Legal Question in Criminal Law in New York

Re: search and seizure

A police officer may conduct a "Terry" stop when he REASONABLY believes that an individual is committing, is about to commit or has committed a crime. If the officer then has a reasonable belief that the subject has a weapon on his person and poses athreat to the officer's safety the officer may conduct a pat down for the dangerous instrument. If one is found and it is illegal, the officer may arrest the individual. If no dangerous instrument is found the officer can not legally search the individual for any other evidence and must release him from the stop. If an individual is not free to leave, he is in custody, whether he is told why or not, however it is proper police procedure to inform the individual of the reason for the arrest as soon as practible. It depends upon the situation at the time of arrest,i.e., if a crowd has collected, etc.