Opinion ID: 1379698
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: dimensions of a permissible investigatory stop

Text: [2] The Fourth Amendment applies to all seizures of persons, including those involving only a brief detention short of traditional arrest. Davis v. Mississippi, 394 U.S. 721, 22 L.Ed.2d 676, 89 S.Ct. 1394 (1969); State v. Larson, 93 Wn.2d 638, 641, 611 P.2d 771 (1980). For the purposes of the Fourth Amendment, a person is seized whenever a police officer accosts that person and restrains his freedom to walk away. Terry, 392 U.S. at 16; Larson, 93 Wn.2d at 641. The Fourth Amendment and article 1, section 7 require that the seizure be reasonable. Terry, 392 U.S. at 16-19; State v. Kennedy, 107 Wn.2d 1, 4, 726 P.2d 445 (1986). [3] In Terry, the Supreme Court determined that the police could detain a suspect for an investigative stop even though the officer does not have probable cause to believe that the suspect is involved in criminal activity. Terry, 392 U.S. at 25-26. When police officers have a well-founded suspicion not amounting to probable cause to arrest, they may nonetheless stop a suspected person, identify themselves, and ask that person for identification and an explanation of his or her activities. State v. White, 97 Wn.2d 92, 105, 640 P.2d 1061 (1982) (quoting State v. Gluck, 83 Wn.2d 424, 426, 518 P.2d 703 (1974)); Brown v. Texas, 443 U.S. 47, 51, 61 L.Ed.2d 357, 99 S.Ct. 2637 (1979); State v. Williams, 102 Wn.2d 733, 740, 689 P.2d 1065 (1984); State v. Wheeler, 108 Wn.2d 230, 235, 737 P.2d 1005 (1987); see Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 499-500, 75 L.Ed.2d 229, 103 S.Ct. 1319 (1983).