People v. De Bour
- Decided
- June 15, 1976
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- New York
Cited 2,736 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- anonymous call that black man in bar wearing yellow shirt and blue pants had gun; reasonable suspicion — White v. United States; And Anderson v. United States (1981)
- anonymous call that black man in bar wearing red shirt had gun; no reasonable suspicion — White v. United States; And Anderson v. United States (1981)
- defendant encountered on deserted street after midnight in mid-October; said he had no identification; police noted waist-high bulge in defendant’s jacket; when, at officer’s request, defendant unzippered jacket, police saw handgun — Ransome v. State (2003)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
Wachtler, J.
Both of these appeals concern the very sensitive and troublesome issues relating to the nature and extent of police conduct toward private citizens. In People v De Bour the order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed; in People v La Pene the order of the Appellate Division should be reversed.
People v De Bour This case raises the fundamental issue of whether or not a police officer, in the absence of any concrete indication of criminality, may approach a private citizen on the street for the purpose of requesting information. We hold that he may. The basis for this inquiry need not rest on any indication of criminal activity on the part of the person of whom the inquiry is made but there must be some articulable reason sufficient to justify the police action which was undertaken.
Cite this
People v. De Bour, 40 N.Y.2d 210 (1976)Read the full opinion
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