Some states have laws (statutes) that require a person to accurately provide their identification (ID) (name, residence address, date of birth) to the police if the police have reasonable suspicion to believe (1) a crime has been committed, is being committed, or is about to be committed and (2) the person asked to provide identification is involved as a participant or as a witness. If there is no reasonable suspicion, a person does not have to provide identification—but courts often find reasonable suspicion as a matter of course.

These statutes are sometimes called stop-and-identify laws or stop and ID laws, and the violation of the statute may be a criminal offense or crime known as “failure to ID.” Stop and ID laws vary from state to state in the states that have such laws. For example, in some states failure to ID cannot be the basis for an arrest (there must be an underlying criminal offense) and in some states the obligation to provide identification only applies to a person who has been arrested.

And in some states it is a criminal offense for a person to provide a false or fictitious name, residence address, or date of birth if the person has been detained by police on the basis of reasonable suspicion or is believed to be a witness to a criminal offense.

The United States Supreme Court has held that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution may allow suspects to refuse to give their name if they have a reasonable belief their name could be incriminating. Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352 (1983).

In North Carolina, there is no specific 'stop and identify' statute that requires individuals to provide their identification to police officers under all circumstances. However, under North Carolina General Statute § 14-223, it is a misdemeanor for an individual to willfully fail to obey a lawful order of a police officer if that officer is in the process of discharging or attempting to discharge their official duties. This could potentially include situations where an officer has reasonable suspicion of criminal activity and orders a person to identify themselves. Additionally, providing false information to an officer is a crime under North Carolina General Statute § 14-225, which makes it illegal to give a false name or address to an officer. The requirement to provide identification and the consequences for failing to do so can be nuanced and may depend on the specific circumstances of the encounter with law enforcement. As for the Fifth Amendment protections, individuals may have the right to refuse to give their name if doing so could be self-incriminating, in line with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Kolender v. Lawson.