Penal code 409 and 416 address the crime
of remaining at the scene of a riot or an unlawful assembly
after you've been ordered to disperse.
Now, this is sometimes called failure to disperse,
it's sometimes called refusal to disperse.
Courts have said that police and prosecutors are
very limited in their power to enforce this law because it has
the potential to infringe on your constitutional rights
to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
So basically, the police are only
allowed to arrest you for this and the DA
to prosecute you if it's a situation where
you are part of a crowd that has become violent
or is inciting other people to violence
and you're ordered to disperse and you refuse to.
So I'll give you an example.
Suppose you're participating in a demonstration
downtown at City Hall and you're demonstrating against police
misconduct and police abuse.
And let's say the LAPD doesn't like your message,
doesn't like what you're chanting, so they order
you to disperse and arrest you.
That in itself would be an example of improper police
conduct.
Because you're exercising your right
to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
But let's say that you're part of a crowd that
starts to get unruly and you start
throwing rocks and bottles at police
and vandalizing cars in the neighborhood.
At that point, the police could order you to disperse
and arrest you if you don't.