Mosinee, WI Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

Sec. 54-41, carried from the 1986 Code at § 9-2-7, targets loitering or prowling in a place, at a time or in a manner not usual for law abiding individuals under circumstances that warrant alarm for the safety of persons or property in the vicinity. The section lists specific circumstances that can be considered in judging whether alarm is warranted: the person takes flight when a police or peace officer appears, refuses to identify himself, or manifestly tries to conceal himself or an object. Before making an arrest, the section requires a procedural step: unless flight or other circumstances make it impracticable, the officer must first give the person a chance to dispel the alarm by asking him to identify himself and explain his presence and conduct.

The section then builds in two defenses to conviction: a person cannot be convicted if the officer skipped that identification step, or if it turns out at trial that the explanation the person gave was true and, had the officer believed it at the time, would have dispelled the alarm. That two-step structure, a suspicion standard plus a mandatory chance to explain, distinguishes this loitering offense from a simple presence-based ban and ties enforcement to specific, articulable circumstances rather than mere presence in a public place.