Is running from the cops (for no reason) a crime?

Factual Questions
41

I sort of did this a couple of times, I mean our local cops don’t communicate well with me, so Im a bit local cop-shy.

  1. I simply walked away when I saw them coming to me. When I came back ten minutes later they were still waiting by my car.

  2. Another time & not wanting to let them find something to detain me with, I stated to them that I was leaving now if I wasn’t under arrest. They gave me a sort of weird look then I started walking & that was it.

I couldn’t run cause I would not be able to hear them say freeze…

42

It’s also not a good idea to toss anything out of your car.

In the US, cops need to make up some sort of reason why they stopped you - I’d saying running away and then not stopping when they asked you to would be enough of a reason.

In the UK, they don’t even need to make up a reason.

43

Cops and terriers have a natural instinct to chase anything that runs.

Here in Washington, running at the sight of a cop would be legal grounds to detain you to determine what you’re up to, obtain your ID and check you for warrants, and possibly frisk you if the circumstances indicated there might be a threat to the officer’s safety. If the officer has a legal reason to stop you and you run, you can be charged with Obstructing a Law Enforcement Officer.

44

Believe it or not, this approach is probably perfect for forcing the state’s hand. One of the things that’s always irritated me about the existing state of case law in this area is that it grants the government wide latitude to decide, after the fact, if you were really detained or not. If you leave, they grab you for resisting arrest or fail to obey. If you stay without trying to leave, and a suppression hearing comes along, they piously claim that it was a consensual encounter and you were free to go at any time.

So if you calmly and respectfully ask if you’re free to go, or announce that you’re leaving as long as you’re free to go, it forces them to decide on a story… and if they say you’re detained, they will need to be able to point to reasonable suspicion to justify the detention.

  • Rick