Stop-and-Frisk Limitations Exist

• NCJ Number: 172043
• Journal: Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine Volume: 21 Issue: 12 Dated: (December 1997) Pages: 44-45
• Author(s): D Kalk
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 2 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Training (Aid/Material)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Like the Plain View Doctrine, the Plain Feel Doctrine requires independent probable cause to seize contraband.

Abstract

In 1993 the U.S. Supreme Court decided the case of Minnesota vs. Dickerson. This case acknowledged the "plain feel" exception to the general rule requiring a search warrant before a search or seizure may be conducted by a police officer. The Plain Feel Doctrine is an extension of the Terry vs. Ohio stop-and-frisk exception to the probable cause requirement of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court has determined that a police officer can act on reasonable suspicion -- a standard less than probable cause -- to stop and forcibly detain an individual for investigatory purposes if the police officer has a reasonable, articulable suspicion that criminal activity has occurred, is occurring, or is about to occur. Based upon the holding in Terry vs. Ohio, a police officer can conduct a pat down of an individual to determine whether the individual has a weapon. The Terry exception contemplates that a police officer will be able to determine the existence of a weapon by patting down the outer clothing of a suspect. This necessarily requires that a police officer would use his/her sense of touch or feel to determine the existence of a weapon. Using this logic, the U.S. Supreme Court extended the scope of the frisk or pat down to allow for the confiscation of contraband that is immediately apparent to the police officer by using his sense of touch or feel. Under the Plain Feel Doctrine, the police officer must be able to determine simultaneously that the item is not a weapon and that the item is contraband. If the police officer cannot determine that the item is contraband without additional probing or investigation, the Plain Feel Doctrine does not apply. Once the police officer feels an item and determines that the item is not a weapon, the police officer is not permitted to make any further investigation or probe into the nature of the item; therefore, unless the police officer can simultaneously determine that the item is not a weapon and that the item is contraband, the item cannot be seized.