TERRY STOP

When a person is stopped by police officers upon reasonable suspicion that the person may have been engaged in criminal activity. This standard comes from a famous criminal case, Terry v. Ohio, which was decided in 1968. This standard is as opposed to the requirements for an arrest, which requires probable cause that a suspect committed a criminal offense. The stop of a person by the police is for lower than the probable cause standard and based upon the reasonable suspicion of involvement of criminal activity by police. The U.S. Supreme Court held that it is Constitutional for police to briefly detain the suspect under such circumstances and may do a limited exterior search for the presence of weapons, such as a “pat down” if they have a reasonable suspicition that the person may be “armed and dangerous.” An authorized search for weapons is commonly known as a “stop and frisk.” A reasonable suspicition msut be justified by being able to later articulate and point to specific facts that would leada reasonable person to believe that a crime has been, is being, or is about to be committed.