Can the cops do this? - General

I was outside with a friend, we were sitting in a parking lot of this building with our food. Suddenly private investigators came up to us and started asking questions, if we're from the building which the parking lot belong to. Then they asked for our ID and we didn't have any, and he said he could arrest us on those grounds? All we were doing was sitting down and eating food. Then he started yelling at us as we tried to leave, he asked what's inside our bags? Aren't they supposed to identify themselves, even if they're private investigators?

Technically you guys were loitering. And did you even ask for their badges, even P.I.s should have one.

He can detain you for questioning, or arrest your for loitering but that's pretty much it. [editline]04:53PM[/editline] Cops abuse their power, nothing new.

You were on private property so they can ask you to leave. You just got an asshole guy.

You were loitering, on private property, and didn't have an ID, yeah, he can arrest you. So you broke these three laws: *Loitering *Trespassing *Lack of Identification. [editline]05:57PM[/editline] And yes, you should have asked for their badge. [QUOTE=Mac2468;23833200]Cops abuse their power, nothing new.[/QUOTE] "Hurr cops doing their job is abuse of power, hur durr"

They don't have to identify themselves.

[QUOTE=Mac2468;23833200]He can detain you for questioning, or arrest your for loitering but that's pretty much it. [editline]04:53PM[/editline] Cops abuse their power, nothing new.[/QUOTE] They weren't abusing their power, they were loitering, he definitely could of taken them in for it, especially without the IDs.

Ask them if you're being detained and if you're not, don't consent to a search. And if you're not sure if he's a real cop or anything, ask for is badge. Don't let him strip you of your 5th amendment. They can't search you LEGALLY without a warrant or hard evidence of suspicious activity (there are exceptions to that but i'm not sure if loitering is one of them), but cops are power hogs so yeah. And i'm pretty sure if they search you illegally, you can get your lawyer/person who represents you in court to throw out the evidence because he searched you while stripping you of your 5th right (I'm not trying to imply that you do have anything illegal). Please correct me if I'm wrong on this, i'd like to know, too

Private Investigators probably can't do anything, they're civilians. They're not part of the police and definitely aren't cops.

Eh, I used to support cops, but I've yet to encounter a cop that I've liked. I guess it comes with years of service that you just become a suspicious asshole from being stepped on and lied to and having the system screw you over when you know you're right. I can sympathize with the police but some can be major dicks regardless. One time a cop tried to say I was loitering because I was sitting at the train for two trains to pass that were literally packed to the walls and he wanted me to get on, I was like "Okay, sure" and walked really slowly to the train until the doors closed and said "oops." He wasn't happy but even so, there's no signs displayed that say no loitering at the train stops, and no rules saying you can't wait for the next train.

[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;23833265] *Lack of Identification.[/QUOTE] Since when was not having ID a crime?

No. They need to show you ID, they can only tell you to move on.

[QUOTE=FrontFuze;23833136]I was outside with a friend, we were sitting in a parking lot of this building with our food. Suddenly private investigators came up to us and started asking questions, if we're from the building which the parking lot belong to. Then they asked for our ID and we didn't have any, and he said he could arrest us on those grounds? All we were doing was sitting down and eating food. Then he started yelling at us as we tried to leave, he asked what's inside our bags? Aren't they supposed to identify themselves, even if they're private investigators?[/QUOTE] Depends, you say cops then you say they're private investigators. Sounds like they where just some private company rather then local/state government police officers. If they're civilians they can't do shit tbh, but you got away so it don't really matter. Sounds like you ran in too just some regular assholes.

I'm sure there's more to the story here guys, don't just say he was loitering and breaking the law... Did you work there? If so were you on your lunch break? Not loitering. If not, are you even over 18? I didn't even have a way in hell to GET an ID until i turned 18, so you can't go to jail for that, you are a minor and don't even have access to an ID, let alone own one. I do agree with one part though, when he asked you what was in the bags, you should have said show me some badges and THEN you can search away. More than likely it was some punks trying to trick you into giving them your bags so they could get lucky with some ipods or something...Yeah, should have asked for badges.

[QUOTE=CoolCorky;23833456]Since when was not having ID a crime?[/QUOTE] depends where you live

Sounds to me like some people trying to scam someone out of their stuff.

[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;23833667]depends where you live[/QUOTE] Anywhere but North Korea and probably a Trident Submarine

[QUOTE=CoolCorky;23833456]Since when was not having ID a crime?[/QUOTE] Since a couple weeks ago. At least in arizona it is.

Did you know that you're not legally trespassing until the owner of the land/area tells you to leave?

So you can go stand in a strangers house until they ask you to leave?

I was sitting alone playing with a cigarette in my hand waiting for my friends to arrive and suddenly 3 cops search me for weed it's funny how cops love to ignore their actual duty

If the parking lot wasn't fenced in you could argue that you believed it was for public use and would likely get out of a trespassing charge should you end up with one. But it's a moot point because private investigators and rent-a-cops can't do shit.

[QUOTE=samwilki;23834121]So you can go stand in a strangers house until they ask you to leave?[/QUOTE] Well, yeah because until they know you're there there's nothing they can do about it.

In Northern Ireland, and your catholic, you don't tend to like cops at all but cops aren't allowed to do a search without your consent or Hard evidence P.S not being offensive to protestants, it's just that the cops in my area don't like Catholics but let anybody else away. :colbert:

It actually sounds like they worked for that building you were outside of and they were suspicious you were trying to do something illegal on their property. If it were Private Investigators, then they weren't police officers and unless they were specifically hired by the police force, have no authority. Also by arresting you, he probably meant call in his cop buddies to arrest you for loitering. Sounds to me like the guy was just giving you shit.

[QUOTE=samwilki;23834121]So you can go stand in a strangers house until they ask you to leave?[/QUOTE] What if you're deaf? Does that mean you can trespass and use the excuse "I didn't hear him"

He can definitely not 'interrogate' you without an adult present.

First, always ask to see their badge and a slip with their badge number, deters them from abusing their power, never consent to a search(They could plant shit), and to the people saying they were loitering, where did he say he was just throwing the trash on the ground?

[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;23833265]You were loitering, on private property, and didn't have an ID, yeah, he can arrest you. So you broke these three laws: *Loitering *Trespassing *Lack of Identification. [editline]05:57PM[/editline] And yes, you should have asked for their badge. "Hurr cops doing their job is abuse of power, hur durr"[/QUOTE] Needing an ID when you're just walking around? What is this City 17?

Are you a minor? And was the building the store you bought your food from?