(A) Prohibition. A person shall not lurk, loiter or prowl in any place, at a time or in a manner not usual for law abiding individuals, under circumstances that warrant alarm for the safety of persons or property in the vicinity. Among the circumstances that may be considered in determining whether alarm is warranted is the fact that the person takes flight upon the appearance of a police officer, refuses to identify himself or herself, or endeavors to conceal himself or herself or an object.
(B) Authority to detain. A police officer may stop and briefly detain a person suspected of violating division (A) above if the person’s behavior reasonably causes suspicion of criminal activity. The officer’s reasonable suspicion must be based on objective, articulable facts and reasonable inferences drawn from all the circumstances surrounding the person’s behavior.
(C) Opportunity to dispel alarm.
(1) Unless flight by the person or other circumstances make it impracticable, a police officer must, prior to any arrest for a violation of division (A) above, allow the person an opportunity to dispel any alarm which would otherwise be warranted by requesting him or her to identify himself or herself and explain his or her presence and conduct. The person may identify himself or herself by presenting any of the following:
(a) A state-issued identification card or driver’s license containing the person’s photograph;
(b) An employer-issued identification card which verifies the person’s employment and includes the person’s photograph;
(c) A currently valid passport;
(d) A certified copy of the person’s birth certificate; or
(e) Verification of the person’s identity by another person who can establish his or her own identity by one of the documents listed above.
(2) An explanation of the person’s presence and conduct will be sufficient to dispel alarm if it shows that the person was engaging in and planning to continue engaging in, lawful activity consistent with his or her actions and all the circumstances surrounding his or her behavior.
(D) Requisites for conviction. A person may not be convicted of a violation of this section if:
(1) No police officer gave the person the opportunity provided in division (C) above to dispel the alarm created by his or her actions; or
(2) The finder-of-fact determines that the police officer should have accepted the person’s explanation as sufficient to dispel alarm.
(1992 Code, § 1085:10) (Ord. 1275, passed 3-4-2002) Penalty, see § 96.99