The exacerbation against police in major urban locations has greatly increased, as officers are being beleaguered for protests all over the United States. When media outlets choose to direct their focus on this, it paints an unfair and unanimously negative perspective of the police, ultimately leading to a significant lack of confidence or trust towards law enforcement. The main discussion and center focus for these protests are the rudimentary inequalities that form up the criminal justice system. Many of these problems linked between the police and the community are believed to be due to racial profiling amongst members of law enforcement. However, "there are many reasons why the police have difficult interactions with the communities they are supposed to “serve and protect.” Many of these stem from the fact that overall, police departments have contrasting “perspectives, poor communications, and concerns about the nature of social control in a free society” (Radalet and Carter, 1994, p. …show more content…
However, in order for a stop and frisk to be considered permissible by law, the officers present are required to have reasonable suspicion that criminal activity has been, is, or is in the process of being committed. Furthermore, police and other members of law enforcement are only able to perform a frisk on a suspect if they have reason to believe the individual may have dangerous weapons. The foremost purpose of the frisk is to confirm the officer’s safety before they begin questioning the suspect. A stop and frisk transpires when an officer stops an individual and momentarily runs their hands up and down the suspect’s body, feeling the exterior clothing in order to identify possible concealed weapons. “Stop and frisk” procedures are deemed acceptable by the Supreme Court in the case, “Terry vs. Ohio. Therefore, a “stop and frisk” is often referred to as a “Terry stop” ( Izzi, Legal Match Legal Writer and Attorney at Law, 2015). When an officer frisks an individual, they are only able to go by what is referred to as “plain feel.” When a “stop and frisk” is being conducted officers are not permitted to search for evidence lest a valid search warrant is presented. This means that during the frisk officers are unable to manipulate or squeeze areas of the body in order to uncover evidence.