Remember that in some states in the United States, you need to invoke the 5th amendment before you have the right to remain silent. Otherwise, your silence can be used against you.
Say a simple phrase like: “I invoke my 5th amendment rights to silence, and I would like to contact to an attorney.”
From: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/when-how-invoke-your-right-silence.html
You Can’t Be Silent If You Want to Be Silent
In a closely contested 2013 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that prosecutors can, under appropriate circumstances, point to an out-of-custody suspect’s silence in response to police questioning as evidence of guilt. (Salinas v. Texas, 133 S. Ct. 2174 (2013).)
Using Evidence of Silence to Prove Guilt
According to the Court, the prosecution can comment on the silence of a suspect who:
is out of police custody (and not Mirandized) voluntarily submits to police questioning, and stays silent without expressly invoking his Fifth Amendment rights.
The only way to prevent the government from introducing evidence of the suspect’s silence at trial is to explicitly invoke (assert) the right to say nothing. In other words, without being warned by the police or advised by a lawyer, and without even the benefit of the familiar Miranda warnings (which might trigger an “I want to invoke my right to be silent!”), the interviewee must apparently say words to the effect of, “I invoke my privilege against self-incrimination.”
It’s shit like this that makes me think we just need to reset our legal code.
Police will never use a statement you made to prove your innocence, only your guilt. Talking to them does nothing.
Michael Dixon was arrested after getting off a bus on his way home from work. Police suspected he had broken into a nearby jewellery store. He did not resist arrest and instead went to the station. They held him and interrogated him for 3 days telling him to confess as they had him on tape and he would be going away for a long time. He repeatedly told them his alibi but police never once investigated it. They just kept trying to force a confession from him.
Only when Dixon requested to contact a lawyer was he immediately released and later won a $126,000 lawsuit for wrongful imprisonment.
Don’t talk to police. They don’t care. Talk to a lawyer.