The Pros And Cons Of Profiling

The term profiling is defined as “the use of personal characteristics or behavior patterns to make a generalization about a person”; therefore, this refers to gender profiling. The second part of the definition also states the “use of these characteristics to determine whether a person may be engaged in illegal activity” refers to what is called racial profiling (Dictionary.com, n.d.). Profiling has been used within in law enforcement for a number of years, as it provides informational analysis for solving crimes, but unfortunately over time, profiling has become the focus of race and ethnicity. The intent of profiling was designed as a legitimate tool for law enforcement to utilize for positive reasons, but to understand why profiling has been given such a negative outlook; it must be understood that profiling can either be proactive or reactive in its use.

Through research it is believed that the practice of racial profiling began around the 1970s by law enforcement. This was a time at which drug trafficking was impacting the entire world. Law enforcement would do what they could in order to capture these criminals. Profiling is used in policing and has been proven to be a very impacted strategy. There is fine line between profiling and racially profiling which leans more towards stereotyping as well. A profile is essentially a collection of facts that have

Profiling is something that every person has or will do at some point in their life; some may even profile without even realizing it. There are various forms of profiling which will be discussed, along with the history behind profiling and how it has been used successfully by Law Enforcement in several areas as a field on investigation (Douglass, Ressler &Burgess, 1986). Profiling has various positives along with negatives, and these are accepted by Satzewich and Shaffir (2009) who suggest that racial profiling is best understood in the context of a police subculture where these police officer intergrade profiling as part of their every day work routine. Profiling is a big factor in the daily work of every Law Enforcement Officer and it cannot be avoided (Becker, 2004). For the most part profiling is seen as part of an officers daily investigative tools, from border searches, to pulling vehicles over for traffic citations the officers will use his or her discretion on those who arouse their suspicion (Rose, 2002). Therefore, this paper will analyze the overall effectiveness of profiling and how it either proves to successfully reduce crime or not (Rose, 2002).

In the past, it has been shown that criminal profiling does work and has helped to apprehend serial killers, rapists, arsonists, and other criminals, if it had proved to be ineffective the FBI would have put resources into other tactics, but they have not. That being said, it is apparent that criminal profiling does work to an extent, but the amount of accuracy remains unknown. Although there has been research into finding the accuracy of criminal profiling there has not been a lot, proving that it is a field that needs more attention. For the research that has been done, interest has tended to fluctuate because of the uniqueness of the topic. Criminal profiling has as much to do with inferences about the perpetrator as it does

The website Forensic Psychology defines criminal profiling as, “the process of identifying behavioral tendencies, personality traits, geographic location, and demographic or biographic descriptors of an offender based on the characteristics of a particular crime” (Bartol and Bartol 1). With this approach, detectives try to narrow down the field of possible suspects that might have committed the crime. It is way easier to investigate one-hundred people that match those predictions than to investigate thousands of other people. In addition to that, they also state that profiling can rarely point to the particular person who committed the crime (Bartol 1). Even though it is not very accurate, in today’s world, it is still being utilized. Malcolm Gladwell well, a very well-known author and the author of What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures, states in the article of Dangerous minds that “In the

Racial profiling is unethical because it is a violation of the 14th amendment. The 14th amendment states that “…no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws…”

Racial profiling is the act of using somebody race as a key factor in deciding their character. Racial profiling has been one the leading cause of major incidents in today’s time. It’s been in the U.S. Criminal System for decades and now is reaching its peak. With people not feeling like they are being fairly treated, this society has turned into turmoil. Racial profiling can be minimized by educating the community concerning stereotypes in regards to ethnicity, national origin, and religion.

Although, it may be true that police behavior, judgment is undistorted by racial discrimination, but on the contrary that contradicts most studies, which reveals that many police officers will confess to: using race as a significant factor in deciding whom to follow when on patrol or who they decide to detain, or search or arrest (MacDonald). Findings from a statewide study by the Steward Research Group show that black and Latino drivers are subjected to searches at significantly higher rates than Anglo drivers in Texas and around the country. "Nationwide leading concern in debates over racial profiling is over racial disparities in the likelihood of being searched during a traffic stop." (Texas).

Racial profiling is a discriminatory practice where individuals are being targeted by law enforcement based on their race or ethnic background instead of crime suspicion. Racial profiling dates back to the 1700s -- the slavery era. African Americans who were free had to prove it with documents and papers called “freedom papers”; whether they were free did not matter, as they were continually subject to racial profiling. Specifically, in South Carolina, there were slave patrols who hunted for slaves and labeled them as being “runaways” simply because of their skin color -- these groups tortured and abused any slaves who attempted to escape. The extreme levels of racial profiling has changed over the years, but it is still significantly apparent in today’s society. African Americans are being pulled over and stopped since the color of their skin is yet being associated with criminality and wrongdoing. African Americans aren’t the only victims of racial profiling; Muslims are being labeled as terrorists and Latinos as illegal immigrants. Although some may argue that racial profiling helps law enforcement by narrowing their search for criminals on a particular group, it should not be accepted as a law enforcement practice because it is a violation of both the 4th amendment and the equal protection clause under the 14th amendment, making it completely illegal.

The article is about a Honduran girl named Aleichia Williams, and she talks about having a “race crisis” when she had moved from New York City to North Carolina. (Huffington Post, Aleichia Williams) While she was in middle school, she was made aware for the first time of racial profiling based on first impressions. With racial profiling, people can also make stereotypical inferences of what a specific race likes when it comes to food, music, etc. Since people can occasionally label someone from first glance of what race they think certain people are; it can be seen as labeling someone based on the color of their skin.

This event occurs every day in cities and cities throughout the country when law enforcement and private security allow colored individuals to be humiliated and often scared of arresting, interrogating and searching without evidence of criminal activity based on race, ethnicity, or religion of privatization Racism is considerably illegal, and violations of the main promise of the United States Constitution against the law of equal rights for all and freedom from inappropriate searches and seizures. I believe racial profiling should not be of one specific race and people, it should not be harmful to the innocent people. Racial profiling is the harmful issue for innocent people. And law enforcement should not use racial profiling.

Racial Profiling is a government activity directed at a suspect or a group of suspects based solely on race. Racial profiling has become a major problem in the United States. According to an article written by the Editorial Board of St. Louis Post-Dispatch . “In 2014, blacks were 75 percent more likely to be pulled over in the state of Missouri than whites.” The point of the article was to show that finding better ways to detect criminals would make the United States a better country over all. Also stated in the article “More Training and Police Consolidation Would Improve Racial Profiling stats.” But it is deeper than just more training and police consolidation.  As stated in an article in the New York Times written by Manny Fernandez, in Texas the lawmakers created a law known as Senate Bill 4 that prohibits cities and counties from adopting policies to limit immigration enforcement. Immigration enforcement is an American federal law enforcement agency, it is responsible for enforcing federal laws governing border control. Racial profiling is an ineffective and degrading practice because it violates civil rights, it’s unconstitutional and it’s a road block for future growth.

Racism by police officers has always been an issue, but today is becoming a bigger issue. Police misconduct specifically has been a huge issue for black people pre-civil and post-civil rights act. Profiling by the officers against the average black person, more specifically black male from my perspective is becoming more evident as our lives are taken. The ACLU says “racial profiling refers to the practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin.” For instance, Halloween 2010 my mother and I were on the way home from a normal school and work day. About eight minutes away from home my mom gets followed by a HPD car. She eventually was stopped by the officer and slowly pulled over her car. When walking up to her rolled down window he asked her where she was going and a couple more personal questions that

We can have a community that overcomes the use of racial profiling and alike practices. But it will take the work of Law Enforcement and the public to solve this national issue.

Your topic is one of great relevance and relatable to so many due to recent news stories of police brutality that stems for profiling. Your statement “Profiling when done correctly can provide vital information into the behavioral patterns and characteristics of individuals that may pose a threat to others” stands out to me since it is a person’s constitutional right according to the United States Constitution, Amendment 14 to have equal protection of laws therefore I would consider profiling in general unethical. You may benefit from further research of one recent Senate Bill that was passed in Arizona referred as Arizona’s SB 1070. According to the American Civil Liberties Union this law “authorize police to demand papers proving