Stop Question And Frisk Analysis

In 1976 the rock group the Eagles released a song titled Hotel California. The lyrics of this song have long been considered to reference heroin addiction. One particular lyric from this song is equally applicable to the policy of Stop and Frisk. As the lyric goes “I heard the mission bell, And I was thinking to myself , This could be heaven or this could be hell.” The policy of Stop and Frisk arose from the decision of United States Supreme Court in the matter of Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968). This seminal case gave police the right to stop a person on the street and question them and if they can establish reasonable suspicion that the individual either committed a crime or is about to commit a crime then they can perform a frisk of the individual. Initially this policy gave police a great new tool in the fight against crime. However, like that initial shot of heroine which gives the …show more content…
Robert Apel stated that “[i]ndeed, an important legal justification for SQF is the personal safety of police officers, who are authorized to perform a protective pat-down if they have ‘reasonable suspicion’ that a person is engaged in criminal activity and could be armed and dangerous (Terry v. Ohio, 1968).” Apel, R. (2016, February). The Deterrent Effect of Stop, Question, and Frisk Practices. Criminology And Public Policy, 15(1), 57-66. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1745-9133.12175/full. at page 59. Proponents of this policy will first point to the safety of the officers and the safety of the public at large in support of continuing the use of Stop Question and Frisk. This was a major concern in the Supreme Court decision of Terry v. Ohio. Any opponent to this policy would be hard pressed to argue for the removal of any policy the end result of which makes it more dangerous for police officers to carry out their