Photographing a public place and asked to stop

[Tailgunner]

What would you bring to court? What would the issue be? The cop asked nosey questions which made you feel uncomfortable? THATS THE COPS JOB!

Unless you're brought in, what would bring you to court?

Ehhh... strictly speaking, I believe the job of the police is to enforce the law, not to ask nosey questions nor make the public feel uncomfortable, in fact I would think that would be rather counter-productive.

A cops job is to enforce the law to promote public safety. A big part of that is to investigate suspicious activities before laws are broken and public safety is at risk, sometimes that might come across as nosey, especially if the cop's interpretation about a situation is incorrect and the behavior turns out not to be suspicious at all.

If someone were taking photos of houses in your neighborhood, going into alleys taking snaps of backyards - don't you think you'd want the cops to start asking some questions? Certainly we all have the right to take photos of houses, but also the behavior is suspicious.

The police need to be able to ask questions and investigate legal activities that look suspicious, and as part of that investigation knowing who you are and if you are a registered sex offender.

Police Officers enforce the law, not make or break the law. The location in question is California which does not have "Stop and Identify" laws. So unless the OP is being Detained or Arrested, an officer, nor a Security Gaurd for that fact can't ask for their ID.

 

[unpopular]

^^^ this discussion about identification has nothing to do with the OP. Naturally a security guard has no right to demand ID under any circumstance.

OTOH, 'detainment' isn't some kind of status - it is any time that the person has a reasonable expectation that they cannot leave. A cop has the right to detain you under pretty broad circumstances - a 'reasonable suspicion' isn't even probable cause, and this is why it's important to ask if you are being detained - that way there is no question about what a 'reasonable person' might expect.

 

[Gavjenks]

Police Officers enforce the law, not make or break the law. The location in question is California which does not have "Stop and Identify" laws. So unless the OP is being Detained or Arrested, an officer, nor a Security Gaurd for that fact can't ask for their ID.

There is not a state law afaik, but I believe there could still be local municipal stop and identify laws for individual towns in California, which might still require you to answer, and could potentially prosecute you if you did not. I am not aware of any such local laws, but that doesn't mean they don't exist, and unless you explicitly check beforehand for every single town you hang out in, you still cannot fully guarantee yourself to not be convicted of a crime for not providing verbal identification when asked during a Terry stop.

If not identifying yourself by matter of principle is something you intend to make a habit of, even if detained, you should probably consult local attorneys if you want to be sure. Because this is a mixture just asking for all kinds of messiness: no state comment at all, no federal law, but yet judicial federal permission to stop and (probably) permission to vocally request ID. Could get super messy and you're treading on really thin ice.

 

[Steve5D]

Dan VanDeventer. Friend of mine, hired as a security guard. Filled out app, got hired, went to work the next day.

Dan Harrison. Friend of mine. Applied as a security guard at a mall in New York. Filled out the application, took a urinalysis, underwent a background check and a psychological examination. He was able to start work a when all results were obtained.

See, I can do it, too...

Now, do you want a comprehensive list of EVERYONE who was ever hired in the same fashion, whether I know them or not? I guess if you cannot accept first-hand experiences, then I guess there's no pleasing you.

If you can't provide an example refarding a reputable security company hiring people today (not "years ago" like in ol' Toby's case), it's okay to admit that you're ill-prepared to do that. If you can, I would be interested in reading about it. Because, honestly, we've become far too litigious for security companies to simply hire people on the basis of just an application.

Trotting out ol' Toby is hardly convincing...

 

[tirediron]

I think one turn around this particular road is enough.