Stop and Frisk

A “stop and frisk” refers to the policing practice whereby a police officer might approach an individual, stop that individual, and frisk the individual to look for weapons. This practice is seen as controversial because of the potential for unconstitutional overreach on the part of police officers. Critics of stop-and-frisk policies point to the potential for racism and harassment on the part of police officers, because police officers would be able to single out, detain, and search minorities without probable cause and without [Page 1533]repercussions. Advocates of stop-and-frisk policies point to a policing need to identify danger, as well as pointing to statistics that show that stop-and-frisk policies have an effect on preventing crime.

The controversy of stop-and-frisk policies stems from the protections of the Fourth ...