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Stop And Frisk Research Paper

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Stop And Frisk Research Paper
Scott R. Harvey Reasonable Suspicion Versus Burden of Proof in Current Policing
Criminal Investigation 12S-CRJU-C312-A51
Dennis Thornton
14 January 2012

Abstract
This paper will show how current “Stop and Frisk” (Terry Stop, SQF) methods exercised presently diverge greatly from the initial precedent allowed in Terry v. Ohio (1968) due to the inability to concretely define reasonable suspicion as well as the broad applications of reasonable suspicion since 1968. The most notable current representation involves The New York Police Department (NYPD) and its policy regarding Terry Stops as a proactive crime prevention and investigative tool (Ridgeway, 2006). Also considering the benefits shown in Ultimately, reasonable suspicion needs …show more content…
The high frequency, comprising of 506,471 encounters in 2006, quota based SQF policy has directly contributed to the reduction of violent crime although the policy appears to be fundamentally justified by a “community-caretaking objective” and not prudent reasonable suspicion towards each individual (Ridgeway, 2007; Kinports, 2009). The SQF is also used to gather demographical statistics for future reference as well as bolster officer and department productivity ratings. With this in mind, approximately 90% of the NYPD recorded SQF incidents for 2006 resulted in no criminal findings (Ridgeway, 2007). While “community-caretaking” and the reduction of crime are both viable reason for this procedure, the result provide that nine out of ten people who experienced a SQF were possibly unlawfully questioned and or searched. The NYPD now records incidents indicating the suspicion of crime in a list of checkboxes. This shows what resulted in each Terry Stop, implying accuracy and honesty are present. The results of these findings demonstrate an unclear understanding by NYPD officers of what constitutes reasonable suspicion of a …show more content…
Reasonable suspicion, like probable cause, is dependent upon both the content of information possessed by police and its degree of reliability. Both factors, quantity and quality, are considered in the totality of the circumstances, the whole picture, that must be taken into account when evaluating whether there is reasonable suspicion (Alabama v. White,
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