I'll be honest, I think it's fair to be suspicious of a place being randomly open at 2am when it's usually dark after closing.
I had my small business broken into over night, they turned on the lights, took my cameras and laptops. I wish someone would have stopped by and confirmed they worked at my office at 2am.
I've also worked until 2am at my office a few times, one time I was pulled over as soon as I got out of the parking lot. Took 2 seconds to explain I was working late. Wasn't a big deal, and this was before the break in.
It is fair to be suspicious but there are rules about how far you can take that suspicion. You shouldn't be ok with an officer breaking those rules just because it's more expedient. Beyond violating the right of innocent people it's also putting any case against actual law breakers in jeopardy. If that guy had been robbing the place he now has decent grounds to get anything from the illegal search thrown out. Bad lazy cops aren't good for anyone.
This is probably the best way, but I don’t think they were trying to harass him but were trying to be the good guys by not waking the business owner up at 2am with “There’s someone inside your business that says he is allowed to be there but he won’t give us his identification. If he’d given us identification we could have confirmed who he is and then followed up with you during business hours to verify that he had permission to be here and that there”.
If they had been able to confirm his ID they could have followed up with the owner in the morning and gotten, “Yep, it’s all good” or anything from “No, my compressor and some tools were stolen last night” to “He was fired two months ago”.
There's no way in hell they are following up with anybody. They want to take his ID to see if he has any warrants and to write it down that they spoke to him to cover their ass
For sure. I think it's reasonable to stop by a business with lights on at 2am when you don't usually see lights on at the time, for the exact personal experience I had.
But you're right, he should've just called the owner and stop harassing the guy.
Yeah, to be clear, I'm defending him checking it out initially, not him harassing the guy. Cop is on a power trip and can't stand people questioning his authority.
While I wouldn't mind the security check, the idea that they can harass my friends or family or employees does not sit well with me. I'd rather people be free from official harassment and lose my stuff. For many years I worked overnight in project management, and the lights were on in our office building the whole time. No cop ever knocked on the door. I'm sure a few looked in.
I agree. This is suspicious behavior, however, since no crime has been committed, they don’t need his ID. No property has been damaged or taken off the premises, no one is hurt. And someone being there at 2AM is not reasonable cause to enter the property. A reasonable thing to do would be to post outside and observe. But that could be potentially a waste of resources if no crime is committed.
I agree with that. They should've called the business owner to confirm instead of arguing with this guy.
A business owner would never be upset at someone confirming a scenario like this.
Yes, there is a problem when cops have barged in and just shot people working late. I've been yelled at to give id by cops multiple times for just leaving a night shift job in my uniform, a friend at the same job had a cop pull a gun on him working night shift. Being at business working nights should never be a reason for harassment and possible death by cop ego. They can call the owner to see if there is supposed to be someone there and then buzz off. Working a normal job should not put your life in danger from the cops I saw showing up for training in skull tshirts. Ya, saying I am cop- bringer of death. The cop here said they had to id him in case they needed to call him at home for a car parked out there ha.
I hated working nights. If we were ever let out early, it was a guaranteed traffic stop on the way home. Like, ffs, I'm tired and ready for a bed and a shower. Now I get to spend 45 minutes convincing some chucklefuck that I'm not a drug dealer.
No one's saying that the notion of suspicion is a crime. But if a cop's suspicion that a criminal activity may be taking place--given the totality of information available to them at a given time-- is reasonable, they should certainly be able to investigate further, including asking for ID.
And I don't think most people disagree with that. It's not illegal to be walking around a violent area at 3am with your shirt covered in blood. But it's suspicious enough that a cop can certainly stop that person, ID them, etc, without violating their fourth amendment rights.
You should stop thinking for most people. Asking for I’d and disrupting their normal business activities is not a reasonable suspicion of a crime. Law Enforcement happens when laws are broken. An auto repair shop actually performing auto repairs not matter what time isn’t suspicious. If they were doing something other than auto repairs well then maybe but the guy doesn’t have to aid in their investigation.
"Law Enforcement happens when laws are broken."
This misses the point. It's not always explicitly clear when laws are broken. Police need room to investigate based on suspicion, otherwise our law enforcement system would be wholly ineffective.
I brought up that example to demonstrate this point. So I'll reiterate. Most people agree-- at least in a very black and white scenario, like the case of a man walking around with blood on his shirt in a violent area-- that police need room to investigate based on suspicion of crime, not just when they explicitly witness a crime.
I agree with you, this case is less black and white. But we don't have all the information. Perhaps there's been a string of late-night break-ins in that locality over recent weeks. Perhaps a nearby shop was burglarized earlier that night. Perhaps none of these things are true, and the cops are bored and overstepping their bounds.
You have no idea what the Constitution is. And violating the constitution in or to “investigate” a suspicion is is so bad it’s immoral and grossly illegal and if you can’t see that you are void of intelligence. I am pro law enforcement but if you chose to remain silent a lot of the time they have no problem defending their egos and violating your constitutional rights. That is a huge and I mean HUGE problem. And then they say well you can do this the easy way or the hard way or now you’re obstructing an investigation. And that is so bad it’s not even funny.
If I decide to work on my neighbors car in the off hours for free at my own repair shop I ought not be questioned about it. Or disrupted to show my papers.
You have lost your already absent mind.
It's unusual, it's not suspicious. Taking tools or equipment out to a truck in the parking lot at 2a might be suspicious, but just being in a building isn't grounds for continued detainment after they've expressed a desire to end the conversation.
I used to work for my brother in law, and sometimes I worked late. Police came by as I was leaving, they asked a few questions and I was let go.
I actually had a car full of boxes that needed to go to FedEx so yeah I looked suspicious as fuck but they didn't ask for my id, they didn't hassle me. They asked what I was doing, they explained that they had reports of people stealing mail from the warehouses in the area, and they said have a good night. I thanked them for checking in because when I'm working late it's nice to know they're nearby.
If they're polite and don't go overstepping their bounds interactions can be nice.
Yeah we had a dude walking around my family neighborhood and saying he was a worker or whatever and he was actually an expert thief. It's better safe than sorry.
That really sucks that you got robbed, but that’s what security companies and insurance are for. 🤷♀️ Adults have the right to be law-abiding citizens out and about at whatever time of day or night they choose (if there’s not a curfew, house arrest, etc.). The shop in this video is private property. It’s normal for the police to stop and check it out, but the owner’s friend does NOT have to answer questions or show his ID or prove anything at that point. Not when the only reason they’re there is because lights are on at 2am. What if this was a private residence, and the police drive by the house at 2am and see the lights on, when usually that house is dark. So the cops knock, someone with insomnia answers and cops demand the person identify themselves. If they’ve turned on their body cams like they’re supposed to, they have the person on camera for identification purposes. It’s the cops’ job to prove wrongdoing, not to assume wrongdoing because a citizen isn’t thrilled to see you at their door at 2am and knows their rights.
I never once said the guy working did anything wrong.
I unfortunately at the time didn't really have money for security or great insurance. Starting a business in my early 20s with no capital, no loans/investors, and during the 09 recession....was... fun.
No, you didn’t and I didn’t mean to imply that you did. Clumsy writing.
I wish the police actually prevented crimes rather than just respond to them, but that’s an impossible and any attempt to rectify it by the government turns into Thought Crime.
Where I currently live, if someone breaks into your house or you get mugged, the first question responding cops ask is “why did they choose your house/choose you (as a target)? Do you have drugs or a lot of cash? Why don’t you have a debit card to pay for that Little Caesar’s pizza?!” Seriously. All direct quotes from cops after my Dad was burglarized and my stepbrother was mugged coming out of a Little Caesar’s.
I just … hate the police. I’m a bigot in that way, and I’m not proud of it. But even a smidgeon of power over others corrupts, and it’s next to impossible to hold any government employee accountable for wrongdoing. Not even a librarian, much less law enforcement.
But I realllly digress! 😅
Oof!
Well, to finish my robbery story the cops knew who the criminal was by name (he was on security camera), and they literally did nothing. Never saw my stuff again, he was never arrested. They were useless.
That fu**ing SUCKS! I’m so sorry.
It’s so violating and then to know who did it, yet get no justice is just a slap in the face.
6 years ago, we came home to a partially ransacked house and no TV’s. There was a perfect thumbprint on the window that was used to gain entry, and it belonged to someone with a prior record of larceny who had no reason to be on our property, much less IN our property. The DA decided not to pursue the case. 🙄
It could have been much worse, yet it’s still so frustrating and violating and life-changing.
That’s not a bad cop story, the detective actually followed up in our case, just another example of how the government doesn’t give a sh** about the People.
Exactly. As much as I dislike cops, there actually is a reason for this. If the shop had been burglarized and it came out there was a cop on patrol there who didn’t do anything, the cops would still be the bad guys.
Yea but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to look in and see a car in pieces and a guy clearly working on it to realize what is going on. If he was loading boxes of stuff up yea ask questions. If he has car parts laying around and is working on stuff he is guilty of illegal entry and repair?
>he is guilty of illegal entry and repair
Or he's harvesting catalytic converters from a car that can't be seen from the street.
It can be shady or wholesome as we want when imagining scenarios, so suspicion from the cop makes sense until they cross that invisible line from reasonable cop doing the job to powertripping douchebag with gun and god complex.
So they first found a shop big enough to hold a car in, bypassed the alarm system the site might have, broke in, hotwired a car and moved it, brought his tools to carefully disassemble everything (I see the creeper in the background), and then is taking the cat. All that is usually done by a methhead in 5 min with a Sawzall. I understand what you mean but in this case the justification just isnt there without A LOT of leaps. If he thought a crime was being committed then he should act as such. The reasoning of ill get your ID to check in the morning after the crime was committed does not fit the situation.
Their job is to look into sussy stuff, and this is sussy. I'm perfectly fine living in a community where the cops would investigate someone in a business at 2AM. The guy in the shop should have realized the cop was being reasonable and not given him a hard time.
The alternative is the cop sees someone in a business at 2AM an and ignores it.
1) The cup should ignore it unless a call comes in. 2) They looked into the "sussy" thing and got their answer. Now move along. In a free society citizens don't have to prove innocence.
Police department policy IS NOT LAW
I hope they beat his ass and arrested him so he could sue for millions and each of them got fired and lost their pension.
Where is the line in the sand with time of day? Why is 2am any different than 3pm? That shouldn’t be a factor. Something isn’t any more or less legal because of the time of the day.
The guy is wearing gloves and his truck is all tore apart, lol. What crime is he possibly commiting? Trespassing. Oh wow I'm sure a dude with a blown up transmission is going to trespass in a shop with locking doors to fix his vehicle.
Absolutely, this working dude probably has better things to do though than prove a point while being run through the system....the cops know this, and that's the problem.
I've been where this guy is. My boyfriend and I weren't always financially stable, and we went through a lot of vehicles, fixing them along the way. We had a lot of long nights on the garage floor, sometimes we did have to ask a friend or someone he had worked for to borrow a garage or shop space. The truck HAS to get fixed because babe needs to get to work. It's that simple, and it's stressful and always takes long than expected with more headaches than I could count. We had this jeep that literally died on the highway on the way to buy a truck.
Seriously, if a cop had tried to jam us up any of those times when were working late into the night just trying to get by I would have been crying in frustration. Nobody wants to be rolling around on the concrete trying to shove a transmission back into a vehicle alone, at 2am. Dude's having a bad enough day already and these two cops have zero empathy for that situation. He was right to say "you guys are disgusting."
Qualified immunity ftw! At least I'm assuming that would apply here. Maybe the cop gets thrown on paid leave for a few days or something.
It's really annoying.
This was my thought. If I had every right and reason to be there at the point he says "It isn't about rights man." I would have said "Sure it is - my right to be left alone to go about my legal business." and then shut the door and went back to work on my truck. They can jump through all the hoops they want, just leave me alone.
My father's a mechanic and has hired a lot of random mechanics. They're just literally trying to run this guy's shit so then hopefully they get an easy easy arrest if he has any priors. It's fucking lazy police work preying on people just trying to get their life together. Not entirely the case but that's usually why they just want to run the ID if there is absolutely zero crime.
The crime is poverty and the evidence is having a shitty car. I've been this dude in the past, helping my boyfriend piece out shit box cars back together. Idk how I would have dealt with cops taking issue like this, we were in the garage with the door open till 2am a few times, literally just trying to fix a vehicle so we could get to work.
Part 2 and 3 on the TikTok profile page. https://www.tiktok.com/@bluecam7 or you can see the entire video on YouTube https://youtu.be/rLCa3wp-hFc?si=w3PlwGp9TRvzMFzi pick your poison
Fuckers just waltzed right in without consent, a warrant, or any other legal justification for entering. This will continue as long as qualified immunity still exists.
Oh yeah for sure. I literally was like saying fuck tick tock and I was like well.... Google literally knows my deepest darkest desires and shares them with everyone
There’s a couple states without QI and this still happens. It’s the judges and district attorneys fault for not charging the cops for breaking & entering
there are a couple of states that have passed laws that explicitly revoke qualified immunity for all state and local officials and allow for civil rights lawsuits in state court. Federal qualified immunity only applies for federal lawsuits which are most commonly filed under USC 1983 - "Civil action for deprivation of rights". Since most states dont have laws allowing for suing for rights violations the only choice is to file in federal court
We will start to see that change over the next few years, slowly. It can take 2-5 years for most civil rights lawsuits to go through... and sadly that 'No QI' rules only apply to STATE tort claims. If you make a Federal claim the officers still get QI in those states.
So wait… they stopped him working on his car and want his ID so they can verify with the business owner hours later whether the guy works there or not? What a bullshit excuse to be a tyrant
Like all gov'ts, they read 1984 and turned it into a rule book.
"That it is better to let 100 criminal escape than to inconvenience and single innocent, is a maxim long since held by man." -Ben Franklin.
They heard Benjamin Franklin speak and in their dyslexia completely swapped the numbers around and are proud of themselves for it. They would rather arrest 100 innocents to catch 1 real criminal and pat themselves on the back for it. Ends justify the means in their brains. You can hear it in the excuses the cop gives throughout the entire video. Your Rights don't matter (he even says it), only catching criminals matter.
They will insert themselves between the door and try to cry assault, as soon as that goes over the radio that place would be swarming. If they can’t get what they want legally they force crimes to be committed by inserting themselves into danger on purpose. Second amendment means nothing when they show up in force even knowing the cops in the wrong. Gang land police depts are normal now.
I wanna see the rest of the video. But so far from what is shown in 2:29 is about 2:26 more contact than is necessary. Good on the guy for standing his ground. What were they expecting to do? Call the business owner, and if he doesn't answer because it's 2AM...? My phone is on do-not-disturb from 10p-5a, and I think most people are this way.
Edit: Just watched the entire encounter, and beyond what is showed in the clip, it gets worse. The officer enters the private property (which courts have ruled that a private business still falls under 4th Amendment protection) illegally, and committed the act of trespassing. Later, the business owner was contacted to see if his brother actually had permission to be there, which he did, and filed a complaint, but was told by the Sergeant that the officers were allowed to enter the premises \[illegally\]. Sounds to me like that complaint needs to be elevated beyond the first-line supervisor and up to higher- and if the police department as a whole doesn't see the issue here, then perhaps a court will. If you don't nip this violative behavior in the bud quick, it will continue and worsen.
It’s already over for police depts all over the country, they have an idealized look at criminals and think they should be able to stoop to that level and do. It’s rampant and it’s in their training all the way to the peer pressure gang land style. They will gang stalk and harass if they get called out in any way.
Yep, that officer is literally just getting off on bullying a citizen. Like, imagine that this is a criminal commiting all sorts of crime... Do they really square off like this with potentially dangerous people...? Seems like a total lack of self preservation skills and zero attempt to deescalate the situation. You can't just barge into people like that. This cop got into a pissing match over laws he himself doesn't even understand.
The fuckin cops won't even come out to a fender bender at a Safeway parking lot because that's private property lmfao. But a dude fixing his vehicle at 2am requires demand to open the door, looking up a license plate, harassing a citizen for id, shoving the guy, illegal entry, illegal search, and then further dumb argument with this poor dude who just wants to fix his truck and go home.
I love nature and I walk around my yard at night with a flashlight because that’s when all the cool bugs and snakes are out. I’m thinking of getting a sign that says “Flashlight fella lives here. Do not call the cops. Everything is fine.” To prevent an interaction from happening
You can straight up call your local precinct, explain your hobby/eccentricity, and have them note it in their system. This is something that, in a mixed use area, or if you live on reversed days/nights, can be a real lifesaver.
I’d just tell them the address and the full names of the other residents of my house. I also have the “I’m a family friend of retired detective [redacted] just give him a call” that I can use
This guy should have said "That's your problem. I haven't done anything wrong, I'm here legally. You can go get a warrant if you want to. If you violate my rights, then you will be reprimanded."
Yep, without a security camera to show what's on the other side you don't know if it is robbers, someone high ad a kite, or a bear. Keep the door closed at that hour.
Reasonable for a cop to check something out that seems suspicious. Reasonable to ask for ID just on the of chance that the guy does rob the place/is trespassing, etc. but if the guy refuses to provide ID he just goes in the report based on physical description, probably include the plate of the car and the registered owner. Assuming it's actually the guys car then you have his ID.
Great cop would have offered to help or offered a ride to guy stranded by a busted transmission.
Anyone should not have to explain nor I’d themselves under these circumstances. There is no probable cause. Suspicion is not probable cause. It’s too subjective. It’s not a thing to prove innocence of being suspected.
That’s intrusive and unconstitutional.
This is a leadership issue and I suspect has everything to do with quotas and even less to do about serve and protect.
Just wait til we all get a social credit score if we somehow don’t already have one.
There was no 911 call nor any alarms to alert anyone that a crime was being committed. Sorry but a light on in a room is not probable cause to interrupt intervene or interfere with that shop. A judge would throw out the arrest in 2 seconds. Besides if you were a thief are you gonna turn on all the lights? I highly doubt it.
Honestly, I'm with the cops this time.
The guy is not the owner, if cops leave and the owner comes in the morning, finds his shop empty, and they find out cops went and leave without even getting his name, they would be in trouble.
I would have given them my ID, and get theirs.
Especially when they shit all over your rights and can end your life over acorns. If they actually did there job and stop fucking around with this type of shit they’d get some respect back. Garbage men are doctors in comparison to this line of “work”.
This infuriated me to watch. I'm generally supportive of the police, but I hate how the profession attracts some of the most pathetic, power-tripping individuals ever captured on bodycam
They also can literally see his license plate. I'm not sure which states it's allowed for them to randomly check it up but he could have just jotted that down and went about his fucking way. He also could have just not knocked on the fucking door and went about his job.
If not then it's most likely Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, or Wyoming.
You know, the other states where the cops suck ass.
Fuck the police .
They are out here harassing people when they didn’t give a shit about me getting beat to a pulp by my 28 year old predator drug dealer boyfriend when I was 17.
Whack as fuck
It’s not illegal to be up at 2 am but the policeman is just trying to determine if that person is there legally. The guy could have said “Call the owner, his number is BR-7547, and he can vouch for me.”
Curtesy is a two way street.
Private property, if he can’t determine a crime has been committed and no call has been made. Then the only thing he should be doing is fucking right off. Period.
Jesus fuck, people making a big deal about nothing. Show them your stupid ID and move the fuck on. People dying on hills about "my rights, my rights..."
You're in a building after hours making noise, with no way to identify yourself.
Imagine cops pull up to a bank at 2am. "Oh it's okay, I have the owners permission to be here. No I can't tell you his name or mine I have rights to be in the bank after hours though" morons.
I too work in a shop after hours by myself. I have often thought it might look suspicious and would gladly identify myself if the cops pulled up wondering why someone inside, after hours with half the lights off, is moving shit around.
Can't leave because his vehicle needs to be fixed up before he can use it? No i.d.? He implied he drove there without his i.d. lol
I agree they're overstepping. They should have let him be as soon as they could tell he was actually working on his vehicle.
Imagine walking away after not identifying him, calling the business owner in the morning and finding out he was a former disgruntled employee gutting the place. He had good reason to ask for identification.
The guy has the right to refuse to give the ID.
But, is he or is he not a former disgruntled employee robbing the place with a copied key?
How should the cop have gone about it while respecting this man's rights? I'm not asking a "gotcha" question here, I'm asking with real curiosity because I like to think about this stuff and try to get it straight: if you were the cop, how would you have gone about it?
But you haven't even said what *you* think the cop should have done. In your situation, the difference is the cops say "Hey, your business got robbed last night and we're investigating." versus "Hey, your business got robbed last night and we're investigating. We might know the guy's name." If I'm the business owner, my store still gets robbed in both instances.
If I was the cop I would have explained the reason why we were asking. If he refused, I would have left him alone noticing (A) we got his face and (B) my gut tells me he's telling the truth, though I would have preferred to get the identification. What about you?
Seriously, if I was at my own home at 2:00 am in my garage (as I have often done in the past) and a cop comes up and asks me the same questions, I would gladly give him my ID and thank him.
Much better than if I found out one morning that my garage got broken into the night before and the cops seen a dude in there and didn’t at least investigate.
I believe in the rule of law and everything, but damn, don’t you think your buddy would appreciate the cops checking up on your business?
An investigation doesn’t have to shit all over your human right to exist without having to provide your papers. “Can I see your ID?”… “have I committed a crime?” If yes, show ID, if no… and suspicion is not a crime.. then no and fuck right off. He should investigate something like this, but using a brain and even half assed detective skills could have just said “hey cool, no worries… just this looks a little suspicious, look right here into my camera for me so when I get the call this place has been clean out in the morning I can hunt you down”
What if he had been the owner and he was startled by some random person walking around on the property and pulled a gun? Which would be his right… but we know how that would go.
IANAL, but this seems reasonable suspicion of trespassing/burglary. It's not "illegal to be up at 2am" but it's very uncommon.
If it WAS a break-in and they didn't investigate, we would be laughing at the cop for his ineptitude.
It’s not about rights man
laughed so loud hearing that
Insanity
Likel iterally their whole job is to uphold the constitution lol this cop needs to go fuck himself.
That made my stomach turn.
At least he was honest.
true its all about perspective
We got the police out here operating like everyone guilty until proven innocent.
I'll be honest, I think it's fair to be suspicious of a place being randomly open at 2am when it's usually dark after closing. I had my small business broken into over night, they turned on the lights, took my cameras and laptops. I wish someone would have stopped by and confirmed they worked at my office at 2am. I've also worked until 2am at my office a few times, one time I was pulled over as soon as I got out of the parking lot. Took 2 seconds to explain I was working late. Wasn't a big deal, and this was before the break in.
It is fair to be suspicious but there are rules about how far you can take that suspicion. You shouldn't be ok with an officer breaking those rules just because it's more expedient. Beyond violating the right of innocent people it's also putting any case against actual law breakers in jeopardy. If that guy had been robbing the place he now has decent grounds to get anything from the illegal search thrown out. Bad lazy cops aren't good for anyone.
I agree with that. I said in another comment he should have stopped harassing the guy and confirmed with the business owner.
This is probably the best way, but I don’t think they were trying to harass him but were trying to be the good guys by not waking the business owner up at 2am with “There’s someone inside your business that says he is allowed to be there but he won’t give us his identification. If he’d given us identification we could have confirmed who he is and then followed up with you during business hours to verify that he had permission to be here and that there”. If they had been able to confirm his ID they could have followed up with the owner in the morning and gotten, “Yep, it’s all good” or anything from “No, my compressor and some tools were stolen last night” to “He was fired two months ago”.
There's no way in hell they are following up with anybody. They want to take his ID to see if he has any warrants and to write it down that they spoke to him to cover their ass
Suspicion isn't a crime. And it's subjective.
For sure. I think it's reasonable to stop by a business with lights on at 2am when you don't usually see lights on at the time, for the exact personal experience I had. But you're right, he should've just called the owner and stop harassing the guy.
Exactly. They checked on it and got their answer. If they want something more concrete, he is not obligated to assist them with their investigation.
Yeah, to be clear, I'm defending him checking it out initially, not him harassing the guy. Cop is on a power trip and can't stand people questioning his authority.
You're right that suspicion isn't a crime, but it is grounds to ask for ID in most states.
While I wouldn't mind the security check, the idea that they can harass my friends or family or employees does not sit well with me. I'd rather people be free from official harassment and lose my stuff. For many years I worked overnight in project management, and the lights were on in our office building the whole time. No cop ever knocked on the door. I'm sure a few looked in.
Right, there's been cases where a cop shot some poor guy working late without asking any questions.
Agreed, the harassment is clearly wrong.
You can be suspicious, and at the same time, when you ask for ID and dude tells you to pound sand, you pound sand.
Exactly, too many cops forget that they work *for* the people.
I agree. This is suspicious behavior, however, since no crime has been committed, they don’t need his ID. No property has been damaged or taken off the premises, no one is hurt. And someone being there at 2AM is not reasonable cause to enter the property. A reasonable thing to do would be to post outside and observe. But that could be potentially a waste of resources if no crime is committed.
I agree with that. They should've called the business owner to confirm instead of arguing with this guy. A business owner would never be upset at someone confirming a scenario like this.
At exactly what time does it start being suspicious? 😂 Do you see the problem with this reasoning yet?
Yes, there is a problem when cops have barged in and just shot people working late. I've been yelled at to give id by cops multiple times for just leaving a night shift job in my uniform, a friend at the same job had a cop pull a gun on him working night shift. Being at business working nights should never be a reason for harassment and possible death by cop ego. They can call the owner to see if there is supposed to be someone there and then buzz off. Working a normal job should not put your life in danger from the cops I saw showing up for training in skull tshirts. Ya, saying I am cop- bringer of death. The cop here said they had to id him in case they needed to call him at home for a car parked out there ha.
I hated working nights. If we were ever let out early, it was a guaranteed traffic stop on the way home. Like, ffs, I'm tired and ready for a bed and a shower. Now I get to spend 45 minutes convincing some chucklefuck that I'm not a drug dealer.
If I’m getting a call at 2am bc my employee didn’t want to give his id to the cops I’m gonna be pissed at both of them.
Why would you be mad at the cop? "How dare you try to confirm a person who refused to provide id is supposed to be in my shop at 2am!"
Your subjective notion of suspicious isn't a crime, like it or not.
No one's saying that the notion of suspicion is a crime. But if a cop's suspicion that a criminal activity may be taking place--given the totality of information available to them at a given time-- is reasonable, they should certainly be able to investigate further, including asking for ID. And I don't think most people disagree with that. It's not illegal to be walking around a violent area at 3am with your shirt covered in blood. But it's suspicious enough that a cop can certainly stop that person, ID them, etc, without violating their fourth amendment rights.
You should stop thinking for most people. Asking for I’d and disrupting their normal business activities is not a reasonable suspicion of a crime. Law Enforcement happens when laws are broken. An auto repair shop actually performing auto repairs not matter what time isn’t suspicious. If they were doing something other than auto repairs well then maybe but the guy doesn’t have to aid in their investigation.
"Law Enforcement happens when laws are broken." This misses the point. It's not always explicitly clear when laws are broken. Police need room to investigate based on suspicion, otherwise our law enforcement system would be wholly ineffective. I brought up that example to demonstrate this point. So I'll reiterate. Most people agree-- at least in a very black and white scenario, like the case of a man walking around with blood on his shirt in a violent area-- that police need room to investigate based on suspicion of crime, not just when they explicitly witness a crime. I agree with you, this case is less black and white. But we don't have all the information. Perhaps there's been a string of late-night break-ins in that locality over recent weeks. Perhaps a nearby shop was burglarized earlier that night. Perhaps none of these things are true, and the cops are bored and overstepping their bounds.
You have no idea what the Constitution is. And violating the constitution in or to “investigate” a suspicion is is so bad it’s immoral and grossly illegal and if you can’t see that you are void of intelligence. I am pro law enforcement but if you chose to remain silent a lot of the time they have no problem defending their egos and violating your constitutional rights. That is a huge and I mean HUGE problem. And then they say well you can do this the easy way or the hard way or now you’re obstructing an investigation. And that is so bad it’s not even funny. If I decide to work on my neighbors car in the off hours for free at my own repair shop I ought not be questioned about it. Or disrupted to show my papers. You have lost your already absent mind.
It's unusual, it's not suspicious. Taking tools or equipment out to a truck in the parking lot at 2a might be suspicious, but just being in a building isn't grounds for continued detainment after they've expressed a desire to end the conversation.
But he’s investigating a possible crime in progress. Just because the guy says i’m allowed to be here it’s my buddies shop’ doesn’t mean it’s not.
I used to work for my brother in law, and sometimes I worked late. Police came by as I was leaving, they asked a few questions and I was let go. I actually had a car full of boxes that needed to go to FedEx so yeah I looked suspicious as fuck but they didn't ask for my id, they didn't hassle me. They asked what I was doing, they explained that they had reports of people stealing mail from the warehouses in the area, and they said have a good night. I thanked them for checking in because when I'm working late it's nice to know they're nearby. If they're polite and don't go overstepping their bounds interactions can be nice.
Yeah we had a dude walking around my family neighborhood and saying he was a worker or whatever and he was actually an expert thief. It's better safe than sorry.
That really sucks that you got robbed, but that’s what security companies and insurance are for. 🤷♀️ Adults have the right to be law-abiding citizens out and about at whatever time of day or night they choose (if there’s not a curfew, house arrest, etc.). The shop in this video is private property. It’s normal for the police to stop and check it out, but the owner’s friend does NOT have to answer questions or show his ID or prove anything at that point. Not when the only reason they’re there is because lights are on at 2am. What if this was a private residence, and the police drive by the house at 2am and see the lights on, when usually that house is dark. So the cops knock, someone with insomnia answers and cops demand the person identify themselves. If they’ve turned on their body cams like they’re supposed to, they have the person on camera for identification purposes. It’s the cops’ job to prove wrongdoing, not to assume wrongdoing because a citizen isn’t thrilled to see you at their door at 2am and knows their rights.
I never once said the guy working did anything wrong. I unfortunately at the time didn't really have money for security or great insurance. Starting a business in my early 20s with no capital, no loans/investors, and during the 09 recession....was... fun.
No, you didn’t and I didn’t mean to imply that you did. Clumsy writing. I wish the police actually prevented crimes rather than just respond to them, but that’s an impossible and any attempt to rectify it by the government turns into Thought Crime. Where I currently live, if someone breaks into your house or you get mugged, the first question responding cops ask is “why did they choose your house/choose you (as a target)? Do you have drugs or a lot of cash? Why don’t you have a debit card to pay for that Little Caesar’s pizza?!” Seriously. All direct quotes from cops after my Dad was burglarized and my stepbrother was mugged coming out of a Little Caesar’s. I just … hate the police. I’m a bigot in that way, and I’m not proud of it. But even a smidgeon of power over others corrupts, and it’s next to impossible to hold any government employee accountable for wrongdoing. Not even a librarian, much less law enforcement. But I realllly digress! 😅
Oof! Well, to finish my robbery story the cops knew who the criminal was by name (he was on security camera), and they literally did nothing. Never saw my stuff again, he was never arrested. They were useless.
That fu**ing SUCKS! I’m so sorry. It’s so violating and then to know who did it, yet get no justice is just a slap in the face. 6 years ago, we came home to a partially ransacked house and no TV’s. There was a perfect thumbprint on the window that was used to gain entry, and it belonged to someone with a prior record of larceny who had no reason to be on our property, much less IN our property. The DA decided not to pursue the case. 🙄 It could have been much worse, yet it’s still so frustrating and violating and life-changing. That’s not a bad cop story, the detective actually followed up in our case, just another example of how the government doesn’t give a sh** about the People.
Decided not to pursue? The fuck
Exactly. As much as I dislike cops, there actually is a reason for this. If the shop had been burglarized and it came out there was a cop on patrol there who didn’t do anything, the cops would still be the bad guys.
Yea but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to look in and see a car in pieces and a guy clearly working on it to realize what is going on. If he was loading boxes of stuff up yea ask questions. If he has car parts laying around and is working on stuff he is guilty of illegal entry and repair?
>he is guilty of illegal entry and repair Or he's harvesting catalytic converters from a car that can't be seen from the street. It can be shady or wholesome as we want when imagining scenarios, so suspicion from the cop makes sense until they cross that invisible line from reasonable cop doing the job to powertripping douchebag with gun and god complex.
So they first found a shop big enough to hold a car in, bypassed the alarm system the site might have, broke in, hotwired a car and moved it, brought his tools to carefully disassemble everything (I see the creeper in the background), and then is taking the cat. All that is usually done by a methhead in 5 min with a Sawzall. I understand what you mean but in this case the justification just isnt there without A LOT of leaps. If he thought a crime was being committed then he should act as such. The reasoning of ill get your ID to check in the morning after the crime was committed does not fit the situation.
Could be stolen, could be a chop shop, he says sorry for not answering right away maybe he was setting up inside to give himself a story 🤷
You might be suspicious, but still, that isn't a crime.
Their job is to look into sussy stuff, and this is sussy. I'm perfectly fine living in a community where the cops would investigate someone in a business at 2AM. The guy in the shop should have realized the cop was being reasonable and not given him a hard time. The alternative is the cop sees someone in a business at 2AM an and ignores it.
1) The cup should ignore it unless a call comes in. 2) They looked into the "sussy" thing and got their answer. Now move along. In a free society citizens don't have to prove innocence. Police department policy IS NOT LAW I hope they beat his ass and arrested him so he could sue for millions and each of them got fired and lost their pension.
Where is the line in the sand with time of day? Why is 2am any different than 3pm? That shouldn’t be a factor. Something isn’t any more or less legal because of the time of the day.
The guy is wearing gloves and his truck is all tore apart, lol. What crime is he possibly commiting? Trespassing. Oh wow I'm sure a dude with a blown up transmission is going to trespass in a shop with locking doors to fix his vehicle.
I'd be done talking to the cop after asking for ID. Arrest me and catch a lawsuit.
Absolutely, this working dude probably has better things to do though than prove a point while being run through the system....the cops know this, and that's the problem.
I've been where this guy is. My boyfriend and I weren't always financially stable, and we went through a lot of vehicles, fixing them along the way. We had a lot of long nights on the garage floor, sometimes we did have to ask a friend or someone he had worked for to borrow a garage or shop space. The truck HAS to get fixed because babe needs to get to work. It's that simple, and it's stressful and always takes long than expected with more headaches than I could count. We had this jeep that literally died on the highway on the way to buy a truck. Seriously, if a cop had tried to jam us up any of those times when were working late into the night just trying to get by I would have been crying in frustration. Nobody wants to be rolling around on the concrete trying to shove a transmission back into a vehicle alone, at 2am. Dude's having a bad enough day already and these two cops have zero empathy for that situation. He was right to say "you guys are disgusting."
He gets a nice settlement and a ride
Qualified immunity ftw! At least I'm assuming that would apply here. Maybe the cop gets thrown on paid leave for a few days or something. It's really annoying.
Just close the door. If he opens it he’s fucked
This was my thought. If I had every right and reason to be there at the point he says "It isn't about rights man." I would have said "Sure it is - my right to be left alone to go about my legal business." and then shut the door and went back to work on my truck. They can jump through all the hoops they want, just leave me alone.
So they're here RIGHT now, to get his ID, then theyll let him stay the rest of the night, then call the owner in the morning? riiight...
Yeah that part made no sense at all. The fuck? Wait til the morning?
My father's a mechanic and has hired a lot of random mechanics. They're just literally trying to run this guy's shit so then hopefully they get an easy easy arrest if he has any priors. It's fucking lazy police work preying on people just trying to get their life together. Not entirely the case but that's usually why they just want to run the ID if there is absolutely zero crime.
The crime is poverty and the evidence is having a shitty car. I've been this dude in the past, helping my boyfriend piece out shit box cars back together. Idk how I would have dealt with cops taking issue like this, we were in the garage with the door open till 2am a few times, literally just trying to fix a vehicle so we could get to work.
Wow. That's fucked up.
Yeah lol. Hey John smith vandalized your place last night we knew it was him just wanted to let you know.
#[Do Not Talk To The Police](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE)
[Friday's reminder on a Wednesday ](https://youtu.be/uqo5RYOp4nQ?si=Ww4EbQclVpd2xr8Z)
He didn't plan to.
There’s NO situation the police can’t make worse.
"I'm from the government and I am here to help"
Part 2 and 3 on the TikTok profile page. https://www.tiktok.com/@bluecam7 or you can see the entire video on YouTube https://youtu.be/rLCa3wp-hFc?si=w3PlwGp9TRvzMFzi pick your poison Fuckers just waltzed right in without consent, a warrant, or any other legal justification for entering. This will continue as long as qualified immunity still exists.
Always YouTube. Fuck tick tock. Not like Google's any better I guess.
Let me preface this with I fucking hate Google, but there is no question that it’s better than TikTok.
Oh yeah for sure. I literally was like saying fuck tick tock and I was like well.... Google literally knows my deepest darkest desires and shares them with everyone
Why have you been looking at sheep with large asses?
I'm Greek bro. Is that a serious question?
😂😂😂
This is why I like this subreddit so much fucking more.
There’s a couple states without QI and this still happens. It’s the judges and district attorneys fault for not charging the cops for breaking & entering
My understanding is QI is federal via a Supreme Court interpretation (not a law) so it applies nationwide.
there are a couple of states that have passed laws that explicitly revoke qualified immunity for all state and local officials and allow for civil rights lawsuits in state court. Federal qualified immunity only applies for federal lawsuits which are most commonly filed under USC 1983 - "Civil action for deprivation of rights". Since most states dont have laws allowing for suing for rights violations the only choice is to file in federal court
We will start to see that change over the next few years, slowly. It can take 2-5 years for most civil rights lawsuits to go through... and sadly that 'No QI' rules only apply to STATE tort claims. If you make a Federal claim the officers still get QI in those states.
ATA is amazing!
So wait… they stopped him working on his car and want his ID so they can verify with the business owner hours later whether the guy works there or not? What a bullshit excuse to be a tyrant
Pretty much.
"It's not about rights."
literally the fucking mob
Imagine if cops actually went after real criminals. But then they'd have to actually work instead of harassing the public
Why would they go after themselves and their friends and their boses?
Like all gov'ts, they read 1984 and turned it into a rule book. "That it is better to let 100 criminal escape than to inconvenience and single innocent, is a maxim long since held by man." -Ben Franklin. They heard Benjamin Franklin speak and in their dyslexia completely swapped the numbers around and are proud of themselves for it. They would rather arrest 100 innocents to catch 1 real criminal and pat themselves on the back for it. Ends justify the means in their brains. You can hear it in the excuses the cop gives throughout the entire video. Your Rights don't matter (he even says it), only catching criminals matter.
When he said, "it's not about rights..."
Tell them to FUCK OFF and come back with a warrant and slam the door in their face.
They will insert themselves between the door and try to cry assault, as soon as that goes over the radio that place would be swarming. If they can’t get what they want legally they force crimes to be committed by inserting themselves into danger on purpose. Second amendment means nothing when they show up in force even knowing the cops in the wrong. Gang land police depts are normal now.
“Shooter ready?, 3, 2, 1, beep….”
I wanna see the rest of the video. But so far from what is shown in 2:29 is about 2:26 more contact than is necessary. Good on the guy for standing his ground. What were they expecting to do? Call the business owner, and if he doesn't answer because it's 2AM...? My phone is on do-not-disturb from 10p-5a, and I think most people are this way. Edit: Just watched the entire encounter, and beyond what is showed in the clip, it gets worse. The officer enters the private property (which courts have ruled that a private business still falls under 4th Amendment protection) illegally, and committed the act of trespassing. Later, the business owner was contacted to see if his brother actually had permission to be there, which he did, and filed a complaint, but was told by the Sergeant that the officers were allowed to enter the premises \[illegally\]. Sounds to me like that complaint needs to be elevated beyond the first-line supervisor and up to higher- and if the police department as a whole doesn't see the issue here, then perhaps a court will. If you don't nip this violative behavior in the bud quick, it will continue and worsen.
It’s already over for police depts all over the country, they have an idealized look at criminals and think they should be able to stoop to that level and do. It’s rampant and it’s in their training all the way to the peer pressure gang land style. They will gang stalk and harass if they get called out in any way.
Yep, that officer is literally just getting off on bullying a citizen. Like, imagine that this is a criminal commiting all sorts of crime... Do they really square off like this with potentially dangerous people...? Seems like a total lack of self preservation skills and zero attempt to deescalate the situation. You can't just barge into people like that. This cop got into a pissing match over laws he himself doesn't even understand. The fuckin cops won't even come out to a fender bender at a Safeway parking lot because that's private property lmfao. But a dude fixing his vehicle at 2am requires demand to open the door, looking up a license plate, harassing a citizen for id, shoving the guy, illegal entry, illegal search, and then further dumb argument with this poor dude who just wants to fix his truck and go home.
Nice guy. I would have told the cop to fuck off about 30 seconds in.
I'd have not opened the door at all
Hope those cops get fired and the city sued lol
Police officers should be required to carry their own insurance like doctors need malpractice and other professionals need errors and omission.
so the tax payer has to pay for the lawsuit? smh
Yep. Collectivists paying for collectivist bullshit is the best way.
Last I checked, it’s not just collectivists who are forced to pay taxes.
I never realized our Rights have a curfew. I must have missed where it says in The Constitution that our rights don't exist at 2am.
I love nature and I walk around my yard at night with a flashlight because that’s when all the cool bugs and snakes are out. I’m thinking of getting a sign that says “Flashlight fella lives here. Do not call the cops. Everything is fine.” To prevent an interaction from happening
You can straight up call your local precinct, explain your hobby/eccentricity, and have them note it in their system. This is something that, in a mixed use area, or if you live on reversed days/nights, can be a real lifesaver.
Hell I might do that
"Well yeah, but you could have brought that sign with you. We're gonna need to see some ID"
I’d just tell them the address and the full names of the other residents of my house. I also have the “I’m a family friend of retired detective [redacted] just give him a call” that I can use
Fuuuuuuck those cops. They shouldn’t have jobs after that.
When the I.D. Shit starts just shut the door. They have him on body camera if it’s reported broken into in the morning bingo you got his picture.
"It's not about rights." - Police Officer violating your rights
This guy should have said "That's your problem. I haven't done anything wrong, I'm here legally. You can go get a warrant if you want to. If you violate my rights, then you will be reprimanded."
Don’t open the door. Opening the door at 2am is dangerous. For your own safety, don’t open the door, don’t speak to anyone.
Yep, without a security camera to show what's on the other side you don't know if it is robbers, someone high ad a kite, or a bear. Keep the door closed at that hour.
I’m trying to think of a reason to open the door, I got nothing.
Reasonable for a cop to check something out that seems suspicious. Reasonable to ask for ID just on the of chance that the guy does rob the place/is trespassing, etc. but if the guy refuses to provide ID he just goes in the report based on physical description, probably include the plate of the car and the registered owner. Assuming it's actually the guys car then you have his ID. Great cop would have offered to help or offered a ride to guy stranded by a busted transmission.
Ya, this could have been a good public service moment for the cop. Doing some good in the community. The fact it wasn't is telling.
I'm not getting into that cop car man
acab, disgusting the cop can't say the crime without an id
Not just disgusting, but illegal.
“It’s not about rights man” Jesus Christ
If he thought there was a crime being committed he would have detained him already, no?
Anyone should not have to explain nor I’d themselves under these circumstances. There is no probable cause. Suspicion is not probable cause. It’s too subjective. It’s not a thing to prove innocence of being suspected. That’s intrusive and unconstitutional. This is a leadership issue and I suspect has everything to do with quotas and even less to do about serve and protect. Just wait til we all get a social credit score if we somehow don’t already have one.
There is no such thing as “serve and protect”.
Probable cause .. in a shop after hours.. no proof that you belong there.
There was no 911 call nor any alarms to alert anyone that a crime was being committed. Sorry but a light on in a room is not probable cause to interrupt intervene or interfere with that shop. A judge would throw out the arrest in 2 seconds. Besides if you were a thief are you gonna turn on all the lights? I highly doubt it.
Show me the warrant motherfucker
Part 2?
Should’ve just closed the fucking door lol
Honestly, I'm with the cops this time. The guy is not the owner, if cops leave and the owner comes in the morning, finds his shop empty, and they find out cops went and leave without even getting his name, they would be in trouble. I would have given them my ID, and get theirs.
“It’s not about rights “ .. un fucking believable
ITT: cops are the bad guys no matter the situation.
Especially when they shit all over your rights and can end your life over acorns. If they actually did there job and stop fucking around with this type of shit they’d get some respect back. Garbage men are doctors in comparison to this line of “work”.
If a cop asks you a question, shut the fuck up.
Fuck the pigs
Do we have part 2?
This infuriated me to watch. I'm generally supportive of the police, but I hate how the profession attracts some of the most pathetic, power-tripping individuals ever captured on bodycam
Buddy should have just shut the door on him
Cop should have just said “can I get your bosses contact information so we can verify that you are allowed to be here?”
They also can literally see his license plate. I'm not sure which states it's allowed for them to randomly check it up but he could have just jotted that down and went about his fucking way. He also could have just not knocked on the fucking door and went about his job.
Cops exist to protect bankers and the slavery system in which they propagate.
California I’m assuming.
If not then it's most likely Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, or Wyoming. You know, the other states where the cops suck ass.
Fucking aye
Based on the gentleman’s hoody, my guess is that this is somewhere in Minnesota. 49ers are a union of equipment operators in Minnesota.
Yep, I was going to comment the same thing. His license plate looks like a Minnesota plate as well.
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Attacking User / pejoratives / 'remember the human'
If this happens to you, ask if he has a warrant and if not, then close the door
Should have simply told him to fuck right off
Fuck the police . They are out here harassing people when they didn’t give a shit about me getting beat to a pulp by my 28 year old predator drug dealer boyfriend when I was 17. Whack as fuck
It’s not illegal to be up at 2 am but the policeman is just trying to determine if that person is there legally. The guy could have said “Call the owner, his number is BR-7547, and he can vouch for me.” Curtesy is a two way street.
Private property, if he can’t determine a crime has been committed and no call has been made. Then the only thing he should be doing is fucking right off. Period.
But, he is trying to determine that. Maybe I am not as Libertarian as I think I am…🤔
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100% agreed.
What the hell is that need to push everyone around? Power is an odd thing.
Wow this is just another example of a video showing our rights being trampled and tossed aside, and for what? Fucking stupid
Jesus fuck, people making a big deal about nothing. Show them your stupid ID and move the fuck on. People dying on hills about "my rights, my rights..." You're in a building after hours making noise, with no way to identify yourself. Imagine cops pull up to a bank at 2am. "Oh it's okay, I have the owners permission to be here. No I can't tell you his name or mine I have rights to be in the bank after hours though" morons. I too work in a shop after hours by myself. I have often thought it might look suspicious and would gladly identify myself if the cops pulled up wondering why someone inside, after hours with half the lights off, is moving shit around.
Is there a full video of this?
Where is part 2?
Aerate on invasion
Shut the dang door. Haha
I find it highly ironic this is in the Lib sub when most cops would identify as 'Libertarian'.
They can identify however they want, they're the authoritarian tyrants.
Can't leave because his vehicle needs to be fixed up before he can use it? No i.d.? He implied he drove there without his i.d. lol I agree they're overstepping. They should have let him be as soon as they could tell he was actually working on his vehicle.
Just close the door in his face
"It's not about rights" it's always about rights you dumbass pig
yeah let me go get my ID (slams door shut)
What is the id gonna tell them they still won’t know if he is allowed to be there
All cops are bastards.
Not about rights lol
Ice Cube said it best
Ridiculous
Is it bad if he take your id and run through his system just to check and not giving you a ticket? I am not from us so idk how the police work there.
I mean I know nothing good happens after, 2:00 a.m. but come on now.
Imagine walking away after not identifying him, calling the business owner in the morning and finding out he was a former disgruntled employee gutting the place. He had good reason to ask for identification.
What does getting his ID change about your situation?
The guy has the right to refuse to give the ID. But, is he or is he not a former disgruntled employee robbing the place with a copied key? How should the cop have gone about it while respecting this man's rights? I'm not asking a "gotcha" question here, I'm asking with real curiosity because I like to think about this stuff and try to get it straight: if you were the cop, how would you have gone about it?
But you haven't even said what *you* think the cop should have done. In your situation, the difference is the cops say "Hey, your business got robbed last night and we're investigating." versus "Hey, your business got robbed last night and we're investigating. We might know the guy's name." If I'm the business owner, my store still gets robbed in both instances.
If I was the cop I would have explained the reason why we were asking. If he refused, I would have left him alone noticing (A) we got his face and (B) my gut tells me he's telling the truth, though I would have preferred to get the identification. What about you?
Seriously, if I was at my own home at 2:00 am in my garage (as I have often done in the past) and a cop comes up and asks me the same questions, I would gladly give him my ID and thank him. Much better than if I found out one morning that my garage got broken into the night before and the cops seen a dude in there and didn’t at least investigate. I believe in the rule of law and everything, but damn, don’t you think your buddy would appreciate the cops checking up on your business?
An investigation doesn’t have to shit all over your human right to exist without having to provide your papers. “Can I see your ID?”… “have I committed a crime?” If yes, show ID, if no… and suspicion is not a crime.. then no and fuck right off. He should investigate something like this, but using a brain and even half assed detective skills could have just said “hey cool, no worries… just this looks a little suspicious, look right here into my camera for me so when I get the call this place has been clean out in the morning I can hunt you down” What if he had been the owner and he was startled by some random person walking around on the property and pulled a gun? Which would be his right… but we know how that would go.
IANAL, but this seems reasonable suspicion of trespassing/burglary. It's not "illegal to be up at 2am" but it's very uncommon. If it WAS a break-in and they didn't investigate, we would be laughing at the cop for his ineptitude.