The defendant was acting nervous with an evasive behavior and he was in a high crime area. These factors lead to the reasonable suspicion necessary for a Terry stop under the Fourth Amendment. Facts: The defendant William Wardlow was holding a opaque bag while visiting an area known for heavy narcotic trafficking, upon seeing the two officers on routine patrol he takes off and runs from the officers, the officers catch up with him and conducts a pat-down weapons search, they find a .38 caliber handgun on his person. Trial court denied Mr. Wardlows’ motion to suppress, but the appellate court reversed the decision. Illinois Supreme Court upheld the appellate courts results stating that the combination of running and the fact that the defendant was in a high drug area did not reach the status of reasonable suspicion necessary to justify a Terry stop.
What actually happened the night that the unarmed young man was shot and killed? On October 3rd, 1974, at about 10:45pm police were called to the scene of a burglary in process. When police arrived a young man was running to a fence. The officer called out and identified himself as the police and yelled for the suspect to stop. The officer used a flashlight and was able to see the suspect was unarmed.
The police brought drug-sniffing dogs since they were African American they expected them to have drugs in the car. That wasn’t all; they also took off parts of the car to see that they weren’t hiding the drugs. After that they were set free and no one got arrested. Gerald was petrified when they let him go. There has been an increasing amount of Hispanics and African Americans being stopped and harassed.
Insidious Disease: Police Brutality Knock, Knock. The police are going door to door, looking for a rape suspect. They knock on the door next to yours: a quiet, legal African American immigrant’s home. He answers, and reaches into his jacket to retrieve his wallet to show his identification to the officers. At the moment, the four policemen open fire forty-one times on the man, and he drops dead.
United States V. Ross 456 U.S. 798 (1982) Facts: On November 27, 1978, Washington, D.C. police detectives received a tip from a reliable informant describing a man known as “Bandit” who was selling illegal narcotics that were kept in the trunk of his car. The reliable informant gave the location of the car and description of both the car and driver. The District of Columbia police officers immediately drove to the location, found the parked car, and called for a computer check on the car, which confirmed that the owner matched the description and used the alias “Bandit”. Shortly thereafter the police observed the car being driven by a man who matched the informant’s description. They stopped the car and ordered the driver out.
Then he saw a white male who looked homeless, his clothes were filthy. Drake got out of the estate and approached the homeless man. He told the man to stop but he didn’t, then with his 38. Revolver he shot down the homeless man. Drake McCann called the police to investigate the scene and the rest of the CSI’s came
March News - News Article Number One Title: Who Were Those OWS Masked Men? Source: Daily News: New York’s Hometown Newspaper Gotten On: Sunday, April 1, 2012 By Kariney Mendoza Class 711 I.S.292 Kariney Mendoza 711 – ELA March 31, 2012 News Article Number One “Who Were Those OWS Masked Men?” Main Idea: The main idea of this article that I read is about mysterious men in the train station who were committing a crime. Summary: This article starts off talking about the hunt. The police are hunting these several mysterious mean with masks chaining the gates. Therefore, they are offering people free rides which everyone knows is a crime by the simple fact that they have
The device looked like a bomb but was not one, California law officers announced Wednesday night. Authorities were searching for two men who robbed the bank of substantial money earlier in the day. Both wore masks and one reportedly holstered a handgun. The bank employee told police she was escorted by the men outside her residence in Huntington
Gates found the front door to his home jammed shut and with the help of his driver to force it open. A local witness reported their activity to the police as a potential burglary in progress. That Crowley had explained. Gates came to the door and said “why because I’m black man in America?” Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct, by Police St. James Crowley. On July 21, 2009, charges against Gates were dropped.
Trayvon Martin Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old African American male who was walking home from 7-Eleven when 28 year old George Zimmerman shot him at close range in the chest. Zimmerman was set free under Florida’s Stand Your Ground laws which allow the use of lethal force in self defense out in public spaces. This was not the case however because Zimmerman was on the phone with a police dispatcher reporting Trayvon for looking suspicious walking with his hood on when he went against the dispatchers advice and got out of his car to pursue Trayvon (City of Sanford). There was a massive public outcry and a call for George Zimmerman’s arrest which included marches and rallies full of people wearing their hoods in support of Trayvon and his family. Some people claim that Zimmerman was justified in his actions and was fulfilling his duty as part of the neighborhood crime watch.