Your Rights When Stopped by Police

What This Is

Rights are only useful if you know how and when to use them. This training builds working knowledge of the constitutional rights that come into play during any police encounter — the Fourth (searches and seizures), Fifth (silence and self-incrimination), and Sixth (right to counsel) — plus the state-specific rules that shape how they actually work.

What's Covered

1. Fourth AmendmentSearches, seizures, warrants, plain view, and the exclusionary rule.
2. Fifth AmendmentRight to silence, self-incrimination, and how to invoke.
3. Sixth AmendmentRight to counsel, Miranda origins, and effective representation.
4. MirandaWhen it applies, when it doesn't, and how to invoke it clearly.
5. Probable Cause vs. Reasonable SuspicionThe two standards that gate police action.
6. Consent & WaiverHow consent is given, revoked, and undermined.
7. Detention vs. Arrest vs. Free-to-GoThe three categories every encounter falls into.
8. Recording RightsFirst Amendment protections for recording police.
9. Virginia-SpecificStop-and-identify, marijuana, open carry, implied consent.
10. When Rights Are ViolatedSection 1983, qualified immunity, and how to preserve claims.

Format & Time