When Can the Police Frisk the Passenger of a Car for Weapons?
·By Ronald S. Chapman, P.A.
In the case of Arizona v. Johnson, the United States Supreme Court addressed the following
question:
Whether a police officer may lawfully frisk a passenger in a vehicle stopped for a minor traffic infraction when the officer has no reason to believe that the passenger has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime, but nevertheless reasonably suspects the passenger to be armed and dangerous?