BTW, a bit of information from a MO prosecutors Handbook of sorts.
Scope of Detention – If Suspect Refuses to Give Name and Address, the Detention may Include
a Search for ID.
State v. Flynn , 92 Wis.2d 427, 285 N.W.2d 710 (1979). A police officer was told to patrol an
area for suspects in a just-completed burglary. Thirty minutes later he saw two men emerge
from an alley – one fit the description of the burglar. The one who fit ID’d himself, but the
other refused to do so, even after the officer explained the reason for the inquiry. The officer
frisked the detainee for a wallet, checked the ID, and found that a “pick-up” order was out for
him. The officer also found pliers and flashlight during the frisk. HELD: In Adams v. Williams
the Court stated that an officer may stop a person [upon reasonable suspicion] “in order to
determine his identity.” To accept defendant’s contention that the officer can stop the suspect
and request ID, but that the suspect can turn right around and refuse to provide it, would reduce
the authority of the officer . . . recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in Adams . . . to identify
a person lawfully stopped by him to a mere fiction. Unless the officer is given some recourse in
the event his request for ID is refused, he will be forced to rely either upon the good will of the
person he suspects or upon his own ability to simply bluff that person into thinking he actually
does have some recourse.” Using the 4th Amendment reasonableness test, the Court balanced
the need for the search against the invasion of personal rights that the search entails. The
intrusion was limited, the scope narrow – and the defendant could have avoided the intrusion by
simply producing the ID himself. Thus, the police action was justified, particularly when you
consider that if the officer lets the suspect go without even identifying him, and it later turns out
he was the perpetrator, locating him will be impossible. LaFave points out that the “right to
remain silent” under the 5th Amendment does not necessarily encompass an unlimited freedom to remain anonymous. LaFave , Volume IV at 304.
NOTE: If a state or municipality wants to make it a crime to refuse to provide identification after
being stopped on reasonable suspicion, it may do so. Such a law allows the officer to arrest
the uncooperative suspect once the suspect refuses to provide any ID. Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial
District , 124 U.S. 2451 (2004).