# In NJ, show ID or be arrested? Bob Dylan gets hauled in **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950 "2013-07-19T16:14:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/1 "2013-07-19T16:14:40Z")
See subject. Bob Dylan was walking in a “Latin quarter” in Long Branch, NJ acting “suspiciously” and looking, well Bob-Dylan-y, [according to this news report](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/bigbrother/article-1206617/Like-complete-unknown-Bob-Dylan-frogmarched-collect-ID-rookie-policewoman-fails-recognise-scruffy-music-legend.html). Someone called the cops, he didn’t have ID to show the cop, and was taken to a police station. Isn’t it the law still in the US that ID in public areas is not mandatory? Unless Dylan got ornery and acted up, or whatever, and then of course the cop can take him down.\* (FWIW, I don’t know what profiling is supposed to mean anymore. I used to think it was a neutral term for something police did, for stop-and-frisk. Then it meant only for invidious reasons, namely racism. Now I think it is being used for invidious civilian racism. I think.) _At this point I submit that he is on record that he knows everyone has to serve somebody._\* \*\*That pun came out by accident. I think further Dylan references are not only allowable, within reason, but inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/2 "2013-07-19T16:20:13Z")
your link says he was taken to his hotel, not the PD. ---
**Author:** ![thatguyjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6de8d8/32.png) [@thatguyjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thatguyjeff)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/3 "2013-07-19T16:27:24Z")
> [@PatriotX](#): > > your link says he was taken to his hotel, not the PD. That and this story is 4 years old (2009). ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/4 "2013-07-19T16:29:04Z")
I like how the article says the policewoman “asked him for his identity papers”. How stasi! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/5 "2013-07-19T16:37:37Z")
it’s possible the police were exercising their community caretaker function. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/6 "2013-07-19T16:40:22Z")
> [@PatriotX](#): > > your link says he was taken to his hotel, not the PD. > [@thatguyjeff](#): > > That and this story is 4 years old (2009). :smack: For the misquote :smack::smack: For the wrong date. I saw it linked as a “profiling” comment. Bad business all around. Again, to all, my apologies. (But I guess the ID requirement question can still stand…:)) ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/7 "2013-07-19T16:49:06Z")
I guess we’re learning how many roads a man can walk down before someone thinks he is lost. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/8 "2013-07-19T17:06:52Z")
As someone once said, “In Jersey everything’s legal as long as you don’t get caught.” ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/9 "2013-07-19T18:05:48Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > I guess we’re learning how many roads a man can walk down before someone thinks he is lost. Before we get carried away, I should point out that “How does it feel, to be own your own…like a complete unknown?” was done to death and then some by the media when this story was originally reported. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/10 "2013-07-19T19:31:37Z")
As someone said “the cops don’t need you, and man they expect the same” ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/11 "2013-07-19T19:48:03Z")
> [@](#): > > ‘I’m afraid we all **fell about laughing** ,’ said Craig Spencer, a senior officer in Long Branch, New Jersey. I call bullshit. Does anyone think that any New Jersey cop, ever, has said, “fell about”? I believe the Daily Mail came up with “identity papers” on their own as well. [This ABC story](http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/jersey-homeowner-calls-cops-bob-dylan/story?id=8331830) is a little more complete (and believable), but not nearly as pithy. The story may be four years old, but I hadn’t heard it before, so I’m glad you posted it! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/12 "2013-07-19T20:05:09Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#): > > I call bullshit. Does anyone think that any New Jersey cop, ever, has said, “fell about”? I believe the Daily Mail came up with “identity papers” on their own as well. New Jersey cops talk like that when reported by a UK rag. Crikeys, it’s a helpful translation, Gov’nor. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/13 "2013-07-19T21:07:07Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > New Jersey cops talk like that when reported by a UK rag. Crikeys, it’s a helpful translation, Gov’nor. Wats all this then? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/14 "2013-07-20T00:50:48Z")
It wasn’t a fair cop. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/15 "2013-07-20T01:01:39Z")
Bloom of the Yard?! ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/16 "2013-07-20T01:17:12Z")
No, but since you ask, at times I do resemble the best detective of them all: **A VOICE** Bloom, are you the Messiah ben Joseph or ben David? **BLOOM** (_Darkly_) You have said it. \*\*BROTHER BUZZ \*\* Then perform a miracle. \*\*BANTAM LYONS \*\* Prophesy who will win the Saint Leger. (_Bloom walks on a net, covers his left eye with his left ear, passes through several walls, climbs Nelson’s Pillar, hangs from the the ledge by his eyelids, eats twelve dozen oysters (shells included), heals several sufferers from kings evil, contracts his face so as to resemble many historical personages, lord Beaconsfield, lord Byron, Wat Tyler, Moses of Egypt, Moses Maimonides, Moses Mendelssohn, Henry Irving, Rip van Winkle, Rossuth, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Baron Leopold Rothschild, Robinson Crusoe, Sherlock Holmes, Pasteur, turns each foot simultaneously in different directions, bids the tide turn back, eclipses the sun by extending his little finger_.) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/17 "2013-07-20T01:28:34Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > … _many historical personages, lord Beaconsfield, lord Byron, Wat Tyler, Moses of Egypt, Moses Maimonides, Moses Mendelssohn, Henry Irving, Rip van Winkle, **Rossuth** , Jean Jacques Rousseau, Baron Leopold Rothschild, Robinson Crusoe, Sherlock Holmes, Pasteur, …_ Bold added. Should be “Kossuth,” the Hungarian reformer politician (and thus a role model for Bloom). Fucking on-line edition. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/18 "2013-07-20T04:03:10Z")
> [@thatguyjeff](#): > > That and this story is 4 years old (2009). I thought this sounded familiar. I remember reading about this when it happened. ---
**Author:** ![KaylaLynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@KaylaLynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KaylaLynn)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/19 "2013-07-20T06:21:18Z")
To live outside the law, you must be honest. 🆒…words to live by. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950/20 "2013-07-20T13:46:54Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Isn’t it the law still in the US that ID in public areas is not mandatory? Yes! Of course if you are driving and are stopped, you must show it, and such other specifics of similar import. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-nj-show-id-or-be-arrested-bob-dylan-gets-hauled-in/663950.md?page=2)