Yet another police detainment without probable cause

[Drache]

The plain-clothes asked what was going on. I explained that I was training for a hike and he asked if I had any ID. I replied that I did not.

At this point I was just trying to be nice and show him that I was not suspicious. That was when the questioning started. He asked my name, where I lived, how old I was, my birthdate, where I was hiking to, where I planned to hike and how far, what I had in the backpack and if I was carrying any weapons, explosives or bombs.

So far standard questions for someone who doesn't have ID. Nothing major. The questions about the hike are "trap" questions. Questions he can ask later on to see if he can catch you lying later on if they detain you. These are also normal. The questions about the weapons is also a normal question but could also be a clue to the type of call they received. The bomb question could have been what is called a "joke" question. Sometimes a cop will ask a person at a stop if they have any dead bodies or nuclear weapons in the trunk. A normal person will have a pretty weird reaction and might laugh at it. A guilty person will answer no with a straight face. I know a few cops who have used this to great effect.

He explained that they had received a couple calls and needed to check it out.

The officers received more than one call about a suspicious person. Either it was a case of mistaken identity (most likely) or people called you in for some unknown reason. The police were just responding to the calls.

I stood there trying to look as unsuspecting as possible, but made the mistake of putting my hands in my pockets. One of the officers on my left demanded in at firm voice that I keep my hands in plain sight.

Easy mistake to make that many people make.

An officer on my right asked that I put my arms up and proceeded to pat me down

Another clue that the calls were probably weapon related. The officers were being cautious.