Do Police Officers Have To Identify Themselves?

[JTFrog]

http://www.slate.com/id/2223379/?GT1=38001

And other Henry Louis Gates Jr. arrest questions, answered by the Explainer.
By Brian Palmer
Posted Wednesday, July 22, 2009, at 5:07 PM ET

What's proper police protocol?Prosecutors dropped all charges against Henry Louis Gates Jr. on Tuesday. The prominent Harvard professor had been charged with disorderly conduct after breaking into his own home in Cambridge, Mass. This bizarre episode, which some say is an example of racial profiling—Gates is African-American—raises all sorts of questions for the Explainer.

Gates repeatedly requested the arresting officer's name and badge number. Gates says the officer provided neither, although the officer claims that he did, in fact, state his name. Was the officer required to provide this information?

Yes. Massachusetts law requires police officers to carry identification cards and present them upon request. Officers are also required to wear a "badge, tag, or label" with their name and/or identifying number. The law is aimed at precisely the situation in question—suspects who feel their rights are being violated. Few other states impose this requirement on their officers as a matter of law, but many individual police departments, such as the New York Police Department, have adopted it as a matter of policy.

Gates initially refused to emerge from his home and provide identification. Was he required to?

No. There's nothing to stop an officer from requesting your presence on the front porch or asking you questions, but he cannot force you to identify yourself or come out of your house without probable cause. (The rules are different for drivers and immigrants, who are required to provide identification upon request.) If you don't feel like chatting, ask the officer whether you are free to go about your business. If he answers no, you are being detained, which means the officer must acknowledge and abide by your full menu of civil rights, including the famous Miranda warnings.

[omega minimo]

1. He didn't "break into his own home." He entered from the rear and went to examine the front door.

[MercutioATC]

2. I believe the "probable cause" in this case was the breaking and entering complaint.

Crowley was responding to a report of a crime. I'm not an attorney, but I'd bet that an officer has the right to identify people at the scene of a suspected crime.

That said, asking Gates to step out of the house and asking him if there was anybody else in the house are protocol. That protocol exists to protect both the officer and the civilian. I can't think of a reasonable explanation for anybody refusing to comply.

[JTFrog]

3. Have you read the police report?

http://www.scribd.com/doc/17512830/Gates-Police-Report

He never really seemed to suspect him of anything other than not being polite to him for demanding he prove he live in his own house.

[MercutioATC]

4. I love the internet!

Online police reports FTW!

Whether he actually suspected that Gates was an intruder or not, Crowley was required to investigate the complaint. To do so, he had to verify the identity of the person inside the residence.