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  • "none of your business, officer"

    From RichD@21:1/5 to All on Thu May 12 10:40:33 2022
    Yesterday, in a restaurant, I saw a person bleeding on
    his face. Pouring down one side, apparently a scalp
    wound, he didn't appear seriously injured.

    Murphy's law, there was a cop inside, on break, I guess
    the Dunkin Donuts was closed. He saw this, approached
    the man, started the questioning.

    Now what if he responds, "a little accident, I got nothing
    to say, piss off." Does the cop have any right to harass
    him? Official contact entails two criteria: a reasonable
    belief that a crime has been committed, and reason to
    believe the person is a suspect.

    Can he detain the injured party, in the situation described?

    --
    Rich

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  • From Rick@21:1/5 to All on Thu May 12 21:46:54 2022
    "RichD" wrote in message news:[email protected]...

    Yesterday, in a restaurant, I saw a person bleeding on
    his face. Pouring down one side, apparently a scalp
    wound, he didn't appear seriously injured.

    Murphy's law, there was a cop inside, on break, I guess
    the Dunkin Donuts was closed. He saw this, approached
    the man, started the questioning.

    Now what if he responds, "a little accident, I got nothing
    to say, piss off." Does the cop have any right to harass
    him? Official contact entails two criteria: a reasonable
    belief that a crime has been committed, and reason to
    believe the person is a suspect.

    Can he detain the injured party, in the situation described?

    --
    Rich

    Based just on the information provided, no. But let's say the cop got a
    report of a crime being committed in the area and a suspect on the run
    matching the general description of the person, then you'd have a different situation.

    --

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  • From Roy@21:1/5 to RichD on Thu May 12 22:28:22 2022
    On 5/12/2022 10:40 AM, RichD wrote:
    Yesterday, in a restaurant, I saw a person bleeding on
    his face. Pouring down one side, apparently a scalp
    wound, he didn't appear seriously injured.

    Murphy's law, there was a cop inside, on break, I guess
    the Dunkin Donuts was closed. He saw this, approached
    the man, started the questioning.

    Now what if he responds, "a little accident, I got nothing
    to say, piss off." Does the cop have any right to harass
    him? Official contact entails two criteria: a reasonable
    belief that a crime has been committed, and reason to
    believe the person is a suspect.

    Can he detain the injured party, in the situation described?

    --
    Rich


    I believe there is an exception for an injured person All injuries may
    mot be visible. Certainly a few questions to ascertain if a person has suffered a concussion, stroke, or other problems with reasoning should
    be allowed especially with a head injury. My wife had a stroke about a
    month ago and for the first few hours in the ER, she was questioned
    every 15-20 minutes or so with questions like: What is your name, what
    is your birth date. do you know where you are, count backwards from 100
    by sevens.

    I could easily envision a scenario where the person is so drunk that
    they fell down and hit their head. The person could be detained where
    the officer thinks they are a danger to themselves or others

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  • From Rick@21:1/5 to Roy on Fri May 13 07:51:28 2022
    "Roy" wrote in message news:t5kpt4$una$[email protected]...

    On 5/12/2022 10:40 AM, RichD wrote:
    Yesterday, in a restaurant, I saw a person bleeding on
    his face. Pouring down one side, apparently a scalp
    wound, he didn't appear seriously injured.

    Murphy's law, there was a cop inside, on break, I guess
    the Dunkin Donuts was closed. He saw this, approached
    the man, started the questioning.

    Now what if he responds, "a little accident, I got nothing
    to say, piss off." Does the cop have any right to harass
    him? Official contact entails two criteria: a reasonable
    belief that a crime has been committed, and reason to
    believe the person is a suspect.

    Can he detain the injured party, in the situation described?

    --
    Rich


    I believe there is an exception for an injured person All injuries may mot >be visible. Certainly a few questions to ascertain if a person has
    suffered a concussion, stroke, or other problems with reasoning should be >allowed especially with a head injury. My wife had a stroke about a month >ago and for the first few hours in the ER, she was questioned every 15-20 >minutes or so with questions like: What is your name, what is your birth >date. do you know where you are, count backwards from 100 by sevens.

    I could easily envision a scenario where the person is so drunk that they >fell down and hit their head. The person could be detained where the
    officer thinks they are a danger to themselves or others

    That's a valid point. I would amend my response to say if the officer
    believes the person to be impaired and to pose a possible risk to himself or others, he can definitely and probably should step in.

    --

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