Law enforcement authorities in the United States are given special powers that allow them to fight crime. Some of these powers are granted by federal, state, and local legislatures. Individual departments associated with law enforcement may have their own set of rules and regulations upon which the law applies. However, it is the courts that must interpret the law and issue guidelines on what is or is not permissible.
Police departments rely heavily on their ability to investigate and stop crime in its early stages. One of the primary tools used by law enforcement officers in pursuit of this goal is the ability to stop, frisked, question, and search individuals suspected of engaging in criminal activity. If an officer has established a well-substantiated belief, based on facts (also known as “probable cause”), that an individual has committed, is about to commit, or is in the process of committing a criminal offense, that officer has the authority legal to temporarily sixteen that person for further investigation. Under established legal precedent, any seizure of a person, however brief, constitutes an arrest. The facts that constitute probable cause in a particular case can vary significantly, resulting in endless litigation. Unfortunately, this doctrine also authorizes law enforcement to stop, search, and question individuals who were not observed or reported to have engaged in any criminal activity, but whose actions were deemed “suspicious” by the officer.
Thus, thousands of people each year are arrested and searched by police officers based on a single officer’s claim that the person acted in a suspicious manner. Suspicious behavior may include a “bulge” under clothing, walking fast while looking around, and attempting to “evade” police while searching an area. Although some of the activities mentioned above may be cause for concern, it is not a crime. However, police continue to use this power to stop people in cars, search them in public areas, and temporarily “give sixteen” until the investigation is complete. The vast majority of people detained in these circumstances are fired, happy to have escaped a trip to the police station, but angry at the unfair encroachment on their freedom.
In short, the law actually allows law enforcement authorities to arrest people in the absence of evidence that illegal activity actually took place.
