The Pros And Cons Of Racial Profiling

Acceding to Washington Post-Racial profiling has destroyed public trust in police. Cops are exploiting our weak laws against it (Horwitz,S. 2014). The advantage of racial profiling within the law enforcement is being free from being treated diffidently because of your race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion. Good racial profiling within the law enforcement can sometimes stop a terrorist organization. Racial profiling is a big problem in the United States America. This is something that happens every day in every state and every city. When the law enforcement goes after people because of the outer layers of ounces skin or after people who chose to prayer a different why from them. The United States is supported to be the land of the free but are we free? John 13:34 (The New King James Version)”A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another....

Law enforcement violates the rights of people by unfairly stereotyping minority groups. By stereotyping minorities, law enforcement officers are violating the rights of the citizens being falsely accused because of their race. Some law enforcement programs are highly known for violating an entire group of people’s rights (FBI 1). According to the article by Driscoll and Newton, “racial profiling violates individuals’ civil rights, alienates both individuals, and entire populations, and often backfires as an ineffective

One major problem with the Justice System is that law enforcement use racial profiling affecting many people of color on a daily basis. Racial profiling is when law enforcement believe that certain groups are more likely to commit a crime rather than other groups. This is a major problem because in many cases there are very tragic incidents and as NAACP stated, “ Mr. Garner’s tragic death shows that for communities of color, including women and LGBT people of color, immigrants and low income communities, racial profiling has been and continues to be a constant reality of life, often with tragic and deadly consequences,” (45) Explains how racial profiling has become an everyday basis to minorities affecting them in many ways and unfortunately ends with death occasionally. Racial profiling is a huge dilemma

Second, police in our country do racial profiling. This practice of law enforcement is morally wrong and personally sickening. Racial Profiling is the idea that just because someone is a different race automatically makes that one person a suspect. Racial Profiling goes against everything that the United States Constitution is about. The constitution is about freedom, equality, and the pursuit of happiness. Our law enforcement is put into place to serve and protect the innocent. The constitution protects us of unlawful search and seizers as well. Racial profiling makes our law enforcement give in their minds probable cause when there really is not any in the first place. Also, it goes against the United States Constitution. The American Civil Liberties Union and American Civil Liberites Union Foundation said, “Racial profiling is a longstanding and deeply troubling national problem despite claims that the United States has entered a “post-racial era.” It occurs every day, in cities and towns across the country, when law enforcement and private security target people of color for humiliating and often frightening detentions, interrogations, and searches without evidence of criminal activity and based on perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion. Racial profiling is

Racial profiling can be defined, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, as the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials [or security personnel] of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual 's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin. Although this act is not directly illegal, it violates core principles of our democracy: two of them being, the Fourteenth Amendment, which outlines the citizenship of African Americans along with equal protection of the laws, including the right to life, liberty and property, and due process, and the Fourth Amendment, which provides citizens their right against unreasonable searches and seizures. Racial profiling affects a wide range of minority groups. Reports on alcu.org state, “More than 240 years of slavery and 90 years of legalized racial segregation have led to systemic profiling of blacks in traffic and pedestrian stops” (Racial Profiling). Members of South Asian, Arab, and Muslim communities have also been categorized in regards to travel and terroristic activities by federal law enforcement and airline security due to the events on September 11, 2001. Latino communities have too been profiled and alienated due to the

Racial Profiling compromises the very fabric that America is built on. With Constitutional laws that protect us as American citizens from any mistreatment or discrimination, Racial Profiling is still being practiced , and it violates our human rights, and causes distrust in the very police officers that are in charge of keeping our communities safe, and disbelief in the Constitution that should afford all American citizens equal rights.

In America’s judicial system, the color of skin or race are often equated with criminal behavior. Dr. King once said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” As United States citizens, we are not convicted of a crime until proven guilty. However, racial profiling aids law enforcement on deciding when to pursue or detain a suspect based on race. This method undoubtedly categorizes that certain races are more prone to commit crimes. Nevertheless, racial profiling is a violation of constitutional rights thus protected by federal law; oddly it is often disregarded by states.

An indication that disproves the claim that racial profiling is an essential policing tactic centers on the idea that it violates the constitutional rights of an individual. In “Rights and Wrongs,” Jeffrey Toobin demonstrates that racial profiling violates the constitutional rights of an individual, in that unarmed individuals and those of color are racially profiled for the way they look for no apparent reason. This article discusses the idea of whether or not racial profiling is or is not a constitutional tactic for law enforcement. It is unclear as to why law enforcement chooses to target those who look suspicious without knowing their purpose. Those of color are being unfairly treated and accused of crimes for no apparent reason. Toobin states, “An officer got out of an unmarked van and came up to me,” Bradley recalled. “I just accommodated the officer to the best of my ability, and, in turn, what happened was, he went into my pockets… There was nothing in my pockets except my house keys, my cell phone, my wallet. The thing about it that was so appalling was that I had spent my last dollar to see my loved one. And then he said, ‘Fuck that, you’re going in” (Toobin 30). This quote is a perfect representation of racial profiling, where an officer decides to target individuals based on his appearance, which is unconstitutional. When Scheindlin stated, “I just accommodated the officer to the best of my ability, and, in turn, what happened was, he went into my pockets,” it was to my understanding that law enforcement has violated the rights of an individual in the sense of which officers do not have the rights to go through personal belonging without a valid reason. Even if he “accommodated the officer” with the best of his ability, he was violated for his rights for not doing anything illegal. Since he was still being searched for looking “suspicious” it is clear that the officer had racially profiled an individual under no circumstances of a prosecution. This proves that the even if an individual is complying with the laws, police officers will go out of their to find reasons to target people and violate their constitutional rights. In addition to this topic, the idea of violating the constitutional rights

Racial profiling is an example of police brutality, which is defined by Gross and Livingston (2002) as “the practice of some officers of stopping motorists of certain racial or ethnic groups because the officer believe that these groups are more likely than others to commit certain types of crimes” (p.1413). Therefore, individuals are treated unfairly by law enforcement solely based on their race. This type of mistreatment is unmerited and ultimately a violation of an individual’s rights. However, in many instances the courts do not find it a violation of their civil rights based on the fact that racial profiling is difficult to prove. Often, prosecutors are disinclined in bringing forth a case against officers on this particular matter. Officers are permitted to stop and search individuals and their vehicles whenever there is reasonable suspicion, however, there has been studies that prove that some law enforcement officers restrict these rights primarily to minority groups. Bowling and Phillips found that although there was no formal monitoring of use of these powers, it was concluded that it was particularly heavy use of these powers against ethnic minorities, largely of young black people (as cited in Sharp & Atherton, 2007, p. 747) . In several cases, officers argue that they reasonably pulled an individual over for other probable grounds such as: traffic violations, suspicious behavior, etc., with race never being an

Terry v. Ohio was a pivotal case for the Fourth Amendment and for the citizens of the United States of America. As referenced by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, in nineteen sixty three an off duty detective in Cleveland, Ohio stopped and frisked two African American men and one white man based on a ‘reasonable suspicion that the men were about to commit a crime’ (ACLUOhio, 2014). The ruling of this case has set in motion the gross abuse of stop and frisks in minority communities and among minority races in the twenty-first century; ultimately racial profiling in a post-racial era.

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.

Post 9/11, racial profiling exhibited by law enforcement not only to my race but other minorities in America has been unacceptable and can be rectified by establishing better and more efficient security procedures in airports that are not tied to or based upon race. The significance of national security is of great importance as we, members of a civilized society, are in an age where our peace is being threatened. This most directly impacts all Americans, but, specifically, harms minority groups due to inherently racially profiling individuals based on appearance. As an American, I along with my peers, am aware of the threat of terrorism in today’s era. Being a minority in America allows for a unique and credible point of view on this topic. This proposal is directed at ignorant or misinformed Americans and unintentionally aimed at law enforcement and airport security; hoping in response Americans would become more open minded and airports become more secure.

Racial Profiling is unconstitutional and illegal, yet it’s still used in law enforcement. The practice of racial profiling, as defined by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), refers to the “discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin”(ACLU 2005). Racial profiling causes more harm than good, it can cause emotional, mental and more often physical harm to the person being subjected to the practice. According to the Fourth and Fourteenth amendments, racial profiling is unconstitutional. It causes distrust in law enforcement because ethnic

Although racial profiling has many negative effects on society as a whole, many would argue that racial profiling is an important aspect of policing. According to Sunil Dutta who is an LAPD lieutenant he cites “We have to acknowledge that there is a place for race and ethnicity in police work.” Dutta goes on to explain that it is important to take ethnicity into account as it can aide in locating a possible suspect. Dutta further explains that officers are trained to use all the data available to them in apprehending criminals and in addition when officers follow leads and stop people, they do use profiling, but it is profiling based on all actionable intelligence, which includes race as one of many criteria. Dutta adds that policing is dangerous work and all factors have to be taken in to account (Dutta, 2010). Alexis Artwhol, a former police psychologist and consultant to the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, agrees with Duttal. She argues that in a cop’s world it’s killed or be killed. Artwhol who co-wrote, Deadly world encounters: what a cop needs to know, suggests that a police officer’s duties are extremely dangerous and police officers have a great responsibility in protecting the public. Artwhol contends that 25 years ago an officer rarely drew his or her weapon. According to Artwhol, in recent times officers draw their weapons once per month or twice per week. She attributes this to street gangs and drug proliferation in low income, minority communities. Artwhol adds “the police go to where crimes happen more often.” Artwhol compares police work to defensive driving by adding, “We should go out there and expect something bad will happen and watch for it,” she said. “If we are not paying attention, we could die” (Artwhol, p.25). In other words, police officers are in a constant state of defensiveness because they are trained to believe that something bad will happen. Although, Artwhol does not directly discuss racial profiling, she contends that race is an important factor in the apprehending a suspect and needs to be considered.

An accurate definition of racial profiling must include discriminatory omissions on the part of the law enforcement as well as racially discriminatory acts. The failure of the enforcement to act on the behalf of a minority is unconstitutional but has been happening even farther back than the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s.The lynchings of African Americans that occurred during this time are a horrific example.Many “southern sheriffs sat idly by while racist organization, such as the Ku Klux Klan, terrorized African Americans. At times, the sheriffs would even release black suspects to the lynch mobs.” 1 A more recent example of this discriminatory omissions is seen with an African American man in Maryland. This man moved into a predominantly white community and faced harassment and property damage. The local police failed to respond to his complaints and eventually arrested him for shooting a gun into the air. His reason for