This article explains the legal aspects of "Stop and Frisk," Search and Seizure Law. The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that "Stops and Frisks," when performed within the prescribed constitutional guidelines, are legal.

1. "Stop and Frisk," (Search and
Seizure) Explained
By Flavio Mota, Counselor at Law
While President Trump was running for the presidency,
Trump vowed to bring "Stop and Frisk" back to law
enforcement personnel.

2. The Problem
Recently, there has been a good amount of media coverage, especially in
Illinois, regarding new laws that impact the duties of police officers.
These changes affect the laws of Search and Seizure, commonly referred
to as "Stop and Frisk." Mainly, these laws are triggered when
governmental agents, e.g. police officers, detain people against their
will. The forceful detention may lead to a pat-down, commonly referred
to as a frisk, for the discovery of weapons.
The Relevant Case Law
These police powers are important because they are instrumental in the
detection, prevention, and investigation of criminal activity. The seminal
Supreme Court case on this area of the law is Terry v. Ohio. In that
case, the court held that police officers are allowed to "stop and frisk"
people, based on a two-part reasonable suspicion test. Terry v.
Ohio was decided in 1968.
The Application of the Relevant Case Law
Today, 2016, Illinois has two new laws on the books. These two new
laws are amendments to statutes (625 ILCS 5/11-212b-5 and 725 ILCS
5/107-14b). But, despite popular misconceptions that these new
laws restrict the powers of police officers, the new laws merely
require that the police officers document their actions. More
importantly, the laws require that the police officers articulate and
document the reasons for their actions. Aside from that, the case law
of Terry v. Ohio is still good law.

3. The Solution
The move towards transparency and accountability has created a need
for more training and higher quality training. It is time for the police
departments, at least in Illinois, to find the Search and Seizure experts
and ask the said experts to engage in training (articulation, writing, and
application of the Search and Seizure laws).
In conclusion, this is a test of the leaders. The leaders face the
opportunity to contribute to the personal growth of police officers
by providing training and allowing officers to fill new roles (e.g.
training and leading).