Police Department use of Racial Profiling

Police Departments ' Use of Racial Profiling (Your Name (Your University

2007

Introduction

The concept and practice of racial profiling by the law enforcement agencies specifically , the police , has drawn the attention and concern of the public including the government . Racial profiling is defined as

the practice of targeting individuals for police or security interdiction , detention or other disparate treatment based primarily on their race or ethnicity in the belief that certain minority groups are more likely to engage in unlawful behavior (Laney , 2004

Another definition proposed by Hernandez-Murillo and

Knowles is that it is a statistical discrimination as a tool to predict criminality and would search more intensely the minorities than if they were of a different race . Thus , the discretion to enforce or not enforce the laws or policies based on categories or race of people have ill effects on those individuals involved including affecting the public 's perception in a negative way (Pruitt , n .d . It casts doubt to the legitimacy and fairness of the criminal justice system and destroys the trust of the people in the law enforcement . It creates negative stereotypes who limit efforts in attaining societal justice (Pruitt , n .d . Moreover , besides creating erroneous perceptions about the different races , it also creates misconceptions about the police Discrimination by a few in the police force is magnified as to be a brand label to all . This demoralizes the many who are fair and do their jobs with honor and dedication . Direct effects are seen on the targeted group , for instance African Americans and Hispanics change their driving habits because they perceived to be the target group in traffic stops (U .S . Congress , 2000 . The members of the targeted group become uncooperative and develop disdain and contempt of the police (Pruitt n .d

Racial profiling for some is appropriate and justified . They believe that it is a sensible , statistically based tool that enables law enforcement to focus their energies more efficiently and it also lowers the cost of obtaining and processing information and thus reduces the overall cost of policing (Kennedy , 2000 . They further claim that the police are justified in scrutinizing more a particular sector or race if in the place where they are assigned , the members of this sector commit a disproportionate numbers of crimes . Similarly , they scrutinize men more than women . The basis for defending racial profiling as appropriate is centered upon its being empirical and statistical Moreover , it is claimed that racial profiling prevents crime considering that by identifying the drivers at night time would deprive a potential criminal of anonymity (Garlikov , 2000

Those who argue against racial profiling base their dissent on constitutional and practical grounds (Kennedy , 1999 . Racial distinctions are opposed mainly on the violation of the Fourteenth Amendment - the equal protection clause . Even the courts in exercise of judicial review , have applied `strict scrutiny ' enunciating that the use of race in government decision-making gives rise to a presumption of violation of an individual 's civil rights (Kennedy , 1999 . The use...