It became an issue at the forefront of law enforcement management.
The Roots of Racial Profiling
Police officers used to be trained to view people of different cultural background as potential suspects for deportation. It went so far that in 1972 taxi drivers in California were ordered to report any suspected illegal aliens to the police (McDonald, 2003). Orders such as these led to the definition that being "American" meant having the same skin color and speaking English as a primary language. The civil rights movement empowered immigrants to voice their opinions based on their racial differences (McDonald, 2003). In 1983 police departments reversed its position and officially announced that they would no longer cooperate with the INS with the removal of the legal aliens (McDonald, 2003).
The change in position on immigrants is largely a part of a growing immigrant population. As immigrants begin to make up a larger portion of the population it becomes necessary to gain their trust and cooperation as much as that of natural citizens. This change in attitude towards racial profiling and immigrants has arisen out of necessity. Police must now place more emphasis on understanding the specific needs of various segments of the population. For instance, in Los Angeles Korean refugees did not understand that it was against the law for them to fish in a local lake without a license (McDonald, 2003). Immigrants from El Salvador did not think it was acceptable to use the restroom on a public sidewalk. Middle Eastern immigrants do not see a problem with marrying off their teenage daughters at an early age to men that are considered adults in this country (McDonald, 2003). Situations like these arise in immigrant populations on a more frequent basis.
Officers need to understand the reasoning for these actions and treat them with dignity and respect, rather than treating them as if they are criminals. These immigrants did not mean to break the law they simply did not understand the culture and laws in this country. These situations required education rather than punishment. Approaching the situation from the perspective of education rather than punishment helps to build trust among immigrant communities rather than mistrust.
The real difficulty for police officers is in trying to decide when race is a legitimate and valid reason to pursue certain individuals such as in the suspects in the bombings of the World Trade Towers. In this case cultural differences were at the heart of illegal activities. Officers must be culturally aware, but the public now sees their role in a much different light than they did in the past. Police departments have taken positive measures to try to curb unnecessary racial profiling through diversity training that includes knowledge of cultures other than their own. They have reversed their position on helping the INS in the removal of illegal aliens. As we become a more racially integrated society officers have responsibility to learn to eliminate have their own personal biases and to judge people on their actions alone.
Racial Profiling and the Muslim Community
On September 11, 2001 attitudes from the community and law enforcement about racial profiling began being questioned for different reasons. It was on this day that we learned about an enemy within. Ideas about race and ethnicity changed when America learned that 28 of the 28 suspects responsible for the attack on the World Trade Towers were middle eastern males. Americans insisted that airlines remove people of obvious middle eastern descent from airplanes (Mayer, 2001). It now seemed as if the American public itself was profiling people of middle eastern descent (Harris, 2002). A country that once welcomed immigrants from any nation with open arms now had turned hostile against an entire race because of the actions of a few. Law enforcement still condemned the practice of racial profiling, yet after the attacks of September 11, 2001 FBI agents detained and questioned hundreds of people on the basis of their race or religion alone (Holland, 2001).
A new fear based on racial bias had been born in America, one which seemed to contradict the very roots of the civil rights movement. It now seemed as if racial bias was tolerable under certain conditions. Movement across national borders has become easier in countries all around the globe. Societies that were once dominated by one ethnic group are quickly becoming a mix society of immigrants (McDonald, 2003). Racial tolerance has become the norm and immigrants are now seen in a different light than they were in the past. One of the traditional roles of law enforcement was to help the Federal immigration and naturalization service (INS) with enforcement of immigration laws. However, in 1996 a survey revealed that...
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