Essay On Reasonable Suspicion

Reasonable suspicion constitutes a stop by police. According to our textbook, the Fourth Amendment protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures, which is why is it important for police to justly stop a person (p. 17). The exclusionary rule states that any evidence obtained from improper police work, like an unwarranted stop, is not allowed in court.
A Terry Stop only requires reasonable suspicion that the person was involved in criminal activity. Reasonable suspicion, according to our textbook, is defined as “less than probable cause, but more than a hunch or mere suspicion” (Gardner & Anderson p. 348). An arrest, however, requires probable cause (Gardner & Anderson p. 5). Probable cause, or “reasonable grounds to believe” is the knowledge

that a crime has taken place and that this specific person probably committed said crime.
According to the given summary, criminal profiling is when a police officer using their “training, expertise, knowledge, skill, and observation” to investigate criminal conduct.

It helps develop a picture or description of what the suspect looks or acts like (Winerman p. 1). This type of methodology can help police find criminals faster. By eliminating criminal profiling, it would make the police’s job harder because they wouldn’t be able to use their knowledge from the scene and apply it to their suspect. Eliminating racial profiling is a very good idea. It would make police’s jobs easier because they would be more respected, and people would probably be less violent and more willing to cooperate.
After reading the provided summary, I believe that policing should be opened up to the private security model. There are more advancements and a lot more resources, including money, available to them. I think only positive things could come from applying the private security model to police work. However, officers should still have strict requirements and training like in public policing. The main concern should always be the public’s well-being and that could be done more effectively with more resources offered by the private security

model.
I would slightly change the criminal procedure laws because they were put into place to protect our freedoms and liberties as stated in the U.S. Constitution and our Amendments. It is a good thing that these procedures are strict and are required to be followed by law enforcement. Law enforcement should always make sure the defendant is aware of their rights, and also that their rights are being upheld. These laws help police do their jobs correctly. At times, our rights are not always being followed to the extent they should be. I think that trials should be faster if possible, because that is one of our rights under the Sixth Amendment. Sometimes it takes a long time for a case to reach the court, which is wrong and unfair in my opinion. Evidence should be handled in certain ways to maintain its validity, which is done currently. Having these procedure laws in place ensures people are being treated fairly, and tht their rights as stated in the U.S. Constitution and our Fourth, Fifth, Sixth Amendments are being adhered to.
Criminal profiling is a pro in my opinion because it helps police use their knowledge of the crime scene to get as much information as possible about the suspect, including a psychological profile based on their behavior. A recent example is with the Tucson shootings from 2011, however it was unsuccessful in this case. Since it is sometimes unsuccessful, that could be considered a con. Criminal profiling is considered more of an “art” than a science, but it is generally useful to apply knowledge of psychology into police work (Winerman p. 2). Criminal profiling and racial profiling are similar in that both are done by police in order to find criminals. Some examples of the many recent racial profiling include Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and also issues with Muslims. Racial profiling is police misconduct, illegal, often causes brutality and violence, and should be stopped. In my opinion there are no pros to racial profiling.