Opinion ID: 931113
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: A Terry Stop and its Requirements

Text: As Mr. Benavidez acknowledges, police officers may detain an individual for investigatory purposes when the totality of the circumstances creates reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. 3 Brief investigatory stops—though exempt from the probable cause requirement—remain subject to the Fourth Amendment’s general requirement that searches and seizures be reasonable. 4 A stop is reasonable if it is justified at the start and reasonably related in scope to the circumstances that justified the stop in the first place. 5 A stop is justified if the “specific and articulable facts and rational inferences drawn from those facts give rise to a reasonable suspicion [that] a person has or is committing a crime.” 6 We view the facts in their totality, applying an objective standard to determine if a reasonable officer would have suspected a crime. 7 3 Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 21 (1968). 4 Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 20 (1968). 5 Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 20 (1968); United States v. DeJear, 552 F.3d 1196, 1200 (10th Cir. 2009). 6 United States v. Werking, 915 F.2d 1404, 1407 (10th Cir. 1990). 7 United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266, 273 (2002); United States v. Salazar, 609 F.3d 1059, 1064-65 (10th Cir. 2010). 3 The officer need not “rule out the possibility of innocent conduct.” 8 But he can initiate a detention only if he has a “particularized and objective basis” for suspecting criminal activity. 9 Hunches are not enough. 10