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PurposeThis study explores how suspect demeanor impacts the decision to frisk a suspect during a pedestrian stop and whether the impact of demeanor on the decision to frisk varies by race/ethnicity and gender.Design/methodology/approachThe2018–2023 NYPD stop, question and frisk data are used to examine the role of demeanor and suspect characteristics on the decision to frisk using a series of hierarchical logistic regression models.FindingsResults indicate suspect demeanor (i.e. calm, nervous and aggression/noncompliance) impacts the decision to frisk, net of stop rationale. Demographic factors were found to moderate the effect of some demeanors on frisk decisions. For example, calm suspects are less likely to be frisked broadly, but interactions revealed that calm men are significantly less likely than calm women to be frisked and calm non-Hispanic Whites are less likely to be frisked than calm Black and Black Hispanic suspects.Originality/valueDespite courts upholding suspect demeanor as a legitimate factor for police to consider when establishing reasonable suspicion, examinations of demeanor are missing from research on stop and frisks. This study highlights the importance of incorporating suspect demeanor in research on pedestrian stops to better understand assessments of reasonable suspicion that someone is armed and dangerous.

PurposeThis study aims to demonstrate the need for further examination of legal judgments and the exercise of discretion in policing.Design/methodology/approachA factorial vignette survey with traffic stop scenarios based on US Court of Appeals decisions was administered to 396 police officers across six states. Officers were asked to indicate their assessment of the presence of reasonable suspicion and the likelihood that they would extend the stop for investigatory purposes.FindingsOfficers' reasonable suspicion judgments are significantly influenced by the vignette facts and align with court ruling expectations. However, even in the presence of reasonable suspicion, responses indicate a limited use of officer discretion to extend the stop.Originality/valueAnalyses of officer decision-making often rely on large datasets with easy indicators of location, officer demographics and citizen demographics, but rarely consider the facts of individual cases. This study suggests more experimental research is needed to consider the impact of case facts on officer judgments and discretionary activity.

Background: Internationally, various laws govern reporting of child abuse to child protection services by medical professionals. Whether mandatory reporting laws are in place or not, medical professionals need internal thresholds for suspicion of abuse to even consider a report (“reasonable suspicion” in US law, “gewichtige Anhaltspunkte” in German law). Objective: To compare internal thresholds for suspicion of abuse among US and German pediatricians, i.e., from two countries with and without mandatory reporting laws. Participants and Setting: In Germany, 1581 pediatricians participated in a nationwide survey among child health professionals. In the US, a survey was mailed to all Pennsylvania pediatricians, and 1249 participated. Methods: Both samples were asked how high in their rank order of differential diagnoses child abuse would have to be when confronted with a child’s injuries to qualify for reasonable suspicion/gewichtige Anhaltspunkte (differential diagnosis scale, DDS). In a second step, both had to mark a 10-point likelihood scale (0–100%) corresponding to reasonable suspicion/gewichtige Anhaltspunkte (estimated probability scale, EPS). Results: While for almost two-thirds of German pediatricians (62.4%), child abuse had to be among the top three differential diagnoses for gewichtige Anhaltspunkte, over half of the US respondents (48.1%) had a lower threshold for reasonable suspicion. On the estimated probability scale, over 65% in both samples indicated that the probability of abuse had to exceed 50% for reasonable suspicion/gewichtige Anhaltspunkte. There was great variability between the two countries. Conclusions: There are similar uncertainties in assessing cases of suspected child abuse in different legal systems. There is a need for debates on thresholds among medical professionals in both countries.

In the social and political environment, regardless of jurisdiction, the use of force and the intervention of law enforcement agencies, especially of the police force, is current issue, and the topic of adequate intervention - a topic of debate. In different jurisdictions, different terms can be found to designate the general hypothesis of this research. The paper aims to elaborate on the content and to develop the legal concept of reasonableness, which will include references to reasonable suspicion and reasonable belief, the objective observer, and other matters of interest. From the above-mentioned reasoning, this research is dedicated to the subject of reasonableness of intervention and use of force, and it aims to identify and to develop on a standard to which a practicing professional can refer.

Hobbes's extreme political views have commanded so much attention that they have eclipsed his work on language and mind, and on reasoning, personhood, and group formation. But this work is of immense interest in itself, as Philip Pettit shows inMade with Words, and it critically shapes Hobbes's political philosophy. Pettit argues that it was Hobbes, not later thinkers like Rousseau, who invented the invention of language thesis--the idea that language is a cultural innovation that transformed the human mind. The invention, in Hobbes's story, is a double-edged sword. It enables human beings to reason, commit themselves as persons, and incorporate in groups. But it also allows them to agonize about the future and about their standing relative to one another; it takes them out of the Eden of animal silence and into a life of inescapable conflict--the state of nature. Still, if language leads into this wasteland, according to Hobbes, it can also lead out. It can enable people to establish a commonwealth where the words of law and morality have a common, enforceable sense, and where people can invoke the sanctions of an absolute sovereign to give their words to one another in credible commitment and contract. Written by one of today's leading philosophers,Made with Wordsis both an original reinterpretation and a clear and lively introduction to Hobbes's thought.

Police misuse of strip search powers at music festivals, at train stations, in police vehicles and at other locations has been subject to sustained public attention in recent years. This article traces the evolution of strip search practices in New South Wales, explores the legal and policy context in which they have developed, highlights the individual and social harms arising from them and discusses the need for fundamental law reform. We argue that recent controversies regarding police strip searches and drug detection dog operations in New South Wales show policing to be simultaneously a law-making and a law-abusing power. By examining concepts concerned with how police construct their own working rules, police data and testimony provided to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC), we explain how police justify conducting strip searches that should otherwise be considered unlawful.

Background With regular contacts to the general child population, healthcare professionals could play an important role in the detection of child maltreatment. However, a majority of child maltreatment cases go unnoticed by the healthcare system. Child protection legislations usually offer terms like “reasonable suspicion” to corner a threshold that warrants reporting to child protection services (CPS) is defined as. The indistinct legal terminology leads to marked differences in the interpretation of this threshold. Therefore, we aimed to systematically assess the understanding of reasonable suspicion and subsequent handling of cases in the German context. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 2485 physicians and psychotherapists working with children and adolescents. Field access was gained by German professional associations. Via case vignettes, predictors of thresholds for reporting were assessed. Results The probability of a report to CPS increased positively with the degree of suspicion for maltreatment. However, even if participants were certain that child maltreatment occurred, 20% did not chose to report to CPS. Training in child protection lowered the professionals’ threshold for reasonable suspicion; experience with child protection cases and good knowledge of the legal framework increased the likelihood to report an alleged situation of child maltreatment to CPS. Conclusion Our data show that a significant proportion of health care professionals are uncertain about estimating reasonable suspicion and on how to proceed when there are strong indications for child maltreatment Therefore, data point towards the relevance of training in child protection among healthcare professionals in order to improve detection and adequate handling of cases of child maltreatment.

The strategy of integration development of Ukraine envisages, in particular, the implementation of international standards of justice in the legal system of Ukraine. The article explores the essence of such a legal category as 'the standard of criminal procedural proof. The rules of evidence in the Anglo-Saxon and continental legal systems in the context of this issue are analyzed, as well as domestic criminal procedural legislation on the peculiarities of assessment of evidence in various criminal proceedings and at various stages. Conclusions are made on the existence of objective evidence of standards in the Anglo-Saxon family of law ('beyond reasonable doubt' and 'probability balance') and the subjective standard of proof in the countries of the continental system of law ('on the basis of internal conviction'). The opinion on the lawfulness and expediency of the allocation of certain objective standards of proof and in domestic criminal proceedings is expressed.

Background Childcare providers are often “first responders” for suspected child abuse, and how they understand the concept of “reasonable suspicion” will influence their decisions regarding which warning signs warrant reporting. Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate how childcare providers interpret the threshold for reporting suspected abuse, and to consider the implications of these findings for professional training and development. Method A convenience sample of 355 childcare providers completed the Reasonable Suspicion of Child Abuse survey to quantify what likelihood of child abuse constitutes “reasonable suspicion.” Responses were examined for internal consistency, evidence of a group standard, and associations with professional and personal demographics. Results On a Rank Order Scale, responses for what constitutes “reasonable suspicion” ranged from requiring that abuse be “the” most likely cause (8 %) of an injury, to the second most likely (9 %), third (18 %), fourth (18 %), to even the seventh (8 %) or eighth (5 %) most likely cause of an injury. On a numerical probability scale, 21 % of respondents indicated that “abuse” would need to be ≥83 % likely before reasonable suspicion existed; 40 % stated that a likelihood between 53–82 % was needed; 27 % identified the necessary likelihood between 33–52 %; and 12 % set a threshold between 1–32 %. Conclusions The present finding that no consensus exists for interpreting “reasonable suspicion” suggests that a broadly accepted interpretive framework is needed in order to help prepare childcare providers to know when to report suspected abuse.

Across the United States, child abuse law is governed by state statute. Pediatricians must report suspected child abuse/neglect in accordance with their state's specific reporting requirements; failure to make a timely report creates civil liability exposures and triggers criminal penalties. The pediatrician's initial report may instigate further investigation by child protective services, and the reporting pediatrician may later become involved as a critical fact witness in ensuing legal proceedings, including criminal prosecutions, custody determinations, and medical malpractice controversies. The reporting pediatrician's testimony may influence the disposition of those matters and significantly affect the well-being of the involved children. As such, dutifully reporting pediatricians promulgate and engage in peerless child advocacy.