Racial Profiling In Law Enforcement Essay

Former President Clinton called for a national crackdown on racial profiling and ordered federal law enforcement authorities to begin an investigation. (1) Vice President Al Gore promised the NAACP that should he become president eliminating the practice of racial profiling by the nation's police departments would be a top priority. (2) New Jersey Governor Christy Whitman fired Police Superintendent Carl Williams after the 35-year veteran trooper said in an interview that minorities are more likely to be involved in drug trafficking. (3)

Racial profiling has been and will continue to be a problem in the United States. Many believe that racial profiling is more prevalent in today’s society; however, this issue has been a part of our society since slavery. Moreover, African American males are mostly the targets of racial profiling, especially in larger cities like New York City and Los Angeles. Racial profiling is becoming a huge problem within the police departments. Police officers are conducting more traffic stops on African Americans males than on any other racial group, for the reason that many police officers believe African Americans males are most likely to be engaged in some sort of criminal activity. Thus, racial

Racial profiling is simply, “the unlawful police practice of using race, color, or ethnic background, as the reason for conducting a traffic stop on an individual.” (Michigan Civil Rights Commission) This definition can be extended to any kind of discrimination mainly based on myths and stereotypes towards a certain race or ethnicity. However, the term racial profiling is commonly used when a police officer or any other law enforcer stops, questions, searches or arrests an individual purely on the basis of their race. African Americans or simply blacks have been the major racial group that has suffered much of racial profiling. Much of this is based on the stereotypes against the blacks are perceived as more likely to engage in criminal activities. For instance, in a 2013 Racial Profiling Data from Ferguson Police Department, out of 5384 police stops, 4632 were against blacks. (Ferguson Police Dept. 1) Despite the low population of blacks in U.S. compared to other races, the former continues being subjected to more racial profiling. Racial profiling against African Americans continues to expose the blacks to humiliation and racial injustices, as this paper will expose, thereby calling for the responsible authorities to address and find solutions for the problem.

Racial profiling in law enforcement is referenced when a law enforcement officer targets an individual for suspicion of a crime. A broader definition of racial profiling in law enforcements is when a law enforcement officer, uses an individual’s race or ethnicity, age , time of the day (usually later in the day), dress code and also location to accuse a person of a crime. In today’s world the term racial profiling can be viewed in various view points, because of people having different opinions on the term, many disagreements occur. Some people believe that specific incidents are not cases of racial profiling and others think otherwise, needless to say an argument occurs.

Brent Staples’ essay, “When the Paranoids Turn Out to be Right,” acknowledges the issues of racism and racial profiling committed by police. In “Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun,” Geoffrey Canada also expresses views on this issue when he asserts that police fail to protect and serve individuals in poor neighborhoods. Staples contends, “Among the day-to-day acts of discrimination that shadow African Americans, none are more stressful or dangerous than those committed by police, some of whom treat black people as criminals until proved otherwise.” (Staples. 380) Although statistics show that the looming presence of narcotics and violence is more prevalent in urban neighborhoods, police should apply the same effort to protect individuals in these

Racial profiling still exists in America. "Racial profiling" refers to law enforcement strategies and practices that single out individuals as objects of suspicion solely on the basis of mainly their race. Prejudice and racial profiling of law enforcement is responsible for many false arrests, convictions, and countless deaths of blacks in the United States. This is one of the main difficulties of life and obstacles minorities have to face in their life because for one they are a minority and two because of their skin color. Police racial profiling is an ongoing problem that blacks in America have been facing with for over thousands of years dating back to before Blacks got their freedom. With the recent acts that are happenings in Ferguson and Eric Garner, to what happened to Rodney King, I believe it is only right to discuss the history of prejudice and racial profiling and how it relates to the discriminatory acts of police and judicial system towards blacks in the United States. Most importantly, I will discuss how America can help make a change of action to put an end to the Police racial profiling and brutality that still exists in this nation.

Racial equality is an illusion. In the criminal justice system, African Americans and other minorities are targeted by police officers because of the color of their skin. Minorities face many obstacles to reach their freedom, even though laws states everyone should be treated equal. Minorities are more likely to be stopped at traffic stops, due to the color of their skin. In “Racial Profiling”, Jost states that minorities, including President Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey, feel profiled and judged based on the color of their skin while at traffic stops (1). All races have the right to be protected by officers, however African Americans and other minorities are more likely to be arrested because of their race. Police officers show no

Racial profiling has gotten worse over the last decade. The issue of racial profiling has been one of the most important, if not the most important issue for a number of years throughout the U.S. Racial profiling has spread throughout the U.S. fast and it is still spreading as we speak. Evidence shows that African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to be stopped and searched by police, even though they are less likely to be found possessing contraband or committing a criminal act(Natarajan). The police’s use of excessive force is a national and systematic problem. They need to put all of the officers into a class which shows them that racial profiling is bad, considering how often it happens and how worse its getting. Racial profiling

Racial profiling is a severe discrimination in contradiction of certain ethnic groups, that police officers tend to use on persons of their interest. Opposing to general belief, racial profiling by police officers can occur anytime and anywhere. It is important for people to recognize that racial profiling is discourteous to the individuals who are profiled and it is a crime. People should not be profiled just because of the color of their skin or race. Racial profiling by police officers has developed into one of the greatest controversial practices commonly used suspecting or unsuspectingly in police departments. Police officers are supposed to protect and serve the people, not profile the people. Racial profiling by police officers is wrong and it does exist in all states, but however others may believe racial profiling by police officers does not exist.

The results of this study suggest several important policy recommendations. First, law-enforcement agencies must monitor the policing

The most controversial issue related to law enforcement profiling is racial profiling. “Some law enforcement officers have created their own profiles based solely on race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than on the behavior of an individual” (Levinthal, 2012 pg. 123). For decades racial profiling has been a biased issue incorporated by a government system that discriminate on people who look a certain way or have been classified as a suspect. One would think individuals and agencies responsible for enforcing laws supposed to maintain public order and public safety. Instead to an extent individuals who think they are privileged and above the law have taken it upon themselves to target people for suspicion of crime by creating a profile

Racial profiling is a controversial issue that still occurs in today’s society. For some time, policemen have used racial profiling to determine those at fault during criminal activity. However, racial profiling must be stopped because it shows ineffectiveness and is embarrassing for the victims. Law enforcement should not be allowed to be discriminative towards a race solely because of their appearance and instincts. Minorities must be protected at all costs in order to have all the American values be fulfilled. Therefore, we need to have more people realize that racial profiling is not an effective system and instead demoralizes people of color. While some believe racial profiling can help stop crime, criminal behavior cannot be determined through the process of racial profiling; therefore, we must gain awareness to help put the end to this major issue.

For numerous decades, people have been discriminated rather it’s in view of the race, cultural differences, or appearance of the person each and every one is looked at differently based on personal identity. When you’re being examined differently in consideration of how anyone else views you it can be challenging to your character. In today’s society personal identity is still a major issue looking at all the riots personally have passage on with the police killings among African Americans, Latinos, Caucasians, and Etc. This is the obstacle that lies against personal identity you begin to say so about the differences on racial profiling and how something occurs to everyday person based on their personal identity.

Imagine walking down the street one day with your friends, minding your own business when a police car pulls up next to you. As the car comes to a stop, a police officer rushes out with a gun in hand pointed at you. You are thrown to the ground, pinned under the officer, questioning what you did wrong. As you look around for help you realize that you have become the next victim of racial profiling. Racial profiling is the use of race or ethnic background to suspect someone of committing an offence. This problem has been going on for centuries and not only needs to be recognized, but also needs to be solved. Racial profiling in the United States must be addressed through an examination

Benjamin Todd Jealous once said, “Racial profiling punishes innocent individuals for the past actions of those who look and sound like them. It misdirects crucial resources and undercuts the trust needed between law enforcement and the communities they serve.”(Jealous, 2015). I couldn’t agree more with him. In today’s society more and more Black men and women suffer from police bias. Police is a powerful organization that was meant to serve and protect. Enforce laws and keeping communities safe. The problem is we fail to acknowledge that police are humans with real life bias. The problem with police is how much racial profiling is going up,