Also known as: Terry stop · Terry frisk · Terry frisks · stop and frisk
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An investigative detention by police based on reasonable suspicion supported by specific and articulable facts that criminal activity may be afoot. The stop permits a limited frisk for weapons when the officer reasonably believes the person is armed and dangerous.
Tobias Thomas received an anonymous call describing a pickup truck arriving at a remote shed at dawn, the driver crouching with a hose at the fuel spigot, and a later cash exchange at a crossroads. Officer Carrie watched the exact sequence unfold and detained Thomas after he matched the predicted movements. The stop was upheld because the tip's accurate forecasts of future conduct supplied the necessary reliability.
Travis Tate stood near a shed wearing a flannel shirt. An anonymous text described only a person in that clothing at that location with no prediction of future actions. Officers stopped and frisked Tate solely on the description. The detention lacked reasonable suspicion because the tip supplied no indicia of inside knowledge or reliability.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Talia Torres repeatedly approached container cars at 3 a.m. in a rail yard, shone a flashlight on door seals, and retreated when locomotives passed. Officer Ortiz, a decade-long rail police veteran, recognized the pattern as scouting for cargo theft. The officer detained Torres after drawing on specialized training to interpret the conduct as preparatory criminal activity.
Tabitha Taylor and a companion walked back and forth past a store window, paused to peer inside, and conferred repeatedly. An officer observed the pattern, approached, identified himself, and patted down Taylor's outer clothing after she mumbled a response. The brief detention rested on the officer's reasonable suspicion that the pair was preparing a robbery.
Tori Taylor sat in a diner next to a person known to carry narcotics. An officer approached, ordered Taylor to stand, and immediately frisked her without observing any furtive movements or other suspicious conduct by Taylor herself. The frisk exceeded permissible bounds because no individualized reasonable suspicion attached to Taylor.
Tara Tran stood inside a tavern when officers entered to execute a warrant for the bartender. Without any indication that Tran was armed or connected to criminal activity, an officer patted her down and recovered a packet of drugs. The search violated the Fourth Amendment because presence at the location alone supplied no reasonable suspicion directed at Tran.
An anonymous tip supports reasonable suspicion when it contains predictive information about the suspect's future movements that is later corroborated, demonstrating the tipster's inside knowledge. A tip that merely describes appearance and location without such predictions lacks sufficient indicia of reliability.
Reasonable suspicion is evaluated under the totality of the circumstances. Officers may draw on training and experience to interpret conduct that would appear innocuous to a lay observer as suggestive of criminal activity.
A frisk is limited to a pat-down of outer clothing for weapons when the officer reasonably believes the person is armed and dangerous. Officers may not automatically frisk companions or reach inside clothing absent specific information about a hidden weapon.
Unprovoked headlong flight upon seeing police in a high-crime area can combine with other factors to create reasonable suspicion under the totality of the circumstances, even though each element alone may be insufficient.
…security is as important as the right to be free from unreasonable searches of private premises. Unquestionably, the officer’s stop and frisk of Terry amounted to a “search” and “seizure” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. We must decide whether these actions were reasonable. The reasonableness of any particular…