Detective Martin J. McFadden

On October 31, 1963, Cleveland Police Detective Martin J. McFadden saw three men loitering outside a jewelry store at 1276 Euclid Avenue and, believing a robbery was about to take place, stopped them and checked them for weapons. McFadden, a 38-year veteran, found guns on two of the men, who were then charged with and convicted of carrying concealed weapons. At the time, the law allowed officers to stop a suspect only after a crime was committed, but the men appealed their case to the United States Supreme Court. In a landmark decision on June 10, 1968, Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the court's opinion that McFadden's action was justifiable, establishing a new legal standard that allowed police officers in the United States to stop and frisk suspicious persons before a crime was committed.

Cleveland, Ohio · United States