Racial Profiling

Racial Profiling

By :Vinothini Varatharajah

Introduction to Canadian Legal System

Ms . Sasha Baglay

Racial profiling has become a controversial issue that is being contemplated throughout the world . There are numerous arguments about whether practicing it are right or wrong . Racial profiling is defined as taking place when law enforcement or officials use race as a basis for criminal suspicions during investigations . It can also occur when decisions are made about any aspect of public policy on the basis of race . Racial profiling is definitely problematic , as it has raised many

br issues about stereotypes , which affect people of all races and cultural ethnicities . Racial profiling affects many minority groups , and can be the reason why stereotypes still may exist in society . At the very least , profiling furthers stereotypes because the pros are based on stereotypes of particular cultures rather than any individual characteristics . In to improve the current practices , the law should enforce rules and regulations based on fair criteria that prevent officers from relying on stereotypes and racial profiling

First , profiling affects many minority groups which are already under pressure with social dilemmas . Northwestern University recorded that police search vehicles of minorities far more often than vehicles belong to people who are white (Crime Control Digest , Jul 20 , 2007 . Vol . 41 Iss . 29

. 3 . This is not an uncommon finding many police stations do the same thing . It is also very obviously profiling , since the only criteria the police are using to determine which cars to search are the owner 's race . This is especially troubling in an area where the majority of students are white . That means that an overwhelming percentage of minorities are being discriminated against . A similar study (the 2005 Kingston Data Collection Project , where a police force allowed their methods and motivations to be heavily scrutinized conducted by a police force in Kingston , Ontario showed that blacks were nearly four times as likely to be stopped or questioned as whites were (Toye . This data was found because police were required to fill out a card every time they stopped someone , including the person 's age gender , race , and reason for being stopped . This type of profiling is a social dilemma because it allows unfairness to occur daily . Blacks feel uncomfortable walking or driving around in public because they may be stared at , or people may be rude to them because of an expectation that a black person is more likely to commit a crime . For example , a white woman walking near a black man is more likely to hold her purse closer to her than if she were walking next to a white man . Blacks are aware of these subtle or not-so-subtle attitudes towards them , and it is unfair to make them deal with such issues

Second , profiling contradicts people 's human rights . People should be given the right to express their own ethnicity , and it should not be negatively viewed by others simply because of the type of ethnicity it is . On May...