The majority of interactions between citizens and university police officers are voluntary contacts, often initiated at the request of a citizen. Those contacts include filing routine police reports, asking for help in starting a car or retrieving keys locked inside a car, attending crime prevention programs, consulting with an officer concerning specific safety issues, and meeting with officers to discuss community concerns. Contacts also include planning special events such as concerts or parties, or working together to plan community responses to serious emergencies such as fire, flood, or severe winter storms.
Voluntary contacts are just that, voluntary.
A person has complete freedom to choose whether or not to interact with the police officer. When a citizen initiates the contact, a choice is made. When an officer initiates the voluntary contact, the citizen still has a choice of whether to participate in that interaction. There are occasions in which a police officer initiates contacts that are not voluntary. Certainly a citizen has a choice whether to cooperate with the officer or not, and absent the choice to cooperate, the officer will decide what action is appropriate to try to gain compliance.