Originally Posted by Bart

Never intended that as my point. My point is that when you are confronted by a police officer, the determination of whether or not you may leave is really up to the police officer and not you. When you are at the security checkpoint, you always have the option of refusing to be screened. The only limitation to that is, for instance, if you alarmed the WTMD and haven't been screened. At that point, the police officer on duty will determine and most likely direct a physical search to make sure that there are no weapons based on the metal detector alarm and refusal for further screening. The only other instance is once the suspicion of a crime has been established. X-ray operator sees a knife inside the bag, owner refuses screening; that police officer has probable cause to have the bag searched. Otherwise, what I am saying is that you can essentially walk away from screening without further penalty. Not true with a police officer. In fact, asking the police officer if you are free to leave is indicative of how much authority a police officer has over us.