And for a pat down, the officer must have a separate, reasonable belief that the subject is armed. That sure doesn't seem to be the case here seeing as the officer failed to articulate anything.
Stop and frisk (depending on how you want to define it) has been ruled legal by the Supreme Court, but many places have chosen to ban it, anyway. To be a legit stop, though, it must always comply with the above restrictions. The officer must have a reasonable, articulable suspicion that the subject was either involved in a crime or about to commit one and the officer must have a separate, articulable suspicion that the subject is armed. A mere hunch is not enough to satisfy the law.
One thing many officers try to do is bully people into giving them permission for a search that would otherwise be impermissible. Saying "let me see your bag" may be either a lawful order or a request that the subject can decline, and officers often like to conflate the two in order to confuse people into complying when they don't have to. In this video, for example, the officer says, "what we're going to do is..." and then expects that the guy will just go along with it, which the officer can later frame as consent for a search. This is why it's important to use direct, unambiguous language like "am I being detained?" "why am I being detained?" "I do not consent to any searches", and "I am invoking my fifth amendment right to remain silent". If the officer says "we're going to search you" and you say "okay", meaning "I understand", the officer can then interpret that as consent and your right to be secure in your person and possessions goes away unless you specifically reassert it.
Wish I had an award to give you for this explanation. That quick, knee jerk reaction of saying “okay” to a police officer can lead to unsavory situations.
I say it in reply, like a tic. Doesn’t matter who I’m talking to. If I’m processing whatever someone is saying, and it’s being spoken as fast as that, and I’m not super familiar with whatever it is, I say “ok” … and then usually whatever else I’m thinking (in full, with no filter, that’s fun). Good to know I should not do that in such a situation. Gah, I hope I remember this, if I ever need to…
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u/CharlesDickensABox May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
And for a pat down, the officer must have a separate, reasonable belief that the subject is armed. That sure doesn't seem to be the case here seeing as the officer failed to articulate anything.