Police Want To Talk To Me. What Should I Do?

Introduction

If police have contacted you about an alleged criminal offence, do not answer questions until you have obtained legal advice.

Police often contact people before charges are laid. They may telephone you, ask you to attend the police station for an interview, or attend your home or workplace. By that stage, the investigating officer may already have witness statements, CCTV footage, telephone records, forensic evidence or other information relevant to the allegation.

Whether you have committed an offence or not, speaking to police without understanding the allegation or the evidence they already hold can significantly affect your case. What you say during the investigation may later become evidence if criminal proceedings are commenced.

Our Brisbane criminal defence lawyers regularly advise clients before they are charged, communicate directly with investigating police, and attend police interviews where appropriate. Early advice is critical and can affect the outcome.

Call (07) 3012 6531 now or fill in our Quick Enquiry form for urgent and confidential advice from our Brisbane criminal lawyers.

Key points

• Police contacting you does not necessarily mean you will be charged.

• In most cases, you do not have to answer police questions about an alleged criminal offence.

• Anything you say to police may later be used as evidence.

• Police commonly investigate allegations for weeks or months before speaking with a suspect.

• Our Brisbane criminal defence lawyers can advise you before any police interview and communicate directly with investigating police where appropriate.

Why do police want to talk to me?

Police may contact you for several reasons. They may want to obtain your version of events, ask you to participate in a recorded interview, or advise that they are investigating an allegation involving you.

In many investigations, police will contact a suspect before deciding whether charges should be laid. This commonly occurs in matters involving assaults, sexual offences, fraud, drug offences and other indictable offences. By the time police contact you, they may already have gathered evidence from complainants, witnesses, CCTV, telephone records, forensic testing or digital devices.

Sometimes police will explain why they want to speak with you. In other cases, they will simply ask whether you are prepared to attend the police station to answer questions. Before agreeing to do so, you should obtain legal advice.

Does this mean I will be charged?

Police investigate many complaints that never result in criminal charges. Further enquiries may establish that no offence has been committed, that there is insufficient evidence to prosecute, or that another person is responsible.

The difficulty is that you do not know what evidence police already have or what issues they are trying to clarify. Providing answers before understanding the allegation may unintentionally strengthen the prosecution case or remove issues that would otherwise remain in dispute.

For that reason, the investigation stage is often the most important time to obtain legal advice.

Should I speak to police?

Early advice is critical.

The prosecution is responsible for proving a criminal offence beyond reasonable doubt. Except where legislation requires otherwise, you are generally not required to answer police questions about an alleged offence. Queensland criminal law recognises the common law right to silence, subject to limited statutory exceptions.

Police interviews are conducted to obtain evidence. Even if you deny the allegation, your answers may confirm matters already suspected by police, including your movements, communications, relationship with another person, or presence at a particular location. Those admissions may later be relied upon during the prosecution.

The appropriate approach depends on the circumstances of your case. In some investigations there may be good reasons to provide information to police. In many others, participating in an interview is not in your interests. That assessment should be made after obtaining legal advice from an experienced criminal defence lawyer.

Should I speak to police if I know I am innocent?

Being innocent does not necessarily mean you should participate in a police interview.

Police generally ask to speak with a suspect before all of the evidence has been disclosed. Without knowing the allegation in detail or understanding the evidence police already hold, it is impossible to properly assess whether answering questions is likely to assist or harm your position.

Even truthful answers can later become important evidence. A person may accurately describe where they were, who they were with, or when they spoke to another person. Those matters may not appear significant at the time but can later be relied upon to support other parts of the prosecution case.

Before deciding whether to participate in any interview, our Brisbane criminal defence lawyers will assess the allegation, identify the issues likely to arise, and advise whether answering questions is in your interests.

Is there such a thing as an 'off the record' conversation with police?

Do not assume a conversation with police is informal simply because it takes place outside a recorded interview. Statements made while police are speaking with you at your home, before an interview begins, after it finishes, or while travelling in a police vehicle may all become evidence.

Similarly, do not assume that an investigating officer is simply trying to obtain your side of the story. The purpose of questioning is to gather evidence relevant to the investigation. As such, there is a high risk that anything you say can be used against you as evidence.

Police have asked me to come to the station. Should I go?

Police often ask people to attend the station voluntarily before deciding whether charges should be laid. They may say they simply want to ask a few questions or hear your version of events. Although the invitation may appear informal, you should treat it seriously.

A voluntary interview can have the same consequences as an interview conducted after arrest. Anything you say may later be used as evidence if criminal proceedings are commenced.

Before deciding whether to attend, our Brisbane criminal lawyers will usually contact the investigating officer to obtain further information about the allegation and advise whether participating in an interview is in your interests.

Can I refuse a police interview?

Queensland law generally recognises your right to remain silent. While there are some exceptions, such as providing your name, address and date of birth when lawfully required, you are generally not required to answer questions about an alleged criminal offence.

Whether exercising your right to silence is the best approach depends on the circumstances of your case. Every investigation is different. Before making that decision, you should understand the allegation, the likely evidence against you and the purpose of the interview.

What happens during a police interview?

Most police interviews are audio and video recorded.

Before questioning begins, police are generally required to caution you that you do not have to answer questions and that anything you do say may later be used as evidence. If police believe you do not understand the caution, they must take further steps to explain it. Where a person has difficulty communicating in English, an interpreter may also be required.

Although interviews often appear conversational, they are carefully structured. Investigators will usually ask questions designed to establish your relationship with other people, your movements, communications, and your account of the events under investigation. They may also challenge parts of your version where they believe it is inconsistent with other evidence they have already obtained.

For that reason, participating in a police interview should only occur after extensive advice from a Brisbane criminal lawyer.

Can police arrest me if I refuse to answer questions?

Whether police arrest someone depends on the circumstances of the investigation and the powers available to them under the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 (Qld). In some matters, police will arrest a suspect. In others, they will commence proceedings by issuing a Notice to Appear requiring the person to attend court on a future date.

Exercising your right to silence does not, by itself, justify an arrest. If police decide to arrest or charge you after you decline to participate in an interview, it will often be because they consider they already have sufficient evidence to do so. In many cases, participating in an interview would not have prevented the arrest or the charges from being laid. Instead, it may simply have provided police with additional evidence to rely on during the prosecution.

Can a lawyer speak to police for me?

Yes. Once retained, our Brisbane criminal lawyers can contact the investigating officer on your behalf, obtain further information about the investigation, and advise police that all future communication should occur through our office where appropriate.

Depending on the circumstances, we may also arrange a suitable time for you to attend the police station, attend the interview with you, negotiate the service of a Notice to Appear instead of an arrest, or arrange for you to surrender voluntarily if charges are forthcoming. This avoids surprise visits at your home or workplace.

What if police want to search my home, car or phone?

Police have broad powers to search people, vehicles and property, but those powers are not unlimited. Whether police can lawfully conduct a search depends on the circumstances and the authority they are relying upon.

In some situations, police may search without a warrant if the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 (Qld) permits them to do so. In others, they must first obtain a search warrant from a magistrate. If police exceed those powers, it may be possible to challenge the lawfulness of the search or the admissibility of evidence obtained during it.

If police attend your home to execute a search warrant, you should not obstruct the search. Ask to see the warrant, make a note of the officers present, and contact a criminal defence lawyer as soon as possible.

What should I do if police are investigating me?

The following steps are critical during the early stages if you know that the police are investigating you:

• Do not contact the complainant or potential witnesses about the allegations. Any communication may become evidence and, in some circumstances, may amount to a separate criminal offence.

• Preserve evidence that may assist your defence, including text messages, emails, photographs, social media messages, CCTV footage, telephone records and other electronic records.

• Be aware of pretext telephone calls. In some investigations, particularly allegations of sexual offences, police may ask the complainant to telephone you while the conversation is being lawfully recorded. The purpose of the call is often to obtain admissions or comments that may later be used as evidence. If you receive an unexpected call from the complainant after allegations have been made, avoid discussing the incident and obtain legal advice immediately.

• Document any injuries or physical evidence. If you have sustained injuries connected with the alleged incident, photograph them as soon as possible and attend your GP or another medical practitioner so the injuries are independently examined and recorded in your medical records. Injuries often heal quickly, and early medical records can become important evidence later.

• Do not use artificial intelligence to prepare your defence or your version of events. It may be tempting to use AI tools to research the law or draft a chronology or statement for police. However, police search powers are broad and increasingly extend to mobile phones, computers and cloud-based data. Depending on the circumstances, police may be able to access your devices and review AI conversations, drafts and searches. Any advice about your case should come from your lawyer and remain protected by legal professional privilege.

• Obtain legal advice before returning calls from police or attending a police interview. Early advice allows your lawyer to assess the allegations and communicate with the police on your behalf.

Once you have participated in a police interview, made admissions or failed to preserve relevant evidence, those issues can be difficult, and sometimes impossible, to fix later.

Speak to a Brisbane criminal lawyer before speaking to police

Our Brisbane criminal lawyers regularly represent clients throughout Queensland who are under police investigation for serious criminal offences.

Whether police have contacted you by telephone, asked you to attend the police station, or executed a search warrant, our criminal lawyers have extensive experience advising clients during police investigations and are available now to provide urgent, practical and confidential advice before you speak to police.