Did he have to?
He wasn't doing anything suspicious. Pulling into a empty parking lot is hardly suspicious.He's a free citizen in a free country.
Without a clear reason to suspect something illegal, the cop had no right to conduct an FI the way he did. He could've approached with a "Hi, everything OK?" if he felt the need to approach at all.
Don't you start with me, punk! Oh, sorry. For a minute there I thought I was a St. Louis cop.
"He could've approached with a "Hi, everything OK?" if he felt the need to approach at all."
Yeah, you're right. I mean, if he was nice about about it, the kid might have been more cooperative, right? Something like:
1:07
Officer #1: How we doin? Whats going on?
Brett: Nothing.
Officer #1: Why you parkin here?
Brett: Cant I park here? Its a commuter lot right?
Officer #1: Yeah, but we have problems after midnight time. People break into cars. You got any ID on you?
Brett: Yeah, I do.
Officer #1: Can I see it please?
Brett: Did I do something wrong?
OK. Who's being nice? Who's explaining themselves?
And who's being the a$$hole?
"Without a clear reason to suspect something illegal"
The cop had reasonable suspicion. He even explained why to the punk (though he didn't have to).
You seem to have lots of other answers. I was hoping maybe you'd tell me why the punk was there?