In the case of Illinois v. Wardlow, many factors contributed to Wardlow's arrest. Starting from the facts of the case, on September 9, 1995 Sam Wardlow fled after seeing police vehicles covering an area of ​​Chicago where high drug trafficking was known. Two police officers located Mr. Wardlow, Officers Nolan and Officer Harvey, and once Officer Nolan reached Mr. Wardlow, Officer Nolan proceeded to conduct a search of only the outer layer of clothing, or a "Terry Stop." Officer Nolan was well aware that in this area there was almost always a gun on a suspect involved in some type of drug transaction. After carrying out the search, Officer Nolan clutched the dull colored bag that Mr Wardlow was carrying. He noted that the object inside the bag appeared to be a hard, heavy object that he believed could potentially be a gun. After looking inside the bag, Officer Nolan found a weapon inside, a .38 caliber pistol to be exact. At the scene, Officer Nolan and Officer Harvey arrested Mr. Wardlow. At the time of trial, Mr. Wardlow attempted to hide the gun as evidence because he believed the gun had been seized during an illegal stop and search that violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right of people against unreasonable searches and seizures by requiring a showing of probable cause to obtain a warrant before conducting such searches. “In a test motion to suppress the weapon, Wardlow stated that to stop an individual, before actually arresting the person, the police first had to state 'specific and reasonable inferences' as to why the stop was necessary.” (Oyez, 2000) By recognizing that an investigation... middle of paper... a suspect, then you will be able to be one in your own way. In my opinion, the officers were justified in their actions. Even though Mr. Wardlow was in a high drug trafficking area, this alone was not enough to assume that Mr. Wardlow was guilty of anything. It was only when Mr Wardlow fled from police officers that they found him guilty of something. Works Cited The Oyez Project, Illinois v. Wardlow, 528 US 119 (2000) available at: (http://oyez.org/cases /1990-1999/1999/1999_98_1036) (last visited Tuesday, January 30, 2011).• Jarret, Joseph G. "To Flee or Not to Flee : The implications of Illinois v. Wardlow on the practice of criminal law in." Florida Bar Journal LXXIV.6 (2000): 96.Web. January 30, 2011. .• United States v. Sokolow, 490 US. 1, (1989)