YouTube Shorts is throwing me in a rabbit hole of policeman seemingly overstepping the boundaries when stopping citizens for a routine check. The discussions often revolve around asking and not wanting to show their ID (“unless you can tell me what crime you accuse me of”). Is there a particular reason why they’re so hesitant to present their ID to the police officer? It only seems to escalate the situation. In Belgium I don’t see the harm in showing my ID when I’m stopping by a police officer. (added url as an example)
That’s true, but they have “qualified immunity” so there’s basically no consequences for them to just make shit up to get your ID anyway. When it’s their turn in front of the judge they’ll play the “glassy/bloodshot eyes + odor of alcohol/weed” card, and the most you can really hope for is them getting suspended with pay.
It’s a bullshit RAS and everyone knows it, but it gets them past the “reasonable” part of “unreasonable search and seizure” so no 4th amendment rights are technically violated and it’s practically impossible to prove otherwise. Until bodycams can capture smell, there’s really no way around it.
You’d be risking a misdemeanor charge, jail time, and time/energy/money spent on dealing with court just to avoid a small inconvenience. And refusing to ID in those states is basically begging them to search your car too, so despite how blatantly unjust it is, it’s really not worth it.