It's Armed or Dangerous, Not "Armed and Dangerous"

The following is a computer-generated transcription, some grammar and spelling errors may be inherent Hey guys, it's Anthony Bandiero here with blue to gold law enforcement training. And I'm in Scotch Plains, New Jersey delivering a fantastic advanced search and seizure class to some great officers. And I want to give you take this opportunity, give you some advice. Okay? The advice is this. When it comes to pat downs, it's armed or dangerous, not armed and dangerous. And here's what I mean. In the seminal case of Terry versus Ohio, the US Supreme Court talked about, you know, Officer Martin McFadden with the Cleveland Police Department, you know, patrolling Euclid Avenue for something like 38 years on the job and most of them as a plainclothes officer. And he sees Terry and his friends going back and forth in front of stores and things that they're up to something about to commit an armed robbery. And he Pat's him down and finds two, revolvers Ontarian in a cohort. And the Supreme Court said that if the officer can articulate that the person is armed and dangerous, they can do the pat down will certainly McFadden had reasonable suspicion that Terry and his friends were on dangerous because there but the hold up the store. But I wish they didn't use that phrase. That phrase comes from Old Hollywood, you know, be on the lookout for a suspect who is considered armed and dangerous. But what they should have said, and it would have given a lot more guidance to hard working police officers out there that want to go home at night, is it's not armed and dangerous. It's armed or dangerous. We got to get out of our mind is armed and dangerous. Because here's what happens. Officers are sometimes not patting down people, because they consider them dangerous. But they have no articulation that they're also armed. That is not what courts look for. They routinely look for armed, are they armed? Do they have the bolts consistent with the weapon? Are they favoring one side, you know, on their waist area? You know, are they walking in with a certain gate? That seems like they have a concealed carry and so forth? Are they visibly armed, you can certainly disarm people during a lawful detention or probable cause traffic stop for your safety, even if they're lawfully carrying, if you believe that this would help your safety that is, that is easy for the courts. I mean, a person with a gun can instantly become dangerous.