Which term describes the standard that allows officers to stop and question a person based on specific facts?

• A. Reasonable Suspicion
• B. Probable Force
• C. Objective Reasonableness
• D. Totality of the Circumstances

Answer: (A)

Reasonable suspicion is the standard that lets an officer briefly stop and question someone when there are specific facts suggesting that criminal activity may be afoot. It’s a lower threshold than probable cause and must be based on objective, articulable facts or inferences from those facts. The stop is intended to be short and to allow the officer to confirm or dispel the suspicion without becoming an arrest. In practice, courts evaluate whether reasonable suspicion exists by looking at the totality of the circumstances—the together of facts and inferences available to the officer at that moment.

Probable cause would justify an arrest or a search, not merely a brief stop. Objective reasonableness relates to how the officer’s use of force is judged after a stop or arrest, not the grounds for stopping. Totality of the circumstances is the method used to evaluate whether reasonable suspicion (or probable cause) exists, not the label of the standard itself.