of your body like your anus or vagina. Strip searches have to be carried out by a person of the same sex as you, and they can only keep you as long as they need to do the search.
The police can take and keep any alcohol that they think you’ve been drinking in public and also any cigarettes they find on you, if they think you’re under 18.
A police officer can also take anything that belongs to you if you’re drunk and they think it could endanger your health or safety or any other person, including drugs.
If the police take something of yours that you think is not illegal for you to have, you can ask the police for it back. If the police do not return it to you, you probably will need to ask for it back if you go to court.
If the police have taken your stuff and you’re not sure what to do, please contact us here.
The police can arrest you if they think:
The police can also arrest you if they have a warrant (a warrant is special permission from a court).
The police have to always tell you why you have been arrested. If they don’t, it’s a good idea to ask.
A police officer can use as much force as they need to arrest you or stop you escaping, but nothing more. This means that if you cooperate the police can’t use force, but the more you resist arrest the more force police can use.
If you think the police have behaved inappropriately, it’s best to go along with it and make a complaint later.
If you are arrested, the police can keep you up to six hours. If it’s more than that, they need to get permission from a senior police officer to extend the period.
If you are not under arrest, police cannot keep you and you are free to go.
If you are under 25 and have questions about police powers, you can get help here.
If you’re over 25, please contact Legal Aid WA on 1300 650 579.
If you are an Indigenous person then you should let the police know this. If you have any questions or problems with the law you can call the
Aboriginal Legal Service of WA. Aboriginal Legal Service of WA is an organisation that focuses on helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who become involved with the police and criminal law. You can contact the Aboriginal Legal Service of WA using the details below:
Aboriginal Legal Service of WA
Phone: 1800 019 900 or (08) 9265 6666
After hours phone: (08) 9265 6644
Address: 7 Aberdeen Street, Perth WA 6004
For interpreting services in the Far North contact the Kimberley Interpreter Service:
Tel: (08) 9192 3981
Mob: 0439 943 612
If you have a problem or a question, you can send it to us today and we can provide you with free advice, information and referrals to help solve your problem. Just click on the button below.
Get help now