Reasonable Invasion of Privacy

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Officer Friendly received an anonymous telephone call from a caller who reported that several black males were selling drugs in a breezeway of a building located at 3101 Nobles Avenue. The caller gave no further description. Officer Friendly and several other officers arrived at the scene within ten minutes and observed several black men in the upper part of the breezeway. They also observed Mr. Suspect on a step in the lowest level of the breezeway, below where the other men were. Officer Friendly approached Mr. Suspect while the other officers approached the other men. Mr. Suspect was wearing a hat, a mesh jersey, and blue jean shorts. Officer Friendly asked for ID and Mr. Suspect produced ID indicating he was a resident of an apartment in 3101 Noble s Ave. Officer Friendly asked Mr. Suspect if he had any drugs on him and he said "no." Officer Friendly then asked Mr. Suspect if he could search him, but he refused. Officer Friendly then asked Mr. Suspect if he would allow a dog to search him that was standing 10 feet away with another officer. Mr. Suspect refused stating that he was afraid of dogs. The other officers told officer Friendly that they had found a large amount of money on the other men. Mr. Friendly then asked Mr. Suspect whether he had any weapons on him -- he said "no" and pulled his shirt up and turned all the way around to demonstrate to Officer Friendly that he did not possess any weapons. Officer Friendly then decided to return to his car to check to see if Mr. Suspect had any outstanding warrants. Before doing so, officer Friendly frisked Mr. Suspect for weapons by checking his waistband and by feeling the outside of his pockets. Officer Friendly felt something in Mr. Suspect's right pocket which he immediately suspected to be cocaine rocks. Officer Friendly reached into Mr. Suspect's pocket and pulled out a plastic bag containing a substance appearing to be crack cocaine. Mr. Suspect was then arrested.

Was Officer Friendly justified in searching Mr. Suspect for weapons?

Answer

Assuming nothing in the initial encounter eliminates the officer's reasonable fear for his or others' safety the officer may conduct a carefully limited search of the outer clothing of the suspect to discover weapons.  Terry v. Ohio Officer must have had a reasonable suspicion based on objective facts in order to stop the defendant.

Plain feel Doctrine: Officer must have the right to do the touching in the first place and must feel something the officer reasonably believes is contraband.