Does an anonymous tip amount to reasonable suspicion? Explain
What will be an ideal response?
An anonymous tip can provide reasonable suspicion. However, it will not
automatically provide reasonable suspicion. In one case, Alabama v. White, police
received an anonymous tip claiming that a person would leave a particular apartment
carrying cocaine, get into a certain car, and drive to a certain location. If the police
acted on the tip alone this would not have justified a Terry stop. However, their
observation corroborated the information given by the anonymous informer.
Therefore, the police were justified in believing that the informant had inside
information about the suspect and thus crediting his claim that she possessed cocaine.
However, in Florida v. J.L., the Court found that an anonymous tip that was
corroborated did not provide reasonable suspicion. The tip in this case said that a young
black man standing at a particular bus stop and wearing certain clothing was carrying a
gun. Since this tip did not predict future activity that could be corroborated, it did not
provide a reasonable enough basis for believing that the informant had knowledge of
the criminal activity.
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