The following excerpt is from People v. Grullon, 2005 NY Slip Op 51707(U) (NY 10/24/2005), 2005 NY Slip Op 51707(U) (N.Y. 2005):
In the present case, while the police were authorized to investigate the shooting and to question witnesses about it, the police did not have the authority to force the defendant to remain in that location to answer questions. The power of law enforcement to detain citizens involuntarily is subject to Constitutional limits. In accordance with the Fourth Amendment, New York courts and the legislature have set forth a hierarchy of the authority of law enforcement to stop and detain criminal suspects, based on levels of suspicion. The first and least intrusive form of police action is a request for information, which is permissible as long as the police have some objective reason for the intrusion and are not acting on a whim or hunch (People v. DeBour, 40 NY2d 210, 223 [1976]). The second level is the common law right to inquire, under which a police officer with a "founded suspicion that criminal activity is afoot" may "interfere with a citizen to the extent necessary to gain explanatory
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