Florida Statute 901.151 is more commonly know as the "Stop and Frisk Law."
This law states that, "Whenever any law enforcement officer of this state encounters any person under circumstances which reasonably indicate that such person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a violation of the criminal laws of this state or the criminal ordinances of any municipality or county, the officer may temporarily detain such person for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of the person temporarily detained and the circumstances surrounding the person's presence abroad which led the officer to believe that the person had committed, was committing, or was about to commit a criminal offense."
This means that if a police officer reasonably believes (the correct legal term of art is reasonable suspicion) that you are committing a crime, have committed a crime, or are about to commit a crime, the police may temporarily detain you for the purpose of determining your identity (asking for your ID and running it to check for priors and warrants).
The law further states that, "No person shall be temporarily detained...longer than is reasonably necessary to effect the purposes of [determining the subject's identity and circumstances surrounding the subject's presence in the area]. Such temporary detention shall not extend beyond the place where it was first effected or the immediate vicinity thereof."
This means that the cops cannot use the Stop And Frisk Law to detain you longer than is needed to determine who you are, and your business in the area. If the cops find you walking down the street where a burglary had just occurred and you match the description of the subject, the police may legally stop you to ask for ID and ask why you are there. If you show your ID and confirm to the police that you live in the area and are walking to the store, then the police shall not continue to detain you after that. Any continued detention once their suspicions have been dispelled would be an illegal detention.
The law requires that "If at any time after the onset of the temporary detention...probable cause for arrest of person shall appear, the person shall be arrested. If, after an inquiry into the circumstances which prompted the temporary detention, no probable cause for the arrest of the person shall appear, the person shall be released."
Again, if the police suspect that you have committed a crime, you can be arrested. If they do not suspect that you have committed a crime, they must release you.
"Whenever any law enforcement officer authorized to detain temporarily any person under the provisions of subsection (2) has probable cause to believe that any person whom the officer has temporarily detained, or is about to detain temporarily, is armed with a dangerous weapon and therefore offers a threat to the safety of the officer or any other person, the officer may search such person so temporarily detained only to the extent necessary to disclose, and for the purpose of disclosing, the presence of such weapon. If such a search discloses such a weapon or any evidence of a criminal offense it may be seized."
This means that if the cops are authorized to detain you and have probable cause to believe that you are armed, the officer may search you only to the extent necessary to disclose a weapon.
This is a sticky area in criminal law and many suppression motions are based on this. How does the officer have probable cause to suspect you have a weapon? What kind of search will be "necessary to disclose a weapon?" A pat-down? A search of the subject's pockets?
Stop And Frisk is based on the famous U.S. Supreme Court case of Terry v. Ohio, which essentially gives police the authority to temporarily detain you if they reasonably believe that you have committed a crime, are about to commit a crime, or are in the process of committing a crime.
Stop And Frisk is easily abused by law enforcement officers who don't understand the limitations inherent in the statute itself. The cops can stop and detain you temporarily, only if they reasonably suspect that you are involved or have been involved in criminal activity. They can search you only to extent necessary to reveal a weapon only if they have probable cause to believe that you are in possession of a weapon.
Stop And Frisk does not give the cops the right to do what they please. It's these abuses that can create the difference between being convicted and having your charges thrown out.
If you believe that you have been the subject of an unlawful police search or detention and that your arrest was the result of this unlawful search or detention, call me. I represent clients in Miami-Dade and Broward charged with criminal offenses.