California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Bailey, A140997 (Cal. App. 2016):
"A detention is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment when the detaining officer can point to specific articulable facts that, considered in light of the totality of the circumstances, provide some objective manifestation that the person detained may be involved in criminal activity." (People v. Souza (1994) 9 Cal.4th 224, 231 (Souza).)
The reasonable suspicion required for a detention is "less demanding than probable cause [required to make an arrest] 'not only in the sense that reasonable suspicion can be established with information that is different in quantity or content than that required to establish probable cause, but also in the sense that reasonable suspicion can arise from information that is less reliable than that required to show probable cause.' " (Souza, supra, 9 Cal.4th at pp. 230-231, quoting Alabama v. White (1990) 496 U.S. 325, 330.)
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.