A question that pops up over and over again is " Does a confidential informant have do tell me they are the police ? "  One can count on the police recording activity of illegal drug sales or interviewing suspects under criminal investigation . Secret recordings are one of the standard tools that police use every day.

Police have no legal duty to advise a suspect that they are recording their conversations.Both federal law and Tennessee state law does not prohibit a party to a conversation from taping the conversation. The legal theory is there is no expectation of privacy. It is different if the party being taped had an expectation of privacy. In one Tennessee case , the Tennessee Supreme Court threw out a taped statement made between a defendant and their family members that was secretly recorded.

If you are questioned by the police , you must assume you are being recorded . an investigation does not trigger  your rights under Miranda. Likewise, a police undercover officer or a confidential informant does not have to warn you before you sell or buy drugs from them. With today’s technology everybody has access to recording your phone calls.

I remember my father’s words when I got my first job working at Nashville’s courthouse."Son don’t say anything at that courthouse that you don’t want to read on the front page of the newspaper".