# Is running from the cops (for no reason) a crime? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 15, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594 "2003-07-15T05:57:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Phnord\_Prephect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Phnord\_Prephect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phnord_Prephect)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/21 "2003-07-15T12:45:15Z")
Tralalala… what a beautiful day it is… havin’ me a little walk down the street here, thinkin’ thoughts to myself. Nice little sportscar there, wish I could afford one like that. Look at the birds. Wonder what their songs mean. Hey that’s a cool tree, maybe I should climb it? Naw, next time… keep walking… dootdeedootdeedoot… Good day Mr. Police Officer… Cop? Hmm… Oh SHIT! COPS is coming on! I PROMISED my girlfriend I would tape it! If I forget again she’ll NEVER do that thing with the chocolate sauce anymore! :::take off running home::: :::get arrested or shot::: Thanks, SCOTUS! ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/22 "2003-07-15T12:52:22Z")
This happened to me when i was a kid. i was staying over at my friends house and we decided to climb out the window and go exploring town. I was about 12-13, and it was about 4-5 in the morning. After hanging around the park for a bit, we were wandering home, when we saw a police car. My friend, for some bizarre reason, decided to make a run for it, despite the fact we hadn’t done anything. I was left thinking, what do I do now? Follow my friend in this obviously bad idea, or stay here and probably get questioned. I ran after him telling him to stop, but by know the police were right on top of us. They stopped us and searched us. We had nothing on us, so they couldn’t arrest us for anything. I explained to one of the officers that I had no idea why my mate had ran off. He seemed pretty understanding. We ended up having a bit of a joke with them in the end. Course, this was the UK, so I don’t know what would happen in the states. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/23 "2003-07-15T13:02:43Z")
I believe the film _To Live and Die in L.A._ summed the answer up nicely: Running Thug: _Why you chasin’ me?_ Running Cop: _Why you runnin’?_ * * * Help put some pressure on The Man by telling them to [create a Special Edition DVD](http://www.petitiononline.com/tladila/petition.html) of _To Live and Die in L.A._. Hell, just tell them to release the damned thing. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/24 "2003-07-15T13:04:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shodan \* > \*\*I am trying to think of a scenario under which running away from the police for no reason at all is a good idea. > > There is no Constitutional right to act suspicious, and the police tend to treat people who act suspiciously as suspects. What would you intend to accomplish? Wasting the police’s time? Wasting your own time being frisked and questioned? > > I don’t see the point. > > Regards, > Shodan \*\* “Designated Decoy?” (I.e., the guy WITH the loot strolls off at a leisurely pace, DD makes a run for it, pulls the cops after him, gets caught with nothing on him…) Also works with drinking. Guys see officer waiting outside bar, looking to nab someone for a test when they emerge. Our DD (Sober as a Judge, well, let’s just say sober) leaves the bar looking SMASHED, can’t find the keys, drops them, tries them on the back door first… you get the idea. By the time Mr. Officer is finished with him, all the (really smashed) guys have at least TRIED to drive away… Disclaimer: OF COURSE I don’t encourage actually doing any of this! Disclaimer 2: And of course I am not implying that the OP had something like this in mind, either. Dan Abarbanel ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/25 "2003-07-15T13:08:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shodan \* > I am trying to think of a scenario under which running away from the police for no reason at all is a good idea. > > There is no Constitutional right to act suspicious, and the police tend to treat people who act suspiciously as suspects. What would you intend to accomplish? Wasting the police’s time? Wasting your own time being frisked and questioned? > > I don’t see the point. I can’t think of a good reason to paint your tongue green, and there’s no Constitutional right to do that, either. That doesn’t mean you should be arrested over it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/26 "2003-07-15T13:18:36Z")
Guy sees cop, starts running. Cop runs after him, telling him to stop. Cop finally catches up with guy. Cop: Why were you running? Guy: My doctor told me to run five miles a day. Cop: Well, why did you think I was running after you? Guy: I thought you went to the same doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/27 "2003-07-15T13:48:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*I can’t think of a good reason to paint your tongue green, and there’s no Constitutional right to do that, either. That doesn’t mean you should be arrested over it. 🙂 \*\* Sure, but there’s no reason to suspect someone with a green tongue is a criminal. Although there are some conceivable reasons (as **Phnord Prephect** illustrates) for a perfectly innocent person to run when he sees a cop, in the universe of all people who have ever run away when they spot a cop, how many were not engaged in any sort of criminal activity? 10%? Doubt it. Unlike the tongue thing, it’s perfectly reasonable for a cop to assume someone who flees on sight is someone worth catching. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/28 "2003-07-15T13:56:23Z")
Thre SCOTUS case in question determined that running from the police is a factor among many that can be taken into account when determining if there is reasonable suspicion for a stop and frisk. Reasonable suspicion is a somewhat lower standard than probable cause; reasonable suspicion is whether, based on the totality of the circumstances, the officer has a particularized and objective basis for suspecting the individual of criminal activity. Some have described reasonable suspicion as “possible cause”; merely a fair possibilty that the individual is engaged in a crime. In _Wardlow_, the Court stated that merely running from the police would not always equal reasonable suspicion, but neither were the police required to ignore it, either. Flight from the police is just one element in determining the totality of the circumstances; being in a high crime area is another factor in the mix. It’s not a “bright line” rule where flight=reasonable suspicion, but it is something that can be considered. Say you do run and are caught. What then? Then, assuming the police have reasonable suspicion, you are subject to a “stop and frisk”, also known as a _Terry_ stop. This is a limited detention to determine if a crime is being or has been committed. While they are questioning you, they may conduct a limited search as necessary for police protection, i.e., for weapons. This is limited to a pat down. They cannot search for other evidence. Say a pat down results in the officer feeling small lump in your pocket. The officer knows right away that it isn’t a weapon, but continues to squeeze and prod the object, which reveals it to be crack cocaine. They have gone beyond the pat down, and have conducted an illegal search. If the pat down _and the pat down alone_ lead to probable cause that an item is illegal contraband then the police may seize it and arrest you, but they may not go beyond the limit of a pat down for weapons when searching you. ---
**Author:** ![micco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@micco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/micco)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/29 "2003-07-15T14:15:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shodan \* > **There is no Constitutional right to act suspicious** I basically agree with the fact that there’s no reason to incite the police and make their job more difficult. However, your argument is flat-out wrong. The Constitution does not define individual rights, it restricts what the government can do. That is, it’s assumed we have a natural right to do things and the Constitution says what the government can and cannot interfere with. We are not granted the right to free speech; the government is restricted from interfering with our natural right to free speech (“Congress shall make no law…”). It is absolutely wrong and erodes the quality of our rights for people to make the argument that the Constitution doesn’t specifically give them the right to so such-and-such. You have a natural right to act suspicious. As far as I know, the Constitution does not address that right (i.e. protecting it from any government interference) and the legal precedents cited above indicate that law enforcement can use this as a basis for probable cause. However, that has nothing to do with Constitutionality of the act itself or whether you need to be _granted_ a right in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/30 "2003-07-15T14:27:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shodan \* > \*\*I am trying to think of a scenario under which running away from the police for no reason at all is a good idea. > > There is no Constitutional right to act suspicious, and the police tend to treat people who act suspiciously as suspects. What would you intend to accomplish? Wasting the police’s time? Wasting your own time being frisked and questioned? > > I don’t see the point. The OP does not ask whether you see the point so that is beside the point. The point of the OP is whether running from the cops for no reason is a crime you can be charged with and the answer is NO. As long as something is not very especifically prohibited by law it is not a crime. Running from the cops absent other circumstances is not a crime. That is the answer to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![dlack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@dlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlack)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/31 "2003-07-15T14:29:34Z")
I have a related question. Is there a law against _disobeying_ the police? Suppose I’m on foot and take off after seeing two officers in a cruiser. They give chase and yell “This is the police, STOP.” Do I have to stop? Also, I’ve got a pretty good reason to do this. It’d be funny as hell. In my small town, I’d love to see these fat cops chase me down the street as I laugh. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/32 "2003-07-15T15:38:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cliffy \* > \*\*Sure, but there’s no reason to suspect someone with a green tongue is a criminal. \*\* Yeah? What if it was Paddy’s Day, and a consignment of green Guinness had gone missing? Eh? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/33 "2003-07-15T15:49:35Z")
I wasn’t arguing that running from the police is a crime, only that it is a bad idea. I don’t think you could or would be arrested for that alone. You might be stopped, questioned, and/or harassed. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by dlack_ - > \*\* > Is there a law against disobeying the police? > > Suppose I’m on foot and take off after seeing two officers in a cruiser. They give chase and yell “This is the police, STOP.” Do I have to stop? > \*\* Yes, you have to stop. You don’t have to answer any questions, but you have to stop. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by dlack_ - > \*\* > Also, I’ve got a pretty good reason to do this. It’d be funny as hell. In my small town, I’d love to see these fat cops chase me down the street as I laugh.\*\* I suspect the police officers would not find this nearly as amusing. It is my experience that police tend to be rather humorless about jokes at their expense. Trying to get police to chase you for no other reason than to laugh at them is also counter-productive. They often would rather not feel that they wasted the energy spent on chasing you. I expect that, more often than you might enjoy, they would try to come up with a reason that would make the experience less of a light-hearted adventure. Unless you truly enjoy the view from the back of a police cruiser. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/34 "2003-07-15T15:57:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dlack \* > \*\*I have a related question. > > Is there a law against _disobeying_ the police? > > Suppose I’m on foot and take off after seeing two officers in a cruiser. They give chase and yell “This is the police, STOP.” Do I have to stop? > > Also, I’ve got a pretty good reason to do this. It’d be funny as hell. In my small town, I’d love to see these fat cops chase me down the street as I laugh. \*\* In Virginia, any person that knowingly obstructs a law-enforcement officer in the performance of his duties may be guilty of obstruction of justice. - Rick ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/35 "2003-07-15T17:03:08Z")
You live in a small town and want to hassle the cops? That’s a bad, bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![kputt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f475e1/32.png) [@kputt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kputt)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/36 "2003-07-15T17:14:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dnooman \* > \*\*If one were to take off like a gazelle at the sight of a police officer, and they gave chase and caught you, what would you be charged with? Inducing panic, fleeing from the police? There’s no law against running spontaneously (sp?), what probable cause could the cops give either than " he started running as soon as he saw us"? This is not an ethical question, because I believe that would be goading the cops, but rather a question on what, and if, they would charge you with something. \*\* Why, did you try it? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/37 "2003-07-15T17:34:32Z")
I think you MIGHT be charged with obstruction of justice based on the theory that the police could have been busy creating justice had you not wasted their time… ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/38 "2003-07-15T19:02:47Z")
[slight hijack] I purchased [this book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1888766018/qid=1058296014/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_3/002-5780869-9776844?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) a little while ago, and it’s fascinating reading. It basically outlines your rights when coming into contact with the police, and advises on different courses of action to take under different circumstances. The author is a wee bit too paranoid for me on some issues, but i still think the book is a valuable one. His first injunction makes the most sense: he says that the best way to deal with the police is never give them a reason to take any interest in you. ---
**Author:** ![DiLLiGaF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@DiLLiGaF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiLLiGaF)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/39 "2003-07-15T19:18:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bakhesh \* > \*\*This happened to me when i was a kid. i was staying over at my friends house and we decided to climb out the window and go exploring town. I was about 12-13, and it was about 4-5 in the morning. > > After hanging around the park for a bit, we were wandering home, when we saw a police car. My friend, for some bizarre reason, decided to make a run for it, despite the fact we hadn’t done anything. > > Course, this was the UK, so I don’t know what would happen in the states. \*\* We used to do the same thing as kids, around 11 years old or so. We would sneak out with a couple of friends and go down to main street to stir up the cops at around 3am. We would sit out on the stoop of a building and wait for him to drive down the street and then take off running top speed. They would always give chase and we never did get caught. We figured that there wasn’t anything they could do since we weren’t breaking the law other than maybe a curfew (probably just a phone call to the parents if we were caught). And we weren’t hurting anyone (except one freind that ran through a yard and clipped the wire coming down off the end of a clothsline pole and flipped him over and left a really bad welt from his shoulder across his chest). Sorry for the hijack, that post just reminded me of running from the law for no reason other than the fun of it. BTW, I grew up in a small town of ~3000. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594/40 "2003-07-15T19:42:47Z")
Isn’t this called “rabbiting”? Seems to me I was watching _Cops_ one time and this happened, and the guy got on the radio and said somebody was “rabbiting.” I might have seen this somewhere else, but nonetheless it’s a pretty good term: frantic flight merely from being vaguely spooked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-running-from-the-cops-for-no-reason-a-crime/188594.md?page=3)