<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article relies too much on references to primary sources . Please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . (September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article relies too much on references to primary sources . Please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . (September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> In the United States, a Terry stop is a brief detention of a person by police on reasonable suspicion of involvement in criminal activity but short of probable cause to arrest . </P> <P> The name derives from Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that police may briefly detain a person whom they reasonably suspect is involved in criminal activity; the Court also held that police may do a limited search of the suspect's outer garments for weapons if they have a reasonable and articulable suspicion that the person detained may be "armed and dangerous ." </P>

The key element that differentiates a terry stop from an arrest is