Police officers in the United States are given considerable amount of authority to perform their duties. However, they are still obligated to work within the confines of the law. They must follow federal and state standard procedures to perform their daily duties and responsibilities, impartially. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) highly practice a policy known as Stop, Question and Possibly Frisk (SQF).
What is Stop, Question and Possibly Frisk? The SQF’s essential goal is to maintain public safety and to prevent future crimes. The policy is applied when an officer has reasonable suspicion that an individual has, is or about to commit an act of crime (Giacalone, 2014). This procedure begins with stopping and questioning the suspicious …show more content…
Ohio. The details of the case follow: in October 1963, a Cleveland detective Martin McFadden was patrolling in plain clothes on a downtown street across from a store. He has been patrolling around the same area for about 30 years. Over the years he has developed a routine habit. In this case McFadden observed two strangers named Chilton and Terry. These two men were taking turns to walk back and forth on the same route. They both would alternately walk and then pause to stare inside the window of the same store. Then, at the completion of each route, they both would meet on the corner of the same street. The two men repeated this for a total of about 24 times. After a while, a third man named Katz approached and joined the other two in a brief conversation. When the conversation finished, Katz left immediately. Katz walked west on Euclid Avenue. Chilton and Terry resumed their walk and later headed towards the same direction that Katz’s went …show more content…
The officer suspected that Chilton and Terry were possibly going to rob the store they were circling and feared that they might also be carrying weapons. Due to their suspicious behavior, the officer decided to follow the two men and saw them meeting up with Katz. McFadden approached the men and identified himself as an officer. He asked the men for their names. But, they did not give any source of information. Soon after, Terry mumbled something to the other men. This was when officer McFadden grabbed Terry to begin a pat-down (Frisk). The officer testified that the pat-down was conducted only on the outer garments. Also that he conducted the pat-down of the men to detect whether they had any weapons. A handgun was found in Terry’s overcoat. But McFadden was unable to remove it. The officer feared for his safety, so he ordered them to go inside the store. He removed Terry’s overcoat and took out a .38 caliber revolver from the pocket. Then, officer McFadden proceeded with conducting the pat-down of Chilton and Katz. He discovered another revolver in the outer pocket of Chilton’s overcoat. Katz had no weapon on him. The officer seized the revolvers. In addition, Terry and Chilton were arrested and charged with carrying concealed
What is Stop, Question and Possibly Frisk? The SQF’s essential goal is to maintain public safety and to prevent future crimes. The policy is applied when an officer has reasonable suspicion that an individual has, is or about to commit an act of crime (Giacalone, 2014). This procedure begins with stopping and questioning the suspicious …show more content…
Ohio. The details of the case follow: in October 1963, a Cleveland detective Martin McFadden was patrolling in plain clothes on a downtown street across from a store. He has been patrolling around the same area for about 30 years. Over the years he has developed a routine habit. In this case McFadden observed two strangers named Chilton and Terry. These two men were taking turns to walk back and forth on the same route. They both would alternately walk and then pause to stare inside the window of the same store. Then, at the completion of each route, they both would meet on the corner of the same street. The two men repeated this for a total of about 24 times. After a while, a third man named Katz approached and joined the other two in a brief conversation. When the conversation finished, Katz left immediately. Katz walked west on Euclid Avenue. Chilton and Terry resumed their walk and later headed towards the same direction that Katz’s went …show more content…
The officer suspected that Chilton and Terry were possibly going to rob the store they were circling and feared that they might also be carrying weapons. Due to their suspicious behavior, the officer decided to follow the two men and saw them meeting up with Katz. McFadden approached the men and identified himself as an officer. He asked the men for their names. But, they did not give any source of information. Soon after, Terry mumbled something to the other men. This was when officer McFadden grabbed Terry to begin a pat-down (Frisk). The officer testified that the pat-down was conducted only on the outer garments. Also that he conducted the pat-down of the men to detect whether they had any weapons. A handgun was found in Terry’s overcoat. But McFadden was unable to remove it. The officer feared for his safety, so he ordered them to go inside the store. He removed Terry’s overcoat and took out a .38 caliber revolver from the pocket. Then, officer McFadden proceeded with conducting the pat-down of Chilton and Katz. He discovered another revolver in the outer pocket of Chilton’s overcoat. Katz had no weapon on him. The officer seized the revolvers. In addition, Terry and Chilton were arrested and charged with carrying concealed