Question

What, if any, negative side effects are associated with Terry stops?

Answer 1

It shall be noted that a "Terry Stop" is a stop of a person by law enforcement officers based upon "reasonable suspicion" that a person may have been engaged in criminal activity, whereas an arrest requires "probable cause" that a suspect committed a criminal offense.

A research conducted by NewYork University sociologist Amanda Geller on this topic.

According to this research report, followings are the findings:

1) Terry stop are harsh encounters in which physical violence, racial/ethnic degradation, and homophobia are commonplace, raising the potential for adverse mental health effects.

2) Terry stop increases anxiety in a populace already feeling over scrutinized and targeted just for walking down the street.

3) Such stops have racial connotations and are often motivated by racial and ethnic prejudices in real practices. Of the 191,558 individuals targeted for these searches in 2013, 56 percent were black and 29 percent were Latino. Only 11 percent were white.

4) Research also shows that people living in neighborhoods where pedestrian stops are more likely to become invasive is associated with worse health with higher cases for diabetes and heart problems.