Originally Posted by
MikeMpls
That does not mean that they have the authority, only that they can pretend to have the authority until they are challenged and restrained.
Not only do they have the authority, they apparently have used it on occasion (the duck walk incident referred to, and the New Hamphshire strip search/penetration case referred to above).
For all we know, they are still doing this to people in some circumstances. Out of an abundance of caution.