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 California, the relevant statute for 'stop and identify' situations is California Penal Code Section 647(e). This law does not require individuals to provide identification to police officers unless they have been lawfully arrested for an offense. California does not have a statute that specifically requires individuals to provide their ID to police upon request under reasonable suspicion alone. However, providing false information to a police officer is a crime under California Penal Code Section 148.9, which makes it an offense to falsely identify oneself to any peace officer upon lawful detention or arrest. It's important to note that while California law does not compel individuals to identify themselves under reasonable suspicion, the act of providing false information when detained or arrested can lead to criminal charges. Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court in Kolender v. Lawson ruled that laws requiring individuals to provide identification must have a clear standard for what constitutes reasonable suspicion, to avoid infringing on the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. In California, individuals may invoke their Fifth Amendment rights if they reasonably believe that providing their name could be incriminating.