SUMMARY : The aim of the reflective paper is to concretize some of the ideas and issues raised in the course readings and lectures and, hopefully, to get you thinking about the different ways you experience law and society and the implications – sometimes explicit, sometimes implicit – this has for your daily lives. Course readings and/or other sources should be used to ground or frame your own experiences and reflections. The “other sources” can include those drawn from the library (such as from the academic articles databases, statistics databases, or books), research institutes, or news media (such as newspapers or alternative media sites). If you use news media sources, however, it is important to note that they don’t require the degree of peer review and scrutiny by editors found in academic publications to ensure the accuracy and validity of the arguments being made. This is not to say you can’t trust news media sources at all, just that you should draw on them with caution and definitely not rely on them alone for your research or base your argument on them exclusively. They are better used to supplement more thoroughly researched articles. They can offer helpful anecdotal insights and first hand accounts of an issue or event. Please remember that the paper is short and reflective, rather than research intensive. A half dozen references should be more than enough, and fewer is likely sufficient. Essays are to be double-spaced and typewritten, and should include a consistent style of referencing (in-text, endnote, footnote) the sources used (which reference style you use doesn’t matter) REAL QUESTION : Have you ever had an unwelcome encounter with police in which you did not break a law? Explain what happened and what, if anything, you did about it? Was the issue resolved to your satisfaction? What does your experience tell you about the law, police, and society, and possibly class, race or gender relations?