Searches & Seizures

Introduction

Whether a police officer may stop or frisk a suspect depends on whether the officer has "reasonable suspicion." Specifically, an officer may detain a suspect if he has reasonable suspicion that criminal activity may have been afoot, but in order to frisk a subject the officer must have reasonable suspicion that the suspect may be armed. Furthermore, for an interaction between police and a suspect to even qualify as a "stop," the individual must show that a) reasonable person would have believed he was not free to leave, and b) there was a physical seizure or submission to authority.

The following chapters will provide explanations of "reasonable suspicion," as well as further explanation of whether a police stop has taken place.

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