Wilmington police, in effort to crack down on drugs, has developed a program entitled Operation Bold Eagle. The participating officers would jump out of an unmarked vehicle, frisk suspects, and take a picture of the individuals, even with no evidence of unlawful activity, to file in a database. The units involved in Operation Bold Eagle are known to the locals as "jump-out squads". African Americans found in high crime areas are usually the targets of such stops. Martin Mills is a twenty-five years old African American male living in a predominately African-American neighborhood that is considered to be a high crime area. He was the victim of such an unwanted an unwarranted stop by the Wilmington police. .
In Mills case, seven or eight cops "descended" on him as he was leaving the corner deli with his one-year-old son. They jumped out of an unmarked van, knocking his son over to get to him. Mills was frisked and photographed just in case he did anything illegal in the future. He was let go without being charged with any crime. The actions of the police officers were unconstitutional violating the Fourth Amendment right to search and seizure, Fifth Amendment right to due process, and Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection. .
The Fourth Amendment guarantees "the right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable search and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized". Martin Mills was walking with his one-year-old son and had the reasonable expectation of privacy. When the officers "jumped-out" on him in the unacceptable manner in which they did, it was done without probable cause and reasonable suspicion. The officers did not have a warrant for Mills arrest, which would have required probable cause.
