Opinion ID: 2630631
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Types of Citizen Encounters with Law Enforcement Officials

Text: ¶ 34 A level one citizen encounter with a law enforcement official is a consensual encounter wherein a citizen voluntarily responds to non-coercive questioning by an officer. Id. Since the encounter is consensual, and the person is free to leave at any point, there is no seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. Royer, 460 U.S. at 498-99, 103 S.Ct. 1319. ¶ 35 A level two encounter involves an investigative detention that is usually characterized as brief and non-intrusive. United States v. Evans, 937 F.2d 1534, 1537 (10th Cir.1991); see also Werking, 915 F.2d at 1407 (noting a level two encounter is an investigative detention or  Terry stop). Although it is a Fourth Amendment seizure, probable cause is not required. Evans, 937 F.2d at 1537. Rather, when specific and articulable facts and rational inferences . . . give rise to a reasonable suspicion a person has or is committing a crime, an officer may initiate an investigative detention without consent. Werking, 915 F.2d at 1407. ¶ 36 A level three encounter involves an arrest, which has been characterized [as a] highly intrusive or lengthy detention [that] requires probable cause. Id. A level three encounter is also a Fourth Amendment seizure. Id. ¶ 37 Typically, a traffic stop is considered to be an investigative detention (i.e., a level two encounter). Walker, 933 F.2d at 815. A person is seized, but usually the seizure is not highly intrusive or lengthy. See United States v. Melendez-Garcia, 28 F.3d 1046, 1052 (10th Cir.1994) (stating that for a seizure to be merely investigatory, it must be sufficiently limited in scope and duration). While a traffic stop may begin as an investigatory detention, it is possible for it to de-escalate to a consensual encounter. See State v. Higgins, 884 P.2d 1242, 1244-45 (Utah 1994); Werking, 915 F.2d at 1408. Since a consensual encounter is not a seizure, questioning during such an encounter is lawful, regardless of scope, as long as the person remains a willing participant. See Royer, 460 U.S. at 498-99, 103 S.Ct. 1319; Walker, 933 F.2d at 817. ¶ 38 Thus, it is important to determine whether Hansen's encounter with Officer Huntington had de-escalated from an investigatory detention to a consensual encounter before Hansen was asked additional questions. We conclude the detention had not de-escalated.