In the State of Colorado our Miranda Rights are currently seen in a specific light. For Miranda Rights to be required you must meet two criteria; you must be in custody AND under interrogation. As a graduate of Pike Peak Regional Law Enforcement Academy, I can attest that some (If not all) police in the State of Colorado currently are trained to avoid both of those factors being true at any one given time thus effectively giving them a way to extract incriminating information before you are even read your basic rights. These are simple tricks such as "I simply asked a question and she replied". A trick because you do not have to respond to them at all, yet like feel obligated and/or intimidated too. This is made clear in your Miranda Rights.

The importance of our rights being read to any individual being questioned by a police officer is paramount. For those who are unfamiliar with what exactly the Miranda rights say I have included them below. Even those that think they know them, I highly suggest you read them once more.

1-     You have the right to remain silent. It is very important for people to know that they can remain silent and not say anything. Many agree that an officer asking a question feels more like a requirement then an option. They are allowed to do this because of the way Colorado law is currently interpreted.

2-     Anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law. Again, you must know that anything you say AT ALL even if they are being extremely polite can and WILL be held against you in the court of law.

3-     You have the right to an attorney. Once more, it is important to know that you do have the right to an attorney AND that if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed by the court. Which brings me to my next one.

4-     If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Money is a major issue when thinking about attorney costs and it is extremely important that this is understood by the one being questioned.

5-     This is the important one, and I want everyone to read this twice.
The officer must ask the following AFTER reading your rights.
-Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?
AND
-With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak with me?

It is imperative, to protect the rights of every citizen of the state of Colorado from a potential police state, that legislation be introduced to require that all parties are read and understand their rights before an officer is legally allowed to ask questions concerning any potential crime or offense.

As a POST graduate in Colorado, I see that a change must be made and we must make it soon. 

I request that the house, the senate, and the governor of the State of Colorado seriously consider a bill that will help protect Colorado citizens from right violations due to one not knowing their rights.

Thank you,

Easton Manning