A lawyer has shared a smart tactic police use to trick suspects in to talking, and it's blowing people's minds.
The expert, who goes by the handle @tiktokstreetlawyer online, took to TikTok to share the top tip with his 62.8k followers.
The 'very clever' psychology trick known as 'Cunningham's Law' has proven to work pretty well at getting people to open up to authorities.
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The Street Lawyer began by explaining: "There is a very effective and very clever trick, very effective and very clever police officers use to get you to talk, answer questions and admit facts.
"It's based on a version of the psychological rule known as Cunningham's Law. The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question - it is to post the wrong answer."
This is because people have a 'desire to correct the wrong answer', the expert informs.
In policing context, the lawyer explains: "Instead of asking you a direct question, the officer asks you a really dumb question they know is really dumb.
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"Or the officer makes a false statement the officer knows is false and basically asks you 'Is this true?'"
This, in turn, then triggers the 'urge' in people to correct the officer and 'show off your superior knowledge'.
"And afterwards, you might feel good about yourself," he goes on.
"You might even feel you have owned the officer, so to speak - embarrassing and putting down the stupid police officer with your higher intellect, when in fact the clever police officer has been ignorant to get you to talk, answer questions and admit facts."
So, for example, an officer searching someone suspected of carrying a stolen mobile phone may deliberately ask the person they're patting down: "Is this a gun in your pocket?" knowing full well it is not in fact a gun.
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Cunningham's Law then takes effect and the person will 'immediately reply to correct the officer' with a response like: "No, it's my mobile phone."
The Street Lawyer went on: "Or for example, during a house search, the officer shows you car keys and knowing full well they are car keys."
Instead of the officer asking you a direct question, 'Who do these car keys belong to?', the officer asks, 'Are these keys to your shed?'
"'No', you might react, 'they are my car keys'," he adds.
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Speaking of the tactic, the man also added in a follow-up comment: "Very clever technique of getting answers from a particular way of questioning. Unlikely to be criminal but evidence obtained may be inadmissible.
The street lawyer captioned the clip: "Cunningham’s Law - psychological police trick to get you to talk," and has since been viewed over 13k times, with dozens of comments from people eager to share their verdict on the tactic.
Talking of the police, one TikTok user claimed: "True. The officer isn't the slightest bit interested in you, whatsoever. Only, to gather evidence."
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Others, however, took to the comments to offer their own advice regarding the matter with one writing: "So to beat them at their own game, you simply respond with 'no comment'. That way you're neither admitting or denying anything and they can't entrap you."
A second echoed: "Best thing to say is just go 'no comment' and bombard the officer with intelligent questions."
And a final TikTok user declared: "Get their name and badge number and say nothing else."
What do you make of it?
Rhiannon Ingle