Asymmetric demands for ID
Recent events have focused attention on the asymmetry of police demands for ID:
Government agents demand that ordinary citizens provide evidence of our identity, even when we are exercising rights — such as traveling by common carrier — that don’t depend on our identity. But those same government agents typically refuse to provide the same sort of evidence of their identity, even when they are asserting claims to authority that depend on their identity and status as law enforcement officers.
Masked, armed gangs dressed in the mismatched assortment of military-surplus clothing that characterizes “militias” in failed states are snatching people off the streets of US cities and towns and taking them away in unmarked vehicles, some with no license plates.
Meanwhile, elected politicians and their family members were recently assassinated in their homes by a masked individual in a police-like costume who arrived in a police-like vehicle with flashing blue lights.
The law doesn’t require us to obey the orders, or refrain from defending ourselves or others against, anyone who claims to be an officer of the law. But as the law stands, whether we submit or resist, we do so at our own peril.
Any kidnapper or home invader could, and some do, stencil “POLICE” on their body armor and shout “Police!” before breaking down doors or dragging people away. Rent-a-cops often dress and carry gear designed to make them appear as much like police as possible. Convincing movie-prop badges are available online or in costume and fetish shops.
In these circumstances, verifying the identity and claim to authority of people who might or might not be police can be a matter of life or death. If they aren’t police, and we go along, we could lose our chance at self-defense or escape. But if they are police, they might shoot us if we try to resist, escape, or help others to do so. If we survive the initial encounter, we might be charged with assaulting an officer — a charge that often leads to beatings or worse by police and jailers, even before a defendant makes it to trial.
18 US Code § 111 makes it a Federal felony to “forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, or interfere with” any Federal law enforcement officer. But what if you can’t tell if an apparent kidnapper or home invader is a Federal law enforcement officer? And what evidence of their identity and status is sufficient to establish their authority and your duty not to resist or impede them?