holding "that where a police officer observes unusual conduct that leads him reasonably to con- *405 elude in light of his experience that criminal activity may be afoot and that the persons with whom he is dealing may be armed and presently dangerous, where in the course of investigating this behavior he identifies himself as a policeman and makes reasonable inquiries, and where nothing in the initial stages of the encounter serves to dispel his reasonable fear for his own or others’ safety, he is entitled for the protection of himself and others in the area to conduct a carefully limited search of the outer clothing of such persons in an attempt to discover weapons which might be used to assault him” and that such "a search under the Fourth Amendment, and any weapons seized may properly be introduced in evidence against the person from whom they were taken”
How later courts described this case
- holding "that where a police officer observes unusual conduct that leads him reasonably to con- *405 elude in light of his experience that criminal activity may be afoot and that the persons with whom he is dealing may be armed and presently dangerous, where in the course of investigating this behavior he identifies himself as a policeman and makes reasonable inquiries, and where nothing in the initial stages of the encounter serves to dispel his reasonable fear for his own or others’ safety, he is entitled for the protection of himself and others in the area to conduct a carefully limited search of the outer clothing of such persons in an attempt to discover weapons which might be used to assault him” and that such "a search under the Fourth Amendment, and any weapons seized may properly be introduced in evidence against the person from whom they were taken”
- holding "that where a police officer observes unusual conduct that leads him reasonably to conclude in light of his experience that criminal activity may be afoot and that the persons with whom he is dealing may be armed and presently dangerous, where in the course of investigating this behavior he identifies himself as a policeman and makes reasonable inquiries, and where nothing in the initial stages of the encounter serves to dispel his reasonable fear for his own or others' safety, he is entitled for the protection of himself and others in the area to conduct a carefully limited search of the outer clothing of such persons in an attempt to discover weapons which might be used to assault him" and that such "a search under the Fourth Amendment, and any weapons seized may properly be introduced in evidence against the person from whom they were taken"
- recognizing that “whenever a police officer accosts an individual and restrains his freedom to walk away, he has ‘seized’ that person”; the “careful exploration of the outer surfaces of a person’s clothing all over his or her body in an attempt to find weapons is . . . a ‘search’”; and 37 “such a procedure performed in public by a policeman while the citizen stands helpless, perhaps facing a wall with his hands raised . . . is a serious intrusion upon the sanctity of the person, which may inflict great indignity and arouse strong resentment”
- explaining that “where a police officer observes unusual conduct which leads him reasonably to conclude in light of his experience that criminal activity may be afoot,” the officer may briefly stop the suspicious person and make “reasonable inquiries” aimed at confirming or dispelling his suspicions, and if there is a reasonable belief that the individual the officer is investigating is “armed and presently dangerous,” the officer may conduct a pat-down search to determine whether the suspect is in fact carrying a weapon
Written by the judges who cited it.
Later courts went against this
Reported overruled on other grounds by Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813 (2006) — not on the Supreme Court's list
392 U.S. 1, 9 (1968), overruled on other grounds by Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813
Declined to follow by State v. Duncan, 43 P.3d 513 (2002)
Thus, the traffic violation exception to the application of Terry stops for criminal violations is distinguishable from the civil infraction before the court.
Disagreed with by Harman v. Pollock, 586 F.3d 1254 (2009)
While we disagree with the district court that Terry provides the appropriate framework for analyzing the Plaintiffs’ detention, and we give no credence to connections with the State of New Mexico, we do agree with the court’s ultimate conclusion that the Officers’ conduct was objectively reasonable.
Distinguished
Distinguished by People v. Sacrite, 233 Cal. Rptr. 3d 763 (2018)
Because the bulges in defendant's pocket provided "specific and articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant[ed]" the pat search ( Terry, supra, 392 U.S. at p. 21, 88 S.Ct. 1868 ), the instant case is distinguishable from Dickey , in which a deputy testified "that he performed the patdown search for 'officer safety' " but provided no " 'specific and articulable…
Distinguished by Sellman v. State, 449 Md. 526 (2016)
For example, in Underwood v. State, the Court of Special Appeals upheld a valid Terry frisk, and that situation is readily distinguishable. 219 Md.App. at 575, 101 A.3d at 520.
Distinguished by State v. Heier, 2016 N.D. LEXIS 159 (2016)
392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968),] stop of a package is distinguishable from a full-fledged seizure supported by probable cause, and we hold reasonable suspicion was an inadequate basis upon which to transport Ressler’s package to the law enforcement center.”
Distinguished by State v. Nickel, 836 N.W.2d 405 (2013)
A Terry stop of a package is distinguishable from a full-fledged seizure supported by probable cause, and we hold reasonable suspicion was an inadequate basis upon which to transport Ressler’s package to the law enforcement center.
The opinion
Mr. Justice Harlan,
concurring.
While I unreservedly agree with the Court’s ultimate holding in this case, I am constrained to fill in a few gaps, as I see them, in its opinion. I do this because what is said by this Court today will serve as initial guidelines for law enforcement authorities and courts throughout the land as this important new field of law develops.
A police officer’s right to make an on-the-street “stop” and an accompanying “frisk” for weapons is of course bounded by the protections afforded by the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. The Court holds, and I agree, that while the right does not depend upon possession by the officer of a valid warrant, nor upon the existence of probable cause, such activities must be reasonable under the circumstances as the officer credibly relates them in court. Since the question in this and most cases is whether evidence produced by a frisk is admissible, the problem is to determine what makes a frisk reasonable.
If the State of Ohio were to provide that police officers could, on articulable suspicion less than probable cause, forcibly frisk and disarm persons thought to be carrying concealed weapons, I would have little doubt that action taken pursuant to such authority could be constitutionally reasonable. Concealed weapons create an im *32 mediate and severe danger to the public, and though that danger might not warrant routine general weapons checks, it could well warrant action on less than a “probability.” I mention this line of analysis because I think it vital to point out that it cannot be applied in this case. On the record before us Ohio has not clothed its policemen with routine authority to frisk and disarm on suspicion; in the absence of state authority, policemen have no more right to “pat down” the outer clothing of passers-by, or of persons to whom they address casual questions, than does any other citizen. Consequently, the Ohio courts did not rest the constitutionality of this frisk upon any general authority in Officer McFadden to take reasonable steps to protect the citizenry, including himself, from dangerous weapons.
The state courts held, instead, that when an officer is lawfully confronting a possibly hostile person in the line of duty he has a right, springing only from the necessity of the situation and not from any broader right to disarm, to frisk for his own protection. This holding, with which I agree and with which I think the Court agrees, offers the only satisfactory basis I can think of for affirming this conviction. The holding has, however, two logical corollaries that I do not think the Court has fully expressed.
In the first place, if the frisk is justified in order to protect the officer during an encounter with a citizen, the officer must first have constitutional grounds to insist on an encounter, to make a forcible stop. Any person, including a policeman, is at liberty to avoid a person he considers dangerous. If and when a policeman has a right instead to disarm such a person for his own protection, he must first have a right not to avoid him but to be in his presence. That right must be more than the liberty (again, possessed by every citizen) to address questions to other persons, for ordinarily the person *33 addressed has an equal right to ignore his interrogator and walk away; he certainly need not submit to a frisk for the questioner’s protection. I would make it perfectly clear that the right to frisk in this case depends upon the reasonableness of a forcible stop to investigate a suspected crime.
Where such a stop is reasonable, however, the right to frisk must be immediate and automatic if the reason for the stop is, as here, an articulable suspicion of a crime of violence. Just as a full search incident to a lawful arrest requires no additional justification, a limited frisk incident to a lawful stop must often be rapid and routine. There is no reason why an officer, rightfully but forcibly confronting a person suspected of a serious crime, should have to ask one question and take the risk that the answer might be a bullet.
The facts of this case are illustrative of a proper stop and an incident frisk. Officer McFadden had no probable cause to arrest Terry for anything, but he had observed circumstances that would reasonably lead an experienced, prudent policeman to suspect that Terry was about to engage in burglary or robbery. His justifiable suspicion afforded a proper constitutional basis for accosting Terry, restraining his liberty of movement briefly, and addressing questions to him, and Officer McFadden did so. When he did, he had no reason whatever to suppose that Terry might be armed, apart from the fact that he suspected him of planning a violent crime. McFadden asked Terry his name, to which Terry “mumbled something.” Whereupon McFadden, without asking Terry to speak louder and without giving him any chance to explain his presence or his actions, forcibly frisked him.
I would affirm this conviction for what I believe to be the same reasons the Court relies on. I would, however, make explicit what I think is implicit in affirmance on *34 the present facts. Officer McFadden’s right to interrupt Terry’s freedom of movement and invade his privacy arose only because circumstances warranted forcing an encounter with Terry in an effort to prevent or investigate a crime. Once that forced encounter was justified, however, the officer's right to take suitable measures for his own safety followed automatically.
Upon the foregoing premises, I join the opinion of the Court.