I can tell you've never experienced the "Robbery next door", because you'd have been deeply underwhelmed with the response. Certainly canvassing the neighborhood isn't a part of it! Now putting aside that fantasy, in the real world most of us encounter police in one of three broad situations:
1.) Traffic stops and accidents.
2.) "Public order" issues (protests, large events, etc)
3.) As victims or perpetrators of a violent crime.
Most of us won't be either side of the equation in #3, virtually all of us will experience #1, and a large proportion will experience #2.
It's also possible that some of us understand that while many good LEO's exist, the bad ones are too damned dangerous and protected by the silence of the good ones. There are also competence, "War on Drugs" and other issues.
edit: Also, just ask literally any attorney what you should say, including those who have nothing at all to do with criminal defense. Then ask them why they all give the same answer as my original post...
I grew up in a large urban area, Miami, and this did in fact happen a couple times. There was a crime committed in the surrounding homes and police came to our door to see if we had any information that could help them.
An attorney is going to tell you what's 100% in your legal interests, since that's their duty. There's always a chance that you say something that incriminates you or reveals that you committed some other crime or similar.
But that's not the only consideration. There's also concern for the well-being of your community, a desire to make it safe for your children, etc. Acting on those interests can supersede the tiny risk that a law abiding citizen takes when speaking to law enforcement.
I'm sure it did, for a violent crime, various drug crimes, etc that's pretty typical. For a house being robbed? A little less typical to interview more than the homeowners, unless there's a reason to suspect the involvement of a neighbor, or they had a security camera/propensity for being nosy.
Remember, the person I responded to was talking about a home robbery, and so was I. Obviously you have to use your own judgement, and if it's the local PD asking about a missing person or a domestic incident, etc, don't be a dick.
1.) Traffic stops and accidents.
2.) "Public order" issues (protests, large events, etc)
3.) As victims or perpetrators of a violent crime.
Most of us won't be either side of the equation in #3, virtually all of us will experience #1, and a large proportion will experience #2.
It's also possible that some of us understand that while many good LEO's exist, the bad ones are too damned dangerous and protected by the silence of the good ones. There are also competence, "War on Drugs" and other issues.
edit: Also, just ask literally any attorney what you should say, including those who have nothing at all to do with criminal defense. Then ask them why they all give the same answer as my original post...