Law enforcement plays an important role in ensuring the safety of all and are a vital part in the criminal justice system. Encounters with police officers are bound to happen and as such, it is important you understand your rights and what it means when ‘probable cause’ is used.
WHAT IS PROBABLE CAUSE?
In short, probable cause refers to the ability of police to conduct a search, press charges, etc. based on the assumption of guilt.
“reasonable grounds (for making a search, pressing a charge, etc.).”warrants allow police to detain people, but not handcuff and search them without probable cause”
— Google Dictionary
THE CASE OF TERRY V. OHIO
Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968) established that police may have the right to conduct a search of person to detect concealed weapons on the person in order to prevent immediate danger to the officer or community rather than a search and seizure to collect evidence for criminal activities.
This court ruling serves as a guide to police interaction known as a stop-and-frisk (also down as Terry pat) and it was based on the arrests of John Terry and Richard Chilton by officer, Martin McFadden who believe Terry and Chilton were acting suspicious in front of a store to potentially commit an armed robbery against the retailer. As a result, officer McFadden, who was a Cleveland detective conducted a search to prevent this possible armed robbery from taking place. Upon the pat-down, McFadden found handguns on the person of Terry and Chilton resulting in their arrests.
Terry felt this arrest was against his 4th Amendment right, so he filed his claim, and it was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967. However, the court ruled in favor of officer McFadden in that the pat-down was a result of McFadden observation of the suspects engaging in possible criminal behavior, and by McFadden stopping the suspects based on their behavior did not constitute an illegal by the Fourth Amendment in that an officer may have the right to stop and pat-down a person with reason to believe there is suspicious behavior that warrants the pat-down to protect the officer from harms-way.
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