What is "reasonable suspicion"?

Reasonable suspicion refers to a legal standard used in policing that requires a law enforcement officer to have specific and articulable facts, along with reasonable inferences drawn from those facts, to believe that an individual is involved in criminal activity. This standard is a lower threshold than probable cause and allows officers to stop and briefly detain a person for investigative purposes without the need for a warrant.

Option B is correct because it emphasizes that reasonable suspicion must be based on tangible and concrete facts rather than mere feelings or general musings. Law enforcement officers must identify particular behaviors or circumstances that lead them to suspect that criminal activity is taking place, thereby ensuring that individual rights are respected while still allowing police to effectively perform their duties.

In contrast to this, and highlighting why the other options do not fit, intuition alone does not constitute reasonable suspicion, as police actions must stem from observable facts. Defining police conduct involves a broader array of policies and regulations, which is not applicable to the specific standard of reasonable suspicion. Lastly, a general assumption about criminal behavior lacks the specificity required to establish reasonable suspicion, as it does not rely on discernible facts that can be linked to any individual's actions.