Law Enforcement and Police Activities
CJC 111- Week 6 Writing Assignment
Daniel Brewer
CJC 111
Instructor Alyssa Lang
February 16, 2014
Chapter 7 our text describes many cases that have changed how law enforcement may and may not conduct police activities including the searching of suspects, seizure of evidence and arresting suspects and the rights of those suspected of illegal and criminal activities. Out of all these cases the one that has had the most influence on the initial contact with individuals is the case of Terry vs Ohio. Terry vs Ohio was a case against in 1963 in which a Cleveland, Ohio Police Detective Martin McFadden noticed three suspicious individuals pacing back and fourth by a jewelry store. Thinking that the men were possibly planning an armed robbery, McFadden stopped and questioned the men. After a quick search he found a pistol in John Terry’s overcoat and a revolver in Richard Chilton’s pocket, the third man with the last name Katz was unarmed. McFadden arrested both Terry and Chilton with carrying concealed weapons. The judge Bernard Friedman found both men guilty and due to the suspicious behavior of the two men and the concern for the safety of himself and the citizens in the area, Detective McFadden was justified for conducting the search (http://www.acluohio.org/cases/terry-v-ohio). John Terry filed an appeal for reversal of the courts decision with the help of the ACLU. In 1968 The Supreme Court found that the previous decision would stand and found that police would be allowed to stop and search individuals they find to be acting in a suspicious behavior so long as the officer can reasonably articulate the reason for conducting the search. This decision does not allow a police officer to search individuals or make arrests solely on a “hunch,” but rather allows law enforcement to investigate when there reasonable suspicion (http://www.acluohio.org/cases/terry-v-ohio). This case is a huge landmark for how police
Daniel Brewer
CJC 111
Instructor Alyssa Lang
February 16, 2014
Chapter 7 our text describes many cases that have changed how law enforcement may and may not conduct police activities including the searching of suspects, seizure of evidence and arresting suspects and the rights of those suspected of illegal and criminal activities. Out of all these cases the one that has had the most influence on the initial contact with individuals is the case of Terry vs Ohio. Terry vs Ohio was a case against in 1963 in which a Cleveland, Ohio Police Detective Martin McFadden noticed three suspicious individuals pacing back and fourth by a jewelry store. Thinking that the men were possibly planning an armed robbery, McFadden stopped and questioned the men. After a quick search he found a pistol in John Terry’s overcoat and a revolver in Richard Chilton’s pocket, the third man with the last name Katz was unarmed. McFadden arrested both Terry and Chilton with carrying concealed weapons. The judge Bernard Friedman found both men guilty and due to the suspicious behavior of the two men and the concern for the safety of himself and the citizens in the area, Detective McFadden was justified for conducting the search (http://www.acluohio.org/cases/terry-v-ohio). John Terry filed an appeal for reversal of the courts decision with the help of the ACLU. In 1968 The Supreme Court found that the previous decision would stand and found that police would be allowed to stop and search individuals they find to be acting in a suspicious behavior so long as the officer can reasonably articulate the reason for conducting the search. This decision does not allow a police officer to search individuals or make arrests solely on a “hunch,” but rather allows law enforcement to investigate when there reasonable suspicion (http://www.acluohio.org/cases/terry-v-ohio). This case is a huge landmark for how police