Don’t forget, the OP said that the cop said there “had been a few stabbings” in the area and he was just checking things out. Then the cop finds a knife on the OP. Then the cop asks the guy with the knife what his name is and he refuses. What is the cop supposed to do?
What would you think if you’d read in the newspaper 3 months later that someone got stabbed in the park and the newspaper reported that a cop had stopped someone in the park 3 months earlier, with a knife, but failed to get his name?
I disagree. Sitting in a public park (or even standing on a bench) is not suspicious activity. The fact that “some gangbangers” have caused trouble recently should not mean every single person in the park becomes “suspicious”. According to the OP, the cops told him several times they didn’t suspect him of any wrongdoing, ignoring for the moment the (ridiculous, IMHO) infractions of simply being in the park with a knife in his pocket. The cops obviously thought these wer ridiculous too, as they weren’t about to haul him off to jail nor even cite him for the two infractions.
They didn’t become aggressive unti he became “uppity” and didn’t respect their authoritah. It wasn’t about enforcing the law or alleviating any suspicion of wrongdoing, it was a power play. As soon as they’d perceived they’d broken him they cut him loose.
It was a disgusting abuse of power, with the cops the only ones trying to prove something.
I’m going with the crowd on this one, Reply. You messed up. I’m not overly fond of cops, but they were just trying to do their job in what sounds like the least offensive way possible. Chalk it up to an embarrassing lesson learned.
OP, OK, so once the cops informed you that the park was closed and that you shouldn’t be there you were not 100% innocent. Pretty much everyone knows that parks close at 10pm and that cops do routine searches of them just about every night.
Another thing, how do they know that the girl you were with was there on her own free will, or she decides to claim that she was raped by you or one of you turns up missing the next day?
Imagine the community/family outrage if the cops had talked to both of you the night before, interacted with you, and never got names?!
Slightly suspicious situations like the one you were in are definitely cause for asking a few questions and getting names.
To be clear, you were arrested for misdemeanor possession of a weapon, after you voluntarily revealed its presence and consented to a search. Not “for” refusing to answer.
I would differ with this opinion- being in the park in the middle of the night when it’s closed is most certainly “suspicious” activity. It’s not like it was noon and they were having a picnic. The cops rightfully asked who they were and what they were doing there.
I meant that it was suspicious that the cop, more or less, said “You’re in a park after hours, which is a misdemeanor, carrying a knife, which is a misdemeanor, and there’s been stabbings going on here. We’re just doing our jobs, so if you’ll just give us your name, we’ll be on our way.” He refused. That’s absolutely suspicious.
It’s the cop’s job to protect people, and the OP was wasting his time and getting in the way of doing his job. Would you have preferred the cop to say “oh, you don’t want to give us your name? Okay, carry on! Have a wonderful night!”
Like others have said, what if the girl ended up dead the next morning? Or the next morning they got a call from the girl’s parents that she’d been kidnapped.
It may have turned into a power play, but the OP was the one who started it. And starting a power play with a cop is pretty much a terrible idea, ESPECIALLY if you haven’t done anything wrong. I can’t think of any reason not to give the cop your name.
If you had just been walking down the street, I could see your point. (Papers! AuchTung!) But since technically you were in the park after hours, that gives the cops probable cause.
What I find interesting is that they didn’t cite you for that, so their argument loses footing there. If they didn’t cite you for that, they had no reason under the law to search you. Therefore, no reason to ticket you for the knife, and no reason to arrest you for not saying who you were.
IANAL, but I would hope if you are principled enough to stand up to them in the park, that you’ll at least fight it in court and let us know what the judge thinks.
If it was daylight and the park was open, I’d agree with you. Once you have committed a misdemeanor, no matter how trivial, by being in the park after dark, the cop has a right to ask for ID.
I think it also comes down to “choosing your battles”- you got arreseted for this- was it worth it? If the cop was being a dick I could maybe also see it, but it seems he was being extremely decent about it. And you’d be surprised how many really dangerous felons have been captured by such random checks.
I’ll throw my lot in with the crowd, too. Having had a couple of drinks, being in a closed park and having knife on you, I could see why the cops would want to at least see your ID, particularly if there had been stabbings in that particular park. Plus, you said earlier that you “fully complied,” but you didn’t. You let them search you, but still refused to produce ID. Having someone search me thoroughly would be a lot more personal and potentially offensive than someone just asking who I was. But that’s just me.
I think you should have given the cop your info and been done with it. What did you prove outside of being legally arrested. You now have a public record for carrying a concealed weapon that can be found by any future employer or agency. All because you didn’t want to give the cop your name. Seems your actions outweighed the consequences.
Their argument doesn’t really lose footing because as they said, there was recent past incidents with stabbings and gang banging. For all the cop knew this was the kid that did it. Cop had no idea who this kid was, except that he wouldn’t give him his name, and had a knife on him, and was in a park after hours…
Man, I can’t believe you thought it was worth getting an arrest record over something so pointless.
Now you have to worry possible employment hassles.
In many lines of work, including mine, if you are arrested and convicted, you are terminated. Even if it’s just a trivial misdemeanor and you don’t miss a single day’s work.
no kidding. I can see my sorry arse in prison for less than that.
Reply, you are a very lucky man. You tried real hard to get into trouble and got away for free. Think about the odds of this happening twice to the same person before you act the next time.
How about after hours, while drunk and carrying a weapon (although it sounds more like one of those tiny keychain knives than a machete).
Hey guess what!! The cops are the authority! The simple fact that Reply was in the park after hours gives them probable cause. Getting all weird and refusing to show ID is suspicious. There was no reason for it other than Reply wanted to thumb his nose at the cops.
Are you somebody famous? Because that’s the only way this makes any sense to me. Were you afraid the cop would go, “Oh my God, it’s [name of famous person]!! Wait until the tabloids hear about this!”?
He wasn’t drunk. Perhaps you forgot and/or overlooked that?
Which is, of course, why they arrested him and searched his car immediately.
Getting all weird and demanding my name when I’ve (supposedly) done nothing wrong is suspicious. There was no reason for it other than the cops wanted to play power-hungry jerk.
Truthfully, I suspect what they wanted was to run his name for warrants. If he didn’t give them his name, they had no way of getting it without arresting him for something. And hey, sitting peacefully in a public place is reason enough to be haraunged by cops on the slightest technicality so they can run your name against the outstanding warrant box, eh? Cause after all, if you’ve done nothing wrong you have nothing to fear, right?
I don’t know what you’re doing right now, but I suspect you’re in violation some minor local ordinance. Of course, you’ll be happy for “the authority” to show up at your door, demand your name, arrest you if you don’t comply, just to make sure you’re not guilty of something more serious. Right?
Dude, my momma always told me to pick my battles - this is one you shouldn’t a picked. Dumb move. What, exactly, were you trying to prove? And frankly, why is it “unfair” for the police to ask you for your identity?
