Ken-
I agree it's very easy to debate this from the comfort/safety of our homes, and you never really know how you'll handle the situation until you find yourself in it. Having been unlawfully detained myself (see
http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum37/23008.html in the NH forum), I can attest to the fact that being uncooperative made my stop 20 minutes instead of the 5 minutes described by Dave.
If refusing to cooperate results in a 20 minute detention, but cooperating results in a 5 minute detention, why not cooperate? Because the detention never should have happened in the first place. If we simply give in and cooperate in order to save ourselves a little bit of time, we've conditioned the police that it's OK to detain people illegally, and we've conditioned ourselves to tolerate it.
Since it is a matter of personal preference, I will continue to be
uncooperative at each and every police encounter in the future, no matter the circumstances. If refusing to answer questions gets me arrested, either I've done something to be arrested for (in which case talking will not get me out of it), or I've been illegally arrested. In the case of the latter, I'll just have to hope the laws protecting me from civil rights violations and unlawful detention/arrest have teeth.
Tim