This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project , a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system, and News 5 Cleveland . Sign up for The Marshall Project’s Cleveland newsletter and follow them on Instagram , TikTok , Reddit and Facebook .
Cleveland police officers stop thousands of people every year, mostly to hand out traffic tickets. In 2023, the department reported making nearly 17,000 stops — about 45 a day. More than 700 of those were Terry stops, where officers briefly question a person they suspect might be involved in a crime. Nationally, a Terry stop has become known as a stop-and-frisk.
This practice has always been controversial, especially in communities of color where the use of field interrogations has caused friction and eroded trust . A U.S. Supreme Court decision related to a Cleveland arrest, Terry v. Ohio, established the power of police to stop, question and search people they suspect of wrongdoing.
- What happened in the case that led to the Ohio v. Terry decision?
- What makes it a Terry stop?
- What isn’t evidence of reasonable suspicion?
- How does this work in Cleveland?
- What about stopping children? Does it work the same way?
- Who gets to decide whether an officer made the right decision?
- Has anyone from Cleveland challenged an officer’s decision?
- Have questions about police stops? Want to share an experience?