The phrase “stop and frisk” refers to the authority of a police officer to stop and search a person for concealed weapons without a warrant. The search may take place with less than the probable cause otherwise required by the Fourth Amendment.
In 1942 the Uniform Arrest Act allowed an officer to search a person stopped or detained for questioning if the officer had “reasonable ground” to suspect a concealed weapon. Only three states adopted the Uniform Arrest Act, but in 1964 New York adopted what became known as a “stop and frisk” law. Several studies of police behavior indicated that when officers suspected a person they were talking to had a concealed weapon, they frisked that person (“frisking” being defined as running hands on the outside of the suspect's clothing to feel for a weapon, and not intruding inside the garment unless the officer felt something suspicious).
The Supreme Court gave its imprimatur in Terry v. Ohio (1968). Chief Justice Earl Warren described the practice as one a reasonably prudent police officer should take for both personal and public safety if the circumstances warranted it. In subsequent cases during Chief Justice Warren Burger's tenure, the Court expanded the Terry holding to allow warrantless searches for weapons, narcotics, and illegal aliens on “reasonable” suspicion of their concealment.
See also Search Warrant Rules, Exceptions to.
— Melvin I. Urofsky
