According to the National Gang Center’s (2011) National Youth Gang Survey, the majority of gangs are comprised of non-white minorities, especially Hispanic/Latino (46 percent of all gang members) and African American (35 percent of all gang members). Because of these statistics, law enforcement has been tempted to rely on racial profiling to fight gang formation, reduce gang membership, and control gang-related crimes. As tempting as it may be to rely on ethnic or racial strategies in law enforcement, these shortcuts undermine the fundamental principles of the criminal justice system.
The use of racial and ethnic profiling and related techniques is illegal as well as unethical, presenting clear procedural justice problems for law enforcement departments that use these tactics (American Bar Association, n.d.). Using racial and ethnic strategies threatens to undermine public trust in, and the credibility of, law enforcement. Racial and ethnic strategies also defeat the purpose of more effective methods that can be used in the long-range fight against gangs, such as community policing. Strategies that are ethnically neutral focus on the criminal behaviors, not on the ethnic or racial composition of gang members.
Law enforcement agencies may be tempted to use profiling based on the fact that gangs to tend to reflect ethnic...
References
American Bar Association (n.d.). Report to House of Delegates Commission on Immigration, Center for Racial and Ethnic Diversity. https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/criminal_justice_section_newsletter/crimjust_policy_am08104c.authcheckdam.pdf
National Gang Center (2011). National youth gang survey analysis. https://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Survey-Analysis/Demographics
White, R. (2008). Disputed definitions and fluid identities. Youth Justice 8(2): 149-161.
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