Comment by AngryData

In the US you should not interact with police at all for any reason unless you are forced to. They have essencially immunity from any liabilty and can legally lie and deceive people, while civilians can be punished for even an accidental lie. They also have a profit motive to arrest people and require no legal knowledge.

US cops can and do regularly get fet cleared for abuses because "I didn't know I wasn't suppose to violate their rights!" Meanwhile for civilians "ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law."