Motion to Suppress “High-Crime Area” Justification for Terry Stop

This motion argues that police reliance on a “high-crime area” designation should carry little or no weight in the reasonable suspicion analysis because the label is vague, non-particularized, and often untethered to actual crime data. Drawing on recent case law and empirical research, it contends that such designations are inconsistently applied, racially biased, and frequently used to justify stops lacking individualized suspicion.