§ 140.50 Temporary questioning of persons in public places; search for\n weapons.\n 1. In addition to the authority provided by this article for making an\narrest without a warrant, a police officer may stop a person in a public\nplace located within the geographical area of such officer's employment\nwhen he reasonably suspects that such person is committing, has\ncommitted or is about to commit either (a) a felony or (b) a misdemeanor\ndefined in the penal law, and may demand of him his name, address and an\nexplanation of his conduct.\n 2. Any person who is a peace officer and who provides security\nservices for any court of the unified court system may stop a person in\nor about the courthouse to which he is assigned when he reasonably\nsuspects that such person is committing, has committed or is about to\ncommit either (a) a felony or (b) a misdemeanor defined in the penal\nlaw, and may demand of him his name, address and an explanation of his\nconduct.\n 3. When upon stopping a person under circumstances prescribed in\nsubdivisions one and two a police officer or court officer, as the case\nmay be, reasonably suspects that he is in danger of physical injury, he\nmay search such person for a deadly weapon or any instrument, article or\nsubstance readily capable of causing serious physical injury and of a\nsort not ordinarily carried in public places by law-abiding persons. If\nhe finds such a weapon or instrument, or any other property possession\nof which he reasonably believes may constitute the commission of a\ncrime, he may take it and keep it until the completion of the\nquestioning, at which time he shall either return it, if lawfully\npossessed, or arrest such person.\n 4. In cities with a population of one million or more, information\nthat establishes the personal identity of an individual who has been\nstopped, questioned and/or frisked by a police officer or peace officer,\nsuch as the name, address or social security number of such person,\nshall not be recorded in a computerized or electronic database if that\nindividual is released without further legal action; provided, however,\nthat this subdivision shall not prohibit police officers or peace\nofficers from including in a computerized or electronic database generic\ncharacteristics of an individual, such as race and gender, who has been\nstopped, questioned and/or frisked by a police officer or peace officer.\n
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