Can police stop and frisk you?

Speaker 1
00;00;00;03 – 00;00;01;08
Hi, everyone. Is it okay for an officer to stop and frisk you?
This is Christina Williams with Just Criminal Law.
Speaker 2
00;00;08;28 – 00;00;10;11
And this is David Mann, legal storytelling specialist.
Well, that is that’s a phrase that I’ve heard before.
Stop and frisk. And you see this, of course, in movies and TV.
So it’s a common story. But I guess we all kind of wonder, how does that work?
And yeah, are they able to do that?
Speaker 1
00;00;24;20 – 00;00;25;25
Well As you might suspect, it depends. So if an officer has reason,
that is, somebody has reported a crime and they’ve given a description
of a person that committed the crime and said, for example, a gentleman with
a red pullover hoodie pulled a gun on my brother, they got into an argument
and then he ran down fifth street going south, and the officer sees you in a
red hoodie, headed south on fifth street, is he allowed to walk up to you
and ask you to stop?

00;01;09;00 – 00;01;11;26
Yes. And is he then allowed to pat you down under these circumstances? Yes, but
it’s not always appropriate.
Speaker 2
00;01;19;02 – 00;01;19;14
Okay. So, if I’m getting this straight, if he believes there is a reason that
you have something on you, that he would have to feel with his hands, then he has
a reason to feel for that thing. But I know that there are situations where it’s not
nearly that clear cut, and they’re doing it where they’re not supposed to. So what is that like?
Speaker 1
00;01;41;10 – 00;01;43;08
Sure. In our last example, the officer had a reason to believe that you
were armed and dangerous. So they’re allowed to arrest you, for officer safety.
That is, to make sure that, you know, if he’s going to talk to you, you’re not going to grab
a gun and point it at him. But if we have a less clear situation, say, you know…
00;02;03;10 – 00;02;04;27
Say, you know, a couple of a days ago there were some storage units that were broken into in
the town that you live in and you happen to be headed home. You’re walking home from work say,
at 10:00 at night and an officer just walks up to you and says ‘Hey, do you mind if
I kask you a few questions?’ Now, keep in mind, you’re always free to let him ask you questions,
just to see what he wants to visit with you about. But you never have to answer any questions.
00;02;43;22 – 00;02;45;15
And, you know, in this particular set of circumstances, I would say it’s a very
thin reason. There’s a very reason there for the officer to stop and ask you about, potentially
ask you about these storage units that have been broken into.
00;03;01;12 – 00;03;04;10
So say he does do that and he says, you know, ‘I just need to pat you down and you’re
carrying a vape pen in your front pocket and he asks you several more questions, but he realizes
you were not at all involved in the storage unit break-ins, however, he fights you or gives
you a ticket for possession of marijuana.
00;03;27;16 – 00;03;29;24
So is that going to stand up in court? Well, that’s definitely a gray area and something worth fighting.
Speaker 2
00;03;34;28 – 00;03;35;19
Okay. So that’s the type of thing that we like to talk about in these videos, where having a lawyer is really,
really critical, because there’s a window there where it’s subjective. Did he have reason?
00;03;50;13 – 00;03;53;03
A citizen on their own usually can’t sort that out, certainly not successfully in court. So they need to call
you, I imagine. ANd now might be a good time to tell them how to do that.
Speaker 1
00;04;02;19 – 00;04;03;23
Sure. We’ll include a link in the description where they can call, text, or chat
with a member of my team, any time. Day or night.
Speaker 1
00;04;09;23 – 00;04;11;04
Here at Just Criminal Law, we know you only get one shot at justice. So make it count.