Also known as: stop and frisk rule · stop-and-frisk · stop and frisk · Terry stop · Terry frisk
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A doctrine authorizing law enforcement officers to conduct a brief investigatory stop of a person when they have reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. The doctrine further permits a limited pat-down of the person's outer clothing for weapons when the officer reasonably believes the person is armed and dangerous.
Sasha Stone left her co-working space at exactly 8 p.m. and drove her blue hatchback two blocks east toward a parking garage. Officers who had received an anonymous tip describing that precise sequence watched her follow the predicted route and movements. They stopped her vehicle for investigation because the tip's accurate forecast of future conduct supplied the necessary indicia of reliability.
Sierra Santos stood outside a downtown building matching the description in an anonymous tip that gave only her appearance and location. Officers approached and detained her without any predictive details or other corroboration of inside knowledge. The stop was invalid because the tip supplied no indicia of reliability beyond easily observable facts.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Simone Sanders arrived on a last-minute cash one-way flight carrying multiple shrink-wrapped boxes of prepaid phones and repeatedly scanned security cameras near kiosks previously linked to smuggling. Agents drew on their training with bulk-phone trafficking patterns and detained her for investigation. The combination of factors viewed through the officers' experience created reasonable suspicion under the totality of the circumstances.
Seth Shapiro repeatedly walked past a jewelry store near closing time, conferred quietly with a companion, and adjusted a bulky object under his coat. Officer Ramirez, watching from an unmarked car, approached, detained the pair, and patted down Seth because the observed conduct supported reasonable suspicion that he was armed. The pat-down revealed a concealed handgun.
Sylvia Santos was present in a bar when officers entered with a warrant for the bartender. Without any particularized facts suggesting Sylvia was armed or involved in criminal activity, an officer frisked her along with everyone else. The frisk violated the stop-and-frisk rule because reasonable suspicion must be individualized rather than based solely on proximity.
Sophia Singh was stopped for speeding at night in a rural area. The trooper saw a hunting knife on the floorboard and, suspecting additional weapons, conducted a limited search of the passenger compartment. The search was permissible because the stop-and-frisk rule extends to areas within a detainee's immediate control when the officer reasonably believes weapons may be present.
Reasonable suspicion of criminal activity supports the stop, while reasonable belief that the person is armed and dangerous supports the frisk. Both standards are lower than probable cause and are evaluated under the totality of the circumstances.
An anonymous tip can justify a stop when it contains predictive details that officers later corroborate, demonstrating inside knowledge and reliability. A tip that merely describes appearance and location without predictive information lacks sufficient indicia of reliability.
Yes, when the officer has specific information that a weapon is hidden at a precise location on the suspect's body, the officer may go directly to that spot rather than performing a general pat-down first.
The rule extends to a limited search of the passenger compartment when an officer has reasonable suspicion that weapons may be present and the detainee could access them.
…376 U. S. 364, 367-368 (1964); Agnello v. United States , 269 U. S. 20, 30-31 (1925). The distinctions of classical "stop-and-frisk" theory thus serve to divert attention from the central inquiry under the Fourth Amendment—the reasonableness in all the circumstances of the particular governmental invasion of a citizen's…