Frisking: Difference between revisions

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Frisking (also called a patdown or pat down) is a search of a person's outer clothing wherein a police officer or other law enforcement agent runs his or her hands along the outer garments to detect any concealed weapons

In the case of Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), the Supreme Court of the United States held that police have the authority to do a limited search for weapons based on a reasonable and articulable suspicion that the person stopped is "armed and dangerous".

The authority to briefly detain a person upon reasonable suspicion less than probable cause has become known as a Terry stop; when a search for weapons is also authorized, the procedure is known as a stop and frisk. To justify the stop, a law enforcement officer must have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been, is being, or is about to be committed. If the officer reasonably suspects that the suspect is in possession of a weapon that is of danger to the officer or others, the officer may conduct a patdown of the suspect's outer garments to search for weapons. Pursuant to the "plain feel" doctrine, police may seize contraband discovered in the course of a frisk, but only if the contraband's identity is immediately apparent at the time of the frisk.

External links

Connecticut guide to permissible scope of the Terry investigatory "stop".

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 The authority to briefly detain a person upon [[reasonable suspicion]] less than [[probable cause]] has become known as a '''Terry stop'''; when a search for weapons is also authorized, the procedure is known as a '''stop and frisk'''. To justify the stop, a [[law enforcement officer]] must have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been, is being, or is about to be committed.  If the officer reasonably suspects that the suspect is in possession of a weapon that is of danger to the officer or others, the officer may conduct a patdown of the suspect's outer garments to search for weapons. Pursuant to the [[Plain view doctrine|"plain feel" doctrine]], police may seize contraband discovered in the course of a frisk, but only if the contraband's identity is immediately apparent at the time of the frisk.
-At [[airport security]] zones there have been complaints from passengers saying that they feel "harassed" and "insulted" by being stopped at random as they feel they they've been accused of carrying something illegal. As a result this has put people off from flying, with airports tackling this situation by stressing on their websites not to feel this way if they are stopped.{{citation needed|date=April 2010}}
 ==See also==