So if a suspect sees a cop and starts running away, the cop has no right to pursue and search the suspect? If you're not already a criminal defense lawyer, you may have missed your calling.
You failed to explain your use of the word "suspect". What are they suspected of, being a potential criminal? In stop and frisk, that is the case.
If an actual crime has occurred, then you can talk probable cause for chasing a "runner".
A cop can (and will) say anything they want. They can bust your chops and cost you hours and days and weeks of anguish and anxiety. So long as they can say ‘thats what it looked like to me’ or some variant.
Here in NYC the police don’t just enforce the law. In many respects they are the law. They can arrest a person just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ve seen it happen to people i know.
“So if a suspect sees a cop and starts running away, the cop has no right to pursue and search the suspect? “
That’s correct. You know why? Because running isn’t a crime! I’m dismayed at the amount of conservatives that are in favor of this clearly unconstitutional policy. Stop and frisk in NYC is a joke. And their claim that it has lowered crime is also a joke. They claim this by including all of the completely bogus little tickets they hand out to reach their quotas for things like blocking the sidewalk (because they are being stopped by the cops!), or any number of other BS reasons they make up.
As an American I really hope some of you rethink this position. It’s terrible policy and if it keeps up, you’re next.