Officers lack objective basis for patdown

Defendant’s presence in a building that was known for drug arrests was insufficient an objective basis for a patdown. In re Mario T., 376 Ill. App. 3d 468, 875 N.E.2d 1241, 314 Ill. Dec. 954 (1st Dist. 2007):

Even from the position that the officers may have been justified in conducting a Terry stop of the respondent based on (1) the radio call of an attempted break-in, (2) his presence on the second floor when his sister lived on the sixth, (3) not being a resident of the building, and (4) the characterization of the building as an area of high narcotics and gang activity, these factors fail to inform us as to any reasonable inference of criminal conduct on the part of the respondent and his companions, that put the officers in reasonable apprehension of an attack. A showing beyond that which is required for an investigatory stop must be made to justify a weapons frisk. See People v. Galvin, 127 Ill. 2d at 165; compare In re S.V., 326 Ill. App. 3d 678 (2001).

. . .

The State places the greatest weight for justification of the frisk on Officer Hickey’s testimony that she felt in fear for her safety. “In the case of a self-protective search for weapons, [an officer] must be able to point to particular facts from which [s]he reasonably inferred that the individual was armed and dangerous.” Sibron v. New York, 392 U.S. 40, 64, 20 L. Ed. 2d 917, 935, 88 S. Ct. 1889, 1903 (1968). We are mindful that in determining whether the officer acted reasonably under the circumstances, “due weight must be given to the specific reasonable inferences which [an officer] is entitled to draw from the facts in light of [her] experience.” S.V., 326 Ill. App. 3d at 684. In accordance with the deference owed to the officers, the question becomes: “What inferences did Officer Hickey draw from the facts as she understood them to exist, in light of her experience, to support her claim that she acted reasonably in such circumstances?”

We have scoured the record to discover what in particular about the respondent and his friends made Officer Hickey reasonably suspect they posed a danger to her. We are left without an objective answer. The record also provides no testimony from Officer Hickey as to the inferences she drew about the respondent and his companions. We can draw no reasonable inferences on her behalf.