Enoka Herat, police practices counsel for the American Civil LIberties Union of Washington, said the problem with allowing police to use physical force against someone who flees after being stopped for questioning is that those investigatory stops — often called Terry stops — are based on reasonable suspicion, not probable cause. That’s a much lower evidentiary standard, she said.
Last year’s law, by contrast, generally allows the use of force only if police have probable cause to make an arrest or if there is an imminent threat of injury.
With reasonable suspicion, Herat said, “there’s a lot of discretion there, and that’s a place we see racial profiling.” She wants
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