Stop and Frisk" is a police action to momentarily detain and search the body of a person. Under judicial interpretation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, such a search may be conducted only under circumstances where the officer believes that the person is armed and dangerous to the officer’s person, or that the person has just committed or is about to commit an unlawful act.

A veteran police officer observed three men engaging in conduct that he concluded might be indicative of “casing” a store, that is, preparing to commit a robbery. When he approached the men to ask them questions, the response from one of them was incoherent. Fearing that the men might be armed, the officer grabbed hold of one of them and “patted” him down. The pat-down revealed that the man was carrying a gun.

The Terry decision permits police officers to stop and detain a person based on a “reasonable suspicion” that s/he might be about to commit a crime or is in the process of committing a crime. It represents a modification of the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures granted to private individuals in the Bill of Rights. Prior to Terry, police officers were required to have a higher level of proof, “probable cause,” before interfering with the liberty of private persons.

Terry stops, as these encounters have come to be called, may be conducted based on far less evidence than that legally required to justify an arrest, but they may not be conducted based on groundless hunches about specific individuals being involved in crime.

Florida v. JL, 2000 In a unanimous decision, this case held that a police officer may not legally stop and frisk anyone based solely on an anonymous tip that simply described that person's location and what he or she might look like but that did not furnish information as to any illegal conduct that the person might be planning.

Illinois v. Wardlow, 2000 In a 5-4 decision, the US Supreme Court upheld the stop and frisk, declaring that the officers’ actions did not violate the Fourth Amendment.

I am going to read 6 statements about Stop and Frisk! You will walk around the room to state if you: STRONGLY DISAGREE, DISAGREE, SOMEWHAT DISAGREE - OR - STRONGLY AGREE, AGREE, SOMEWHAT AGREE

Stop and Frisk makes people feel more safe.

Stop and Frisk violates people’s civil rights.

Stop and Frisk gets guns off the streets.

Stop and Frisk targets young black and Latino men.

Stop and Frisk reduces crime.

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