Research Paper On Stop And Frisk

I. Introduction

In the United States there have been many policies and practices that have been very controversial and have caused people to question if such polices are invading their rights. One of these techniques is stop and frisk, or as it is also referred to, the Terry stop. The term stop and frisk refers to the practice by the New York Police Department in which a police officer stops and questions an individual and then frisks them for weapons. This tactic gives officers the power to stop and search anyone only if the officer has reasonable suspicion and they suspect the person is involved in criminal activity or is in possession of something illegal. The reason this practice was used was to prevent crimes from taking place or to
Ohio that legislation was put out to describe how stop and frisks can be done constitutionally. The case was about a Cleveland detective who approached, stopped, questioned, and frisked three men that he believed were acting suspicious. He found out that two of the men were carrying weapons and therefore arrested them. The defense tried to say that that the search and seizure was a violation of the Fourth Amendment because there was no probable cause. In the final ruling, “the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that an officer can legally stop a person if the officer has reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot. And if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that this person is armed, he or she can legally frisk the person for weapons.” (5) It was determined that it is not a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure, because of that reasonable suspicion standard. This is where the name “Terry Stop” originates
The problem is the description of suspicious behavior is so vague. Some actions that fall under suspicious behavior include furtive movements, which means any movement that an officer feels is suspicious or acting like a lookout by looking around. By being so vague, officers can pretty much stop and frisk anybody they want. Police officers were involved in racial profiling, making such act morally unethical. The officers believed people of color should be of higher concern than those not of color. Pedro Serrano, a former NYPD officer, secretly recorded a conversation he had with his superior, Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack, about the practice. “I have no problem telling you this,” the inspector said on the tape. “Male blacks. And I told you at roll call, and I have no problem [to] tell you this, male blacks 14 to 21.” (7) The way stop and frisk was being done in New York was causing a lot of tension between police and the communities. The policy was humiliating and frustrating to those people that were stopped and frisked but were