“Reasonable” ,

Throughout the materials and lecture for Unit Four, there is one word that appears over and over again. Reasonable. Reasonable suspicion, reasonable force, reasonable under the circumstances, reasonable mistake in an arrest, reasonable belief one is not free to leave, and so on. The courts, in the civilized atmosphere of the courtroom and with time to think things through, decide what is or was “reasonable”. An officer, in the heat of the moment has to decide what is “reasonable”. How important is it that the officer be able to articulate why his or her decision was “reasonable” and why?  How is the best way to capture these reasons to be used in testimony weeks and months later?  Use examples in the discussion and in your responses, comment on other students examples