why are police officeris allowed to ask you for ID even if you have done nothing wrong?

Question

i was a passenger in a car and my friend got pulled over for speeding. i was told to hand over my ID also, when i refused cuz i felt i did not do anything wrong i was told that i could go do jail for failure to provide ID and that is true here in AZ. i don't understand this, since he had no reason to ask for my ID. and no i don't have any warrents, i work for law enforcement. i just think that this is going to far with the rights of these officers to just harrass people for the sake of it.

hold on people, this was an honest question meant to get an honest answer, their actions are not limited to people in cars, they are stopping people who are walking down the street and bothering them. i know this because i work in the jail (civicilan) and i see these people come in all the time. they come in on trumped up charges alot of the time. and officers are giving bogus reasons for pulling people over. just because you are hispanic does not make you illegal and you should not be targeted. just because you are black with braids does not make you a gang member or drug dealer and you should not be targeted. i don't think this is right on any level. what ever happened to the rights of the people against this sort of thing. i don't remember having passengers in cars checked up on years ago, this just started within the last 10 years or so, my question is why?

Answer 1

I can almost guarantee you live in Maricopa County (Phoenix). The reason I say that is that I am a licensed bail bond agent and have bailed out many for the charge of "Failure to Show Identification/Driver's License to Law Enforcement Officer".

However, according to current federal law (and I apologize but I am quoting Wikipedia because it does explain it well; link below).

"Unless an individual locality (city, town, county, township, etc.) has passed a "stop and identify" statute, persons stopped in states not listed above are seemingly still not obligated to identify themselves when detained by police."

The Supreme Court Case this refers to is Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada. Again, I quote, "The Hiibel case does not compel a person to show identification to a police officer upon demand. As of 2005, Americans are not compelled to carry identification (unless they are driving a car or performing another action that requires a license in that state).

The Hiibel case does not create a federal law that requires a person to give his or her name to a police officer upon request; it merely rules that states may issue such a law, and such a law is not unconstitutional. If a state does not have such a law, then people in that state are not required to give their names."

Most police officers get around this by saying they have probable cause or are doing a "warrant check". So far, in Arizona, they have been getting away with this. Check out the link to see what states actually have a law on stop and identify statutes.

The Hiibel case only applies when a person is detained due to a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. If no such reasonable suspicion exists, the person is not required to provide his or her name.

Answer 2

A police office can stop anyone and ask for an ID. What most people don't understand is, if they aren't doing anything wrong they do not have to provide ID, nor do they even have to stop and speak to the officer. Most people will provide ID out of consideration as, no matter what people may think, a majority of police officers are trying to do a good job. Now, here lies the problem from a police officers and the laws point of view. If the police officer can articulate and prove that the person they have stopped for walking down the street (terry stop) was most likely up to something, they have a right to stop and question them. IE a group of 3 young men/women are standing in a group, in a high crime area, acting suspiciously or making furitive movements, becoming nervous when the police approach and appearing to hide something, the police can approach, ask for ID and CAN do a brief frisk for weapons if the officer can explain why he thought that the person may be armed. Now, this frisk can only be done on the outside of the clothing with no manipulation of the clothing as this is not a search for drugs, but a search for weapons.
So, the long and the short of it is, you can refuse to show ID or even speak to an officer as that is your right, but only if the officer can not articulate as to why he is approaching for a Terry stop and frisk.
Ref people in a car, this is a bit different matter as a car is one of the few places you can carry out a warrentless search. Can the passenger still refuse to show ID? Yes, in some states and now in others, but youre opening up a whole can of worms as the officer, if he can articulate it, can preform and search of the car which would require you to show ID anyway. Not only that, you end up risking the fact that the person driving, if not arrested for something, will probably end up with more tickets that they would have.
So, moral of story is, you dont have to show ID all the time, but I wouldnt suggest it

Answer 3

Because you are in the car, you are traveling with a law breaker. That would be like if your driving a van and stop, and a guy covered in blood pops out the back and throws some garbage bags full of body parts on the curb and a cop sees, then saying hay HE is the one covered in blood I did nothing wrong, leave me alone.


There are many real reasons for this. What if your a known narco terrorist and are having a new recruit drive you while you transport cocaine across the border to fund your militia in columbia? What if your 'friend' has no record but you happen to be a missing person told to shut up and not say a thing or you will be shot? They took the time to stop the speeding car, they might as well be though in ensuring the saftey of all people, including you. It is there job.

Answer 4

The Police State structure has been slowly put into place for the last century in the US. UCLA just had an arab student get repeatedly Tasered in their library for failure to provide an ID, its all over you tube (thank god for cell phone cameras). Its just going to get worse and worse until people wake up to where the push is coming from.

Answer 5

You were in a car where the driver was speeding.. The officer has the right to know who was in the car for there own protection.So why fight it.. do you really want to go to jail. just becasue you are being stubborn ..Maybe they are on the look out for someone who has done something.. ever think about that.. crime is high all over the place.

Answer 6

Because the government can require you to identify yourself at any time upon their request. That is it, plain and simple.

You say you don't have any warrents, but how would the police know that unless they check your ID. Yes, some police may take it too far, but the vast majority don't.

Answer 7

A police officer can ask you for you ID at any time...The reason is to check your background and see if you have any outstanding warrants against you... If you refuse to provide ID, that gives the police probable cause that you do have warrants and they can arrest you... When they find out that there are no warrants, they will simply let you go...

Answer 8

Passenger is a speeding car in a southern border state and you don't believe that the Police Officer who was arresting your "friend" had the authority to ask you for identification, huh? So tell me, as a visitor, what do you think of this planet?

Answer 9

Once pulled over, a cop can ask all passengers for ID. If you are in that situation in the fuure, politely ask WHY instead of refusing.

Answer 10

It's a matter of public safety. I've been followed just because of my features and had my license plate run. If we lived in some places, we would have had to carry our government issued passport and hand it over at any time when asked. When I lived in Europe, that was common in some places. I can't tell you how many times I had to hand it over and I just kept it on me at all times because it would be illegal to not have it.