united-states criminal-law police
Is &quot;No, I got your IDs&quot; a valid reason to hold individuals during a voluntary stop?
<p>Last Friday night me and some friends were in the process of exiting a park (walking, not driving) in our neighborhood (in North Carolina). We were stopped and questioned by a cop. We (not quite knowingly voluntarily) surrendered our IDs. Immediately after handing them over, I asked if we were free to leave. The officer responded with "no, I got your IDs."</p>

<p>We did not realize that the encounter was a voluntary exchange until after we resolved the encounter because we were unsure whether we were trespassing or not and I was too nervous and scatter-brained to ask. We were unsure when the park closed. The incident occurred about half an hour before the park closed, but we were not sure when the park closed at the time and assumed the worst. The cop repeatedly told us that the park was closed, but I know that they can say anything they want in these scenarios.</p>

<p>Was the officer's reason valid to refuse my request to leave?</p>

<p>The minute a person asks "am I free to go" and an officer says "No". that person is being detained. However, that does not indicate whether the detention is lawful or reasonable. Nor does the question give enough facts to determine this. Nor does an officer have to explain exactly why a person is being detained. An officer can detain a person with "reasonable suspicion" that criminal activity is afoot. There can be other valid reasons. </p>

<p>If no criminal charges resulted, and the person was released within a fairly short time, it would be hard to take any action against the officer, even if the detention were not properly justified. </p>

<p>A person could file a complaint with the police department. That might or might not be at all likely to have any result, depending on the exact circumstances and the particular department. No law requires a police department to act on such a complaint.</p>

<p>While in theory a section 1983 suit could be filed, if the only damage was detention for a short period, it would probably cost more to file than any likely recovery.</p>
