Stop and Frisk - is it constitutional?

[catzmeow]

Stop-and-Frisks Hit Record in 2011 - WSJ.com

NYPD "Stop and Frisk" Leads to Unconstitutional Stops: Study | NBC New York

The NYPD’s “stop and frisk” policy, which allows police officers to stop people on the street and frisk them based solely on a police officer’s suspicions, has resulted in the illegal stopping and questioning of tens of thousands of people, a new study finds.

The study found that in 30 percent of stops, officers did not have enough reasonable suspicion to constitutionally delay someone and failed to include the details on required police forms that would show whether or not the stops were justified. It also showed that a disproportionate amount of stops were on minority suspects.

What do you think of NYPD's dramatically increased use of "Terry" frisks as a crime prevention method? Is it constitutional?

 

[George Costanza]

A Terry stop allows an officer to stop a suspect on the street and frisk them without probable cause to arrest IF the officer has reasonable cause to believe that the person has committed, is committing or is about to commit a crime AND the officer can cite specific and artiulable facts which would cause the officer to reasonably believe that the person is armed and dangerous.

Terry stops do not give the police carte blanche to stop and frisk just anyone, based solely on a hunch or a suspicion they may have. The requirements for a Terry stop are set forth, above. Furthermore, the test is an objective one, not subjective, i.e., when the legality of a Terry stop is questioned in court, the judge decides whether or not the officer acted reasonably, based upon how a "reasonable police officer" would have acted in the same or similar circumstances.

It looks as though New York's finest has been stepping over the line a bit. Let's hope that the New York bench has the huevos to slap 'em down for it.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

However, the NYPD stands by the policy, saying that the racial breakdown of stops is correlated to the racial breakdown of crime statistics. Chief of Police Ray Kelly dismissed the study, calling it, “an advocacy paper”, and saying to the New York Times, “We haven’t had a chance to look at it, but I wouldn’t take the position that this is an objective document.”

And the NYPD is likely to not stop the abuse.

They use Terry Stops as a form of intimidation, they’re likely more ‘careful’ with suspects they plan on arresting and prosecuting.

And any lawsuit is seen as merely the cost of doing business.

Otherwise it’s about keeping the ‘criminal community’ in check, the Constitution be damned.