Searches & Seizures

Stops & frisks

The issue of whether an officer had "reasonable suspicion," as discussed in the previous chapter, only arises if a stop or frisk actually took place - if no seizure transpired, there is no need for police officers to demonstrate reasonable suspicion that a subject is armed or committing a criminal act. As stated in United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544 (1980):

a person has been 'seized' within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment only if, in view of all of the circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed that he was not free to leave . . . . In the absence of some such evidence, otherwise inoffensive contact between a member of the public and the police cannot, as a matter of law, amount to a seizure of that person.

The United States Supreme Court in Mendenhall also provided some examples of circumstances that might indicate a seizure . . .

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