Deck 4: Stop and Frisk

Question 1

When determining the reasonableness of a Terry stop, the facts must be judged in accordance to what a reasonable person would have believed. This is known as _____.

A)the average, reasonable person rule (or TARP rule)
B)the reasonable officer rule
C)the subjective standard
D)the objective standard

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following best lends credence to a tip provided by an anonymous informant?

A)The seriousness of the crime the informant is describing
B)The level of detail provided by the informant
C)The level of vulnerability of the victim(s)
D)Whether the informant says the criminal in question is armed

Answer 2

B

Question 3

When determining what is the level of proof necessary for some action (e.g., probable cause, reasonable suspicion), which of the following are the two opposing factors that must be balanced against one another?

A)An officer's ability to prevent crime and the intrusion on citizen privacy
B)An officer's ability to prevent crime and the safety of nearby citizens
C)The severity of the offense in question and the intrusion on citizen privacy
D)The safety of nearby citizens and the intrusion on citizen privacy

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The first profiles were developed to detect and track _____.

A)drunk drivers
B)drug traffickers
C)child molesters
D)serial killers

Question 5

Which of the following is one of the secondary characteristics of Markonni's drug profile?

A)Purchasing airline tickets with small denominations of currency
B)Displaying unusual nervousness
C)Almost exclusively using public transportation, particularly taxicabs, in departing from the airport
D)Having an unusual itinerary, such as a rapid turnaround time for a very lengthy airplane trip

Question 6

To rely solely on race to stop or detain a person would be against the rights provided in the _____ and Fourteenth Amendments.

A)Second
B)Fifth
C)Ninth
D)Thirteenth

Question 7

Which of the following is one of the seven primary characteristics of Markonni's drug profile?

A)Carrying little or no luggage or large quantities of empty suitcases
B)Immediately making a telephone call after deplaning
C)Leaving a false or fictitious call-back telephone number with the airline
D)Excessively frequent travel to source or distribution cities

Question 8

What level of proof is required for law enforcement officers to make an arrest?

A)Beyond a reasonable doubt
B)Probable cause
C)Preponderance of the evidence
D)Reasonable suspicion

Question 9

An officer stops an individual for the purposes of a Terry stop; he has reasonable suspicion to do so. During the frisk he finds a small handgun, for which the person has a valid license to own and permit to carry. He also finds a small baggie of cocaine. Can he seize the cocaine and use it as evidence at trial?

A)Yes, he legally discovered the cocaine during the frisk.
B)Yes, according to the "plain touch" rule it is admissible.
C)No, he did not have justification for the stop.
D)No, a Terry stop is allowed to search for weapons only.

Question 10

The U.S. Supreme Court justified the use of a stop and frisk by stating that requiring an officer to wait until he/she developed probable cause would _____.

A)be unreasonable
B)jeopardize the investigation
C)place society at risk of harm
D)allow the guilty to go free

Question 11

Which of the following is not one of the ways in which race can be considered by law enforcement officers?

A)Neighborhood "racial incongruity"
B)One aspect of an identification
C)One aspect of a profile
D)None of the above are allowed.

Question 12

Which of the following examples would be considered an unacceptable detention for a Terry stop?

A)Officers make a suspect wait 20 minutes at an airport for a drug dog.
B)An officer makes three suspects wait for 10 minutes while he calls for backup.
C)A traffic officer makes a suspect wait 3 hours in his vehicle for a drug dog.
D)After refusing an x-ray, officers make a suspected drug mule wait 12 hours before he passes cocaine-filled balloons.

Question 13

Which of the following is not one of the three points the U.S. Supreme Court has laid out regarding reliance on profiles?

A)Reasonable suspicion
B)Probable cause
C)Suspect's conduct
D)Nonsuspicious conduct

Question 14

How far can a suspect be involuntarily moved during a Terry stop before it becomes an arrest?

A)Only a few feet
B)Less than 50 feet
C)Less than 250 feet
D)Less than one mile

Question 15

The key element that differentiates a Terry stop from an arrest is _____.

A)who can (and cannot) be stopped
B)the number of officers present
C)whether handcuffs are employed
D)the duration of the stop

Question 16

The practice of officers briefly stopping and frisking suspicious persons for weapons, leading to the landmark case of Terry v. Ohio, spiked in which decade?

A)1920s
B)1940s
C)1960s
D)1980s

Question 17

Which of the following is not used to determine whether reasonable suspicion existed to justify a Terry stop?

A)Officer experience
B)Officer expertise
C)Probabilities
D)Probable cause

Question 18

Which of the following is not one of the critical considerations of the test established by the U.S. Supreme Court to determine the veracity of the information provided by an informant?

A)Severity of the crime being reported
B)Reliability of the informant
C)Basis of the informant's knowledge
D)All of the above are critical considerations.

Question 19

Which of the following is not considered a source of secondhand information?

A)Informants
B)Eyewitnesses
C)Officer observations
D)Police bulletins

Question 20

By what standard do the courts determine whether reasonable suspicion existed to justify a Terry stop?

A)The extenuating circumstances test
B)The totality of the circumstances
C)Eyewitness testimony
D)The judgment of the officer involved

Question 21

Although not backed by U.S. Supreme Court rule and not to be considered a bright line rule, the Model Penal Code of Pre-Arraignment Procedure places a _____ time limit on Terry stops.

A)10-minute
B)20-minute
C)30-minute
D)45-minute

Question 22

In order to seize narcotics during a frisk, what test must be employed?

A)There must be no doubt that the item is a narcotic.
B)It must be immediately apparent that the item is a narcotic.
C)The officer must have probable cause to believe the item is a narcotic.
D)The officer must be reasonably certain the item is a narcotic.

Question 23

If a suspect flees from the police, officers can consider that act when determining whether reasonable suspicion exists to perform a Terry stop.

Question 24

A police officer is not allowed to consider an individual's arrest record when determining whether to perform a Terry stop if the person in question has served his/her sentence completely.

Question 25

What are the three areas of inquiry one must consider in differentiating between a probable cause arrest and a reasonable suspicion stop?

A)Subjective belief, duration, intrusiveness
B)Objective belief, movement, intrusiveness
C)Use of force, length of detention, nature of relationship
D)Movement, length of detention, intrusiveness

Question 26

In Terry v. Ohio, the U.S. Supreme Court found the detective's actions reasonable because after the defendants engaged in a series of innocent acts, they then engaged in one overtly criminal act, which aroused the detective's suspicions.

Question 27

Which of the following is not one of the major factors considered by a judge when determining the level of intrusiveness of a Terry stop?

A)The number of suspects
B)The number of officers
C)Whether the suspect is behaving threateningly
D)Whether an informant was involved

Question 28

Which of the following factors is not considered in the determination of reasonable suspicion?

A)The race of the individual in question
B)Evading the police
C)Acting nervous during an encounter with the police
D)A high-crime area

Question 29

Profiles tend to be based on careful analyses of the behavior of known criminals.

Question 30

Probable cause has been defined by the Court as those actions that "warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that the action taken was appropriate."

Question 31

What is a hearsay report?

A)A report on what officers learn through eavesdropping and wiretapping
B)Information that is obtained through an informant only
C)Information that is obtained in a secondhand fashion as opposed to through direct observation
D)A report containing the suspect's statement prepared and filed by a police officer

Question 32

The primary difficulty when using profiles is that innocent individuals often display several of the profile characteristics.

Question 33

An officer stops a young man on the street legally and subjects him to a frisk. The officer is extremely thorough in the frisk. He even asks the young man to empty his wallet. Is the extent of this frisk permissible?

A)Only if the officer reasonably believes the wallet might contain a weapon
B)No, because the scope must be limited to the discovery of guns, knives, and other weapons
C)Yes, an officer may search to whatever extent necessary when detaining a criminal suspect
D)No, because the frisk can only occur after transportation to the police station

Question 34

Police bulletins are classified as secondhand information.

Question 35

As a general rule, which common law enforcement item can an officer not use while making a Terry stop?

A)Flashlight
B)Handcuffs
C)Firearm (brandishing, not firing)
D)Drug dog

Question 36

In addition to weapons, what other type of item can be seized during a frisk?

A)Contraband
B)Narcotics
C)Wallets
D)Electronics

Question 37

Police are required to corroborate at least some of the information provided by an informant before acting on the tip.

Question 38

The purpose of a frisk is to check a suspicious person for weapons and contraband.

Question 39

Victim testimony is classified as secondhand information.

Question 40

When may race act as the sole factor for a Terry stop?

A)Always
B)Never
C)When the suspect is a juvenile
D)When the race of the suspect is the same as the officer's so as to not raise suspicion of discrimination

Question 41

When Terry v. Ohio was passed, critics of the new rules feared that the new rules would lead to the destruction of civil liberties. Why did they hold this concern? How did the Court (or how does the rule established in Terry) attempt to assuage these fears?

Question 42

What is a major limitation to the seizure of narcotics under the plain feel doctrine?

Question 43

Give an example of an instance in which an officer may lawfully execute a Terry search of the passenger compartment of an automobile.

Question 44

Due to the landmark case that established the test for such a stop, a stop and frisk is known in legal vernacular as a _____.

Question 45

Explain the role of ethnicity and religion in reasonable suspicion.

Question 46

In order to justify a stop and frisk, an officer must be able to present specific facts to support his/her actions. This requirement is known as the requirement of _____

Question 47

Profiling criminals tends to be controversial. Explain the arguments for both sides and how profiles are developed in the first place.

Question 48

During a Terry stop, a suspect cannot be locked in a police car.

Question 49

Determining whether a Terry stop has crossed the line into a custodial arrest focuses on three areas: movement, length of detention, and level of intrusiveness. Explain the general rules for each of these areas and give one example for each of what would constitute a Terry stop and what would mildly cross the line into a custodial arrest.

Question 50

Explain how stop and frisk practices were historically implemented prior to Terry v. Ohio.

Question 51

The level of proof necessary to conduct a stop and frisk is _____.

Question 52

The practice of law enforcement officials suspecting or detaining a person based purely on race is known as _____.

Question 53

Race can be considered when using a profile, as long as it is one of many factors used.

Question 54

Officers are allowed to seize any contraband during a frisk.

Question 55

During a Terry stop, a suspect cannot be moved against his/her will (barring safety concerns).

Question 56

Explain what factors judges consider in instances in which a suspect threatens an officer's safety and the police resort to physical force, to displaying a weapon, or to detaining an individual in a squad car.

Question 57

Explain the totality of the circumstances test used to determine whether an anonymous tip is credible.

Question 58

Explain why an officer may frisk a passenger in a vehicle who is not suspected of criminal activity.

Question 59

Secondhand information, such as that from an informant, eyewitness, or victim, is also known as a _____ report.

Question 60

About half of all state supreme courts have held that officers need reasonable suspicion to order a passenger out of a stopped vehicle.