Originally Posted by GUWonder
If a law enforcement/security type asks a relatively unfamiliar individual a question and that individual appears intent to not respond directly at all as the "authority" expected, and then walks (or runs) away quickly, what's the response of most law enforcement & security types? "That's suspicious"?
If an individual told such an "authority" that they don't want to deal with said "authority" and walked off and into their car, what percentage of "authorities" would run the license plate of the car when both became visibily identifiable?
The Supreme Court has ruled that running away from the police is justifiable grounds for a "Terry" stop, not the question itself, although this could be argued as aggravation for the justification of the stop. This does not apply to non-law enforcement officers, they do not have the right to detain for a "Terry" stop. What could really happen depends on the severity of the investigation. If the investigation is a homicide, they may not let you get too far. If its because of a parking ticket, well, you may just be on your merry way.
The license plate of a vehicle is not protected, because it is technically not yours (your just renting) and must be displayed in a "plain-view" manner. Plain view docterine applys just because of the location of the plate, it is in plain view. Your plate may have been "run" many times by many different agencies for not much more than a random check for validity. I would say that your plate would definitely get checked.
At a checkpoint, refusing to respond to "authorities" generally results in smooth sailing? It must be a really nice place in the world.
I am not sure if this is a question or sarcasm. No I don't think it would be smooth sailing, but I have to balance my need for smooth sailing to the level of intrusiveness of the questioning. For me, not all questioning would be intrusive or offensive, but I do have a limit and would stand my ground if the threshold was crossed. This would be based on the individual circumstances, which may include if I had my coffee that morning.
