Originally Posted by jkhuggins

Unfortunately, the difference is in the eye of the beholder. And from those who promote a mentality that says "report everything, just to be safe", the hassle endured by those who have to deal with false allegations is painful.

Paranoid? Maybe. Tell that to the dad who went walking with his daughter out in public, and because somebody thought it looked "suspicious", had to deal with a multi-hour, multi-agency investigation. Or tell that to dads in Virginia who wonder if they should hold hands with their kids, because the VA Department of Health has posters telling people to call the cops if they see it. Heck, tell that to Henry Gates, who got arrested because a neighbor saw a Black man struggling with Gates' front door and called police with her "suspicions". (Of course, at least Dr. Gates got a beer out of it.)

Yes, there's a big difference between "unusual" and "suspicious". And most people aren't trained well enough to be able to make that distinction.