NCJ Number
147273
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 62 Issue: 2 Dated: (February 1994) Pages: 27-32
Date Published
1994
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the questions that govern when a police officer may seize evidence or contraband that is discovered during a frisk of a suspect.
Abstract
The United States Supreme Court, in Minnesota v. Dickerson, 113 S. Ct. 2130 (1993), agreed that under some circumstances a police officer may seize nonthreatening contraband detected through a protective frisk for weapons although in this case the seizure was held to be invalid. This article discusses the guidelines for analyzing when a seizure of evidence or contraband detected during a stop and frisk is justified and reviews previous Supreme Court and appellate court decisions that established or interpreted these guidelines. To justify an initial frisk, there must be clearly articulable facts that demonstrate an objectively reasonable suspicion that the suspect has a weapon. The frisk must be strictly limited to a search for weapons. A seizure is justified if the officer has a reasonable belief that the object he feels during a frisk is a weapon. The officer may not continue to probe an object once it is clear that it is not a weapon. However, in a variation of the "plain view" doctrine, the courts have recognized that if through a "plain feel" it is immediately apparent to searching officers that they have felt contraband or evidence of a crime, they may seize the item. The degree of certainty the officers must have about the incriminating nature of the item must be to the level of probable cause. 1 figure