N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law § 140.50: Temporary questioning of persons in public places; search for weapons

§ 140.50 Temporary questioning of persons in public places; search for

weapons.

1. In addition to the authority provided by this article for making an

arrest without a warrant, a police officer may stop a person in a public

place located within the geographical area of such officer's employment

when he reasonably suspects that such person is committing, has

committed or is about to commit either (a) a felony or (b) a misdemeanor

defined in the penal law, and may demand of him his name, address and an

explanation of his conduct.

2. Any person who is a peace officer and who provides security

services for any court of the unified court system may stop a person in

or about the courthouse to which he is assigned when he reasonably

suspects that such person is committing, has committed or is about to

commit either (a) a felony or (b) a misdemeanor defined in the penal

law, and may demand of him his name, address and an explanation of his

conduct.

3. When upon stopping a person under circumstances prescribed in

subdivisions one and two a police officer or court officer, as the case

may be, reasonably suspects that he is in danger of physical injury, he

may search such person for a deadly weapon or any instrument, article or

substance readily capable of causing serious physical injury and of a

sort not ordinarily carried in public places by law-abiding persons. If

he finds such a weapon or instrument, or any other property possession

of which he reasonably believes may constitute the commission of a

crime, he may take it and keep it until the completion of the

questioning, at which time he shall either return it, if lawfully

possessed, or arrest such person.

4. In cities with a population of one million or more, information

that establishes the personal identity of an individual who has been

stopped, questioned and/or frisked by a police officer or peace officer,

such as the name, address or social security number of such person,

shall not be recorded in a computerized or electronic database if that

individual is released without further legal action; provided, however,

that this subdivision shall not prohibit police officers or peace

officers from including in a computerized or electronic database generic

characteristics of an individual, such as race and gender, who has been

stopped, questioned and/or frisked by a police officer or peace officer.