The following excerpt is from People v. De Bour, 352 N.E.2d 562, 386 N.Y.S.2d 375, 40 N.Y.2d 210 (N.Y. 1976):
In evaluating the police action we must consider whether or not it was justified in its inception and whether or not it was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which rendered its initiation permissible (People v. Cantor, 36 N.Y.2d 106, 111, 365 N.Y.S.2d 509, 514, 324 N.E.2d 872, 876). We bear in mind that any inquiry into the propriety of police conduct must weigh the interference it entails against the precipitating and attending conditions. By this approach various intensities of police action are justifiable as the precipitating and attendant factors increase in weight and competence. The minimal intrusion of approaching to request information is permissible when there is some objective credible reason for that interference not necessarily indicative of criminality (People v. De Bour, supra). The next
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