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Meet Bob. He is standing on the street corner minding his own business being perfectly normal and not giving any cause for suspicion of criminality. Charlie the police officer comes along and stands next to him on the same corner.

If Bob approaches the officer and asks his name and warrant number must he give it to Bob?

On the other hand if Charlie were to demand Bob's identification details Bob, as an innocent person, would be perfectly entitled to refuse it with no comment. Is this accurate?

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Police are not required to tell you their name

From this response to a FOI request:

There is no specific written requirement for Police Officers to verbally 
give their name and/or number to a member of the public if verbally 
requested to do so.  However Police Officers are required to comply with 
the Police Code of Ethics, which is overseen and published by the College 
of Policing.

However, it goes on to say that, subject to certain exemptions, uniformed police must wear a name badge and display their number on their epaulettes.

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  • What jurisdictiuon is this fort? I do not think thisd answer is accurate in all jurisdictions Sep 25, 2022 at 12:23
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    @DavidSiegel well the OP tagged it England and Wales so that’s what I answered for.
    – Dale M
    Sep 25, 2022 at 12:36

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