I have known some cops that made a practice of citing riders that did not touch a foot at a stop sign or prior to making a right on a red. If I am aware of this, I make it a point to "educate" them, as I can easily stop and hold the bike up for 3 to 5 seconds to demonstrate that their "no foot down" requirement is NOT defacto evidence of a violation.
So, to answer your question.. as mentioned above, a stop is a cessation of forward movement. When done properly, a true stop occurs the instant BEFORE the front-end of a vehicle "bounces back" (which some refer to as "recovery" of the suspension). As you roll forward and slow, the aggressiveness of your braking will result in a compression of the front end. If you are braking gradually, the compression will be minimal. If you brake aggressively, the compression (and potential recovery) will be more significant. Again, the STOP occurs the instant BEFORE the recovery (bounce) happens.
The problem is, many drivers (and even more riders) will stab the brakes as they are slowing to cause the front end to compress.. they usually look to see it is clear, then they accelerate rapidly, causing the front end to pop up.. in what could be called a "faux stop" as they are inducing a pseudo-recovery, when in fact, they may have never actually stopped at all.. the wheels were rolling the whole time and never stopped moving at all. Nice stunt.. try putting a foot down while doing THAT! That is where the "foot down" expectation comes from among many officers.
I hope this answers your question.
I don't write many Hollywood stop type tickets as I am more a "spirit of the law" kinda guy and as long as drivers/riders are making an effort and checking that it is clear before proceeding, I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. I know enough locations in my jurisdiction where people regularly make NO ATTEMPT to even slow down and those are easy enough to write. I try to focus my efforts more on failure to yield violations and outright reckless drivers whenever possible.
