People v. Spencer

In People v. Spencer, 84 N.Y.2d 749, the Court of Appeals reaffirmed without qualification that police stops of automobiles in New York are legal only, as applicable here, when there exists at least a reasonable suspicion that the driver or occupants of the vehicle have committed, are committing or are about to commit a crime. In the decision the court did state, "We need not and do not hold today that police officers may never stop a vehicle in order to request information of its occupants." (Spencer, supra, 757.) The court did note that where the operator is the subject of individualized suspicion relating to the possibility that a crime is about to occur and exigent circumstances justify immediate police action due to a lack of available less intrusive alternatives that a stop on less than reasonable suspicion might in some appropriate case be sanctioned in the future. (Spencer, supra, 757-758.)