Originally Posted by
tkey75
No, but just rollin' up on a random couple kids being all cop-like and demanding they empty their pockets is. Even law dawg admitted to "Constitutional liberties".
"I don't like the looks of those youngsters" is not reasonable suspicion.
Or even a more reasonable example was the one upthread where the cop just took the bottle form the kid to see if it was beer or not. What's wrong with taking the kid's word for it?
First Law Dawg said
I've "slapped the wrist" of many people over the years and told them to cut it out. Officer discretion and all of that. And maybe I took a Constitutional liberty or two but I knew, beforehand, I wasn't going to press charges.
He did not state he took constitutional liberties. Taking an item that a person has no right to have is not a 5th Amendment violation.
Using no force as Law Dawg contends, and requesting someone to empty their pockets does not violate the 4th Amendment. An officer is under no obligation to tell someone that can refuse a request to search.
"I don't like the looks of those youngsters" is very much reasonable suspicion, as long as you are not being prejudiced. If you see a group of kids hanging outside the liquer store where normally kids dod not gather it is enough cause to go aver and say "howdy".
On the bottle example, the poster never claimed the officer asked him what was in the bottle. He stated he refused to show the label when asked.