Immigration, Crime, and Legal Issues Practice Exam

A police stop describes a brief, noncustodial detention by police to investigate suspected wrongdoing and may include questioning. It captures the action of halting someone for a short period to gather information and assess whether further steps are needed. This is different from an arrest, which involves taking someone into custody with probable cause and typically pursuing charges. It’s broader and less precise than the formal term investigative detention, but it matches the described scenario best because it names the act—the stop—rather than the outcome (charges) or a narrower legal label.