Opinion
July 21, 1986
Appeal from the County Court, Suffolk County (Copertino, J.).
Judgment affirmed.
Probable cause is not a necessary predicate for all contact between the police and the citizenry in the course of an investigation (People v Finlayson, 76 A.D.2d 670, lv denied 51 N.Y.2d 1011, cert denied 450 U.S. 931), and the police may intrude upon a citizen in a public place for the purpose of requesting information, so long as such intrusion is not arbitrary, based on whim, curiosity or caprice or with an intent to harass (People v De Bour, 40 N.Y.2d 210). Of course, there must be an "articulable reason sufficient to justify" such a request for information (People v De Bour, supra, p 213), but such reason need not necessarily rest on any indication of criminal activities.
The record on appeal reveals that Officer Fitzgerald, although not observing any criminal activity, saw 15 to 20 people, in a high-crime location, standing around the defendant's car examining clothing and shoes. The trunk of the car was open and full of clothes and shoes with the store tags still attached to them. As Fitzgerald drove by, the defendant slammed the trunk shut, and the people began to disperse. At this point, the police officer clearly had an "articulable reason" to justify his decision to stop and conduct a limited inquiry of the defendant for the purpose of obtaining information as to where the clothes came from.
We have reviewed the defendant's other claims and find them to be without merit. Mangano, J.P., Gibbons, Bracken and Spatt, JJ., concur.