article_snippet.sent: The police and the U.S. Justice Department are investigating.
article_snippet.sent: Believe The case or not, the charging document in The case gives us more information than the now-viral video of the arrest.
article_snippet.sent: In that narrative, police state "Defendant fled unprovoked upon noticing police presence."
article_snippet.sent: According to the officers' words, that's the sole reason a stop was initiated.
article_snippet.sent: The next sentence is important too: "The defendant was apprehended in [a specific location] after a brief foot chase."  
article_snippet.sent: The police and the U.S. Justice Department are locked in: it appears that by The police and the U.S. Justice Department own narrative that the unprovoked flight was the only reason for the stop, because the very next thing that happens...is the stop.
article_snippet.sent: Can The police and the U.S. Justice Department stop you if all you do is run from The police and the U.S. Justice Department when you see The police and the U.S. Justice Department?
article_snippet.sent: But having grounds to stop is not the same as having probable cause to make an arrest.
article_snippet.sent: The United States Supreme Court and Maryland courts have made clear that unprovoked flight -- running away from the police for no reason -- is enough to support reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed.
article_snippet.sent: When you add to the suspect's flight the Supreme Court's recognition that the character of the neighborhood is also a factor in assessing reasonable suspicion, it appears that the police in The case had at least enough to justify the stop, constitutionally.
article_snippet.sent: Much to the chagrin of public defenders and defense attorneys, as long as an officer testifies minimally to an individual (1) running away, (2) in a "high crime" area, the stop will usually be "good.
article_snippet.sent: But police are supposed to articulate the additional safety concern to get to the frisk.
article_snippet.sent: Police must also have reasonable suspicion that the suspect may be "armed and presently dangerous" to additionally conduct a carefully limited search of the outer clothing for the sole purpose of discovering weapons.
article_snippet.sent: The important thing here is that a stop and frisk is not the same as an arrest.
article_snippet.sent: In theory, if a stop gives rise to no suspicion, and a frisk yields nothing more than a comb and some pocket lint, the citizen should be free to leave.
article_snippet.sent: An arrest requires much more: probable cause to believe a crime has been committed, and nothing less.