SINCE 1828
Terry stop
noun
Ter·ry stop
| \ ˈter-ē-\
Legal Definition of Terry stop
: a stop and limited search of a person for weapons justified by a police officer's reasonable conclusion that a crime is being or about to be committed by a person who may be armed and whose responses to questioning do not dispel the officer's fear of danger to the officer or to others — compare reasonable suspicion
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