Racial profiling is one of the most pressing civil right issues of our time. It extends beyond directs victims to negatively affect all persons of color of all generations and income levels. It undermines the legitimacy of the criminal justice system, and hinders effective policing in the communities that need it the most. A Resource Guide on Racial Profiling Data Collection System defines racial profiling as any police-initiated action that relies on the race, ethnicity or national origin rather than the behavior of an individual or information that leads the police to a particular individual who has been identified as being or having been, engaged in criminal activity. In the context of traffic stops by police officers, racial profiling should be defined broadly as encompassing officer's use of race or ethnicity as a factor in deciding to stop, question, search or arrest someone. Racial profiling has been monitored in a number of jurisdictions, and in nearly all of these jurisdictions was found to be a significant problem.
a) Racial Profiling violates civil rights
Racial profiling affects law abiding citizens as well as offenders innocent persons of color are stopped, question and searched for reason that would not lead to stops of white drivers. People of color report stops based on minor equipment violations such as items hanging from the rear view mirror and even stops followed by inquiries such as "whose car is this you're driving?" Or "what are you doing in this neighborhood?"
Racial profiling not only subordinate the civil rights of entire communities to the goals of criminal justice, but it is an ineffective crime prevention tool that ultimately victimized the very people that it's supposed to protect.
b) Racial Profiling undermines police community relations
The widespread perception among people of color that they unfairly targeted by the police because of their race has led to a lack of trust in the police. This mistrust harms both the police and communities of color, by impeding effective police work. Communities of color needs effective policing. People of color are more likely than whites to be victims of crime. They need the protection offered by effective police work, and the police want to do their job effectively. Mistrust of the police frustrates this goal because it makes people less likely to cooperate with the police by reporting crimes and aiding police investigation. The investigation and eradication of racial profiling serves the common interests of police and communities of color.
c) Racial Profiling is unsound policing
Racial profiling not only constitutes discrimination against people of color; it is also an unsound, inefficient method of policing. One traditional law enforcement jurisdiction for racial disparities in police stops and searches is that it makes sense to stop and search people of color in greater numbers, because they are more likely to be guilt of drug offenses. The reality is that people of color are arrested for drug offenses in connection with vehicle stops at a high rate because they are targeted at a high rate, not because they are more likely than whites to have drugs in their cars. Studies have shown that even when people of color are searched at higher rates, they are no more likely than whites to be found with contraband.
Now that we have examined the different problems of racial profiling we can move on to explore the cause of each of those problem. First, racial profiling is caused in part by overextending the boundaries of ordinary profiling. For clarification, profiling means an officer is using cumulative knowledge to identify certain indicators of criminal activity. Race may be one of those factors but it cannot stand alone. Racial profiling is when race is the only factor. There is no other probable cause. It is the blurring of the line between the two types of profiling that is problematic. Second, the cause of the apathetic attitude towards racial profiling is painfully easy to explain. Minorities are reviewed as unequal.
The impact of racial profiling extends beyond those who directly experience it. The effects of racial profiling on broader society include confirmation of feelings of racism, fear and financial costs. It also impacts on our community, to the law enforcement profession and to the officers involved in racial profiling. This means that the social and economic cost of racial profiling is widespread. This sections that follow describe how racial profiling is affecting community, law enforcement profession and officers.
Impact on our Community
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