Search of persons
{{Short description|Criminal law procedure}}
{{About| police searches performed on members of the public who have not been arrested and who are not held in detention| police searches performed on these last|Arrest#Powers of arrest|searches of property rather than people|Search and seizure}}
Police officers in various jurisdictions have power to search members of the public, for example, for weapons, drugs and stolen property.{{cite book|last1=Reiss|first1=Albert J.|title=The Police and the Public|date=1971|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven, Connecticut|isbn=9780300016468|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ErEylE6PUgC|accessdate=11 September 2017}}
England and Wales
{{main|Stop and search}}
Police powers in England and Wales, allowing police officers to search members of the public for weapons, drugs, stolen property, terrorism-related evidence or evidence of other crimes are known as stop and search powers.{{cite web|title=Police powers to stop and search: your rights|url=https://www.gov.uk/police-powers-to-stop-and-search-your-rights|website=Gov.UK|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom|accessdate=11 September 2017}}
United States
{{main|Terry stop|Frisking}}
Searches in the United States are governed by the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which generally requires that the police obtain a warrant before a search is legally permissible. However, certain exceptions to the warrant requirement exist.
After stopping a person based upon the reasonable belief that the person might be engaged in unlawful activity, or following a routine encounter such as a traffic stop, the police in the United States may perform a cursory search of the persons outer clothing for their own safety. Terry v. Ohio.{{cite web|title=Terry v. Ohio, 392 US 1, 88 S. Ct. 1868, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889 (1968)|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17773604035873288886|website=Google Scholar|accessdate=11 September 2017}} However, unless the object is reasonably identified by feel as a possible weapon or contraband, they may not remove objects from pockets, as that would constitute a search. Minnesota v. Dickerson.{{cite web|title=Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 US 366, 113 S. Ct. 2130, 124 L. Ed. 2d 334 (1993)|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7218526854673273191|website=Google Scholar|accessdate=11 September 2017}} When performing a pat-down following a Terry stop that results in the officer identifying a weapon by feel, a police officer is allowed to remove the weapon from the person's clothing.