2
Stop & Frisk and Crime
Stop and frisk, also called Terry stops, is the practice in which police officers stop,
search and question people for illegal items or weapons without probable cause or a warrant.
According to
Bandes et al. (2019), this provocative policing tactic has been employed in
numerous countries; however, it is highly utilized in the United States, where it is adopted in
major cities like New York. Moreover, there has been a prolonged debate amongst law
enforcement officers, policymakers, and scholars on the efficiency of Stop and Frisk as a
crime prevention approach. Studies reveal that supporters of this policing approach dictate
that stop and frisk aids in lowering crime by eliminating weapons and contraband from the
streets (
Bandes et al., 2019). In contrast, the opponents of this policing argue that it unduly
targets ethnic and racial minorities and breaches their constitutional rights. Furthermore,
several researchers have studied policing to assess its impact on crime rates. The following
are some of the articles that explore the issue.
Bandes,
S.
A., Pryor,
M., Kerrison,
E.
M., & Goff,
P.
A. (2019). The mismeasure of
Terry
tops: Assessing the psychological and emotional harms of stop and Frisk to individuals
and communities.
Behavioral Sciences & the Law
,
37
(2), 176-
194.
https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2401
The article "The Mismeasure of Terry's Tops: Assessing the Psychological and
Emotional Harms of Stop and Frisk to Individuals and Communities" by
Bandes et al. (2019)
evaluates the emotional and psychological harms of Stop and Frisk on people and societies.
The authors argue that prior studies on Stop and Frisk mainly concentrated on the effect of
crime rates and overlooked the adverse effects for the individuals who are stopped and
frisked. Additionally, the authors argue that Stop and Frisk can result in humiliation,
psychological trauma, and a loss of trust in law enforcement officers (Bandes et al., 2019).
Moreover, the authors conducted in-depth interviews with people who have been stopped and
frisked in New York City. Their findings revealed that these people were mostly traumatized
by the process, with many feeling angry, humiliated, and violated. Further findings revealed