Yea, I don’t do this, and I don’t think I’ve known anyone else who does this either. And I’ve lived in four different places in the US in the last ten years. IIRC, the only time I’ve been stopped by a cop was when I ran a stop sign (and they just gave me a warning).
Where specifically does the OP live that this is a problem? How many times has he actually been stopped and asked for ID?
(I kinda wish US municipalities would ease up on open container laws for pedestrians though, but its at worst a minor annoyance).
I’ve been asked the opposite. I went out with some friends to have a birthday dinner get together, was not intending to drink, was not the driver (my friend was), so I didn’t go with an ID, just cash to pay for the meal.
When some of my other friends at the dinner party realized I didn’t have any form of ID on me, they took me to task for it. This was in the US, where carrying ID is not required by law. And the most vocal person was a US native, not a foreigner like most of the people at the party.
In my current place (where ID is required), since I’m a foreigner, I sometimes carry my passport, sometimes my driver’s license, most times my work ID, but many times also nothing. Creates a bit of a problem sometimes.
I absolutely just do not get why people act like carrying their ID with them is such a titanic burden. If I’m going to be driving anywhere, I need it as proof that I’m allowed to drive. If I’m going to buy anything, I may need to show it when I use my credit or debit card, and it’s in my wallet with my cards and money anyway. If I’m going to buy alcohol, or going to a concert at a 21-and-over venue, I need it to prove my age. If I’m boarding a plane or train, I need it to get through security. And if I’m ever in an accident where I’m rendered unable to speak, it’s the easiest way that emergency personnel could identify me to contact my family.
There’s pretty much no situation where it would ever be to my benefit not to have ID on me, and it represents absolutely no burden to have it on me.
I don’t have a wallet. Well, I used to have a wallet, and then I lost it. And since then, I’m a bit wary about having another one. I was lucky both my SSN card and my driver’s license were NOT on the wallet as I had switched them to be with my passport/airline ticket.
So when I went out that night, to a place I knew was cash-only, well, I took a small purse and just cash. I left my driver’s license in my car (and I was not driving it). In fact, that’s where my driver’s ID was most of the time, anyways (the car).
I’m not completely sure why the other person thought I should have it with me, but the sentiment and feeling they were using led me to believe it was for reasons similar to what grude describes (random police check). Keep in mind this was a southern small town, USA, and I was (am) a minority.
Singapore. I have a nationally issued identity card (mandatory for all citizens I believe), but it is not mandatory to carry it with you. I have it with me now (a driver’s licence also works as official ID except when performing national service, but I carry both my ID card and driver’s licence).
I’ve never been stopped by a policeman who demanded to see my ID. Heck, I’ve never been stopped by a policeman ever.
I didn’t see any policemen today. Well scratch that, I saw a police car drive by, there might have been a policeman inside but I wouldn’t know.
In my 32 years I’ve only ever went to a police station to update the address on my identity card. That about sums up my interaction with the police.
I’m not sure what the cops would even do with your license if you had it, or what they would do if you didn’t have it. They can’t arrest you for not having ID, and if you do have ID I’m not sure what they’d get out of looking at it. Unless your a famous escaped serial killer or something, just knowing your name and address isn’t really going to help the cops. I don’t really see what purpose it would serve, and again, I’ve never really seen it happen, except maybe outside bars in college towns, where the purpose is obviously to catch kids drinking underage.
Does the OP have a cite that this is a widespread practice in the US?
From what I recall seeing, in previous threads, the argument against ID basically comes down to government distrust. People don’t want to take a census nor carry ID, because they don’t want to be able to be tracked down, on the day the government decides it needs to deal with people of a “certain type”. For example, they don’t want to end up like the Japanese-Americans did during WWII (nor like the German-Jews, during the same time period). I think that’s a bit overblown, but it does have some historic backing, so I can’t entirely shoot them down.
But in general, I would say that this thread tells us more about grude, than it does about American police. I imagine that American police are more likely to intervene when they expect people to misbehave, but that’s probably because Americans tend to misbehave in more violent and destructive ways than Germans, British, or French do. But the police still only interfere with people who seem likely to misbehave, so…don’t look like you’re going to do bad things, if you don’t want people to treat you like someone fixing on doing bad things.
All of this, especially the bolded part. If you ever find me unconscious and unable to respond, please, please, PLEASE go through my pockets and look for my ID.
CITE? Please?..
Now, I hate smokers myself, and I would love to throw 'em all in jail, (especially the smokers in my office ) . But I kinda doubt that the police would assist me in cuffing 'em all.
I don’t normally get too nitpicky about cites…But without one, well…as somebody already posted above, this thread seems to tell us more about grude than about the police.
Exactly. Like black people get asked for ID and harassed by the cops all the time and obviously they are generally up to no good, as the jails are full of them. If you want to be left alone, quit looking so black, ya know?
Don’t even get me started about those long-haired hippies.
Excessive police harassment is mostly an issue for the poor and non white so most people in power don’t even know it exists let alone want to do something about it. I think the incident in Ferguson may have opened some eyes but it probably will make little difference.
Yeah, I found that kind of unlikely myself, talk about only getting one side of the story (re Chappachula’s post above, two replies in the time it took me to type)
And as for the OP, someone who goes out of their way to get hassled by the police gets shocked and bent out of shape when he’s hassled by the police.
In my nearly 40 years living in the USA, I have never once been randomly stopped, harassed, or asked to provide ID by police. I’m certainly not doubting or blaming those that say they have, and I am in principle all in favor of pushing back against overreaching police officers so that we never get to that sort of oppressive regime state, but I have to admit that it’s not really a pressing concern in my day-to-day life. The last time I spoke to a cop, it was because I was driving home at night, and a blown fuse meant that my tail lights weren’t lit up. He asked me to drive the rest of the way with my blinkers on, ran my license, and sent me on my way.
I’ve never been harassed, but I’m a white female. I think that makes a difference. I don’t carry ID when I go for a walk or a hike either.
It is a difficult problem. We ask our police to deal with the worst of society, so it’s not surprising that they start to see people differently. I see the same thing with people I know who work as corrections officers. There is an us against them kind of mentality.
I’m not sure where you get that the US is swarming with cops. Of course certain places have a lot. Times Square for instance. But that is a relatively recent phenomenon. Back when I was a kid it was hard to find a cop in Times Square. It was also a total and complete shit hole.
In the town I grew up in during the busy evening hours there are often 5 cops work an area of around 30 square miles with a population of almost 70,000*. That seems pretty typical. I wouldn’t call that swarming.
*That is patrol officers. During the day on weekdays there are more working but they have different jobs and aren’t patrolling the streets.
) . But I kinda doubt that the police would assist me in cuffing 'em all.