Racial profiling

Running Head : Racial profiling

Racial profiling

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SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1 Introduction

Racial profiling is the improper use of an individual 's perceived race or ethnicity when stopped , questioned or searched by person who has the authority to make such inquiries (Rivera , R .G . 2001 . HYPERLINK "http /happyweb .net /parking /policeintegrity /prp /default .htm http /happyweb .net /parking /policeintegrity /prp /default .htm

Racial profiling ' stems from the police use to question members of racial minorities on suspicion of criminal activity . Investigations into this practice have

lately resulted in an out-of-court settlement between the Civil Rights Division of the federal Department of Justice and the State of New Jersey . The New Jersey State Police had been stopping and searching three times as numerous black or Hispanic drivers as white ones on the New Jersey Turnpike . The resultant car searches had turned up contraband in 13 .5 percent of the minority drivers compared to ten percent among white drivers , a difference that the federal government charged did not warrant the race-based surveillance . A similar situation had been documented in Maryland a number of years earlier

Bernard E . Harcourt asserts that Racial profiling on the highways can be justified as an effective law enforcement tool or , from a constitutional perspective , as a narrowly tailored policing technique that promotes a compelling governmental interest in law enforcement if the following three conditions are satisfied (1 ) racial profiling has a long-term negative effect on the prod crime (2 ) while increasing the efficient allocation of police resources (3 ) without producing a ratchet effect on the prod population . These three specific conditions will only be satisfied in certain identifiable situations of comparative elasticity and offending as between racial groups

According to ACLU definition

Racial Profiling is any police or private security practice in which a person is treated as a suspect because of his or her race , ethnicity nationality or religion . This occurs when police investigate , stop frisk , search or use force against a person based on such characteristics instead of evidence of a person 's criminal behavior . It often involves the stopping and searching of people of color for traffic violations , known as "DWB " or "driving while black or brown " Although normally associated with African Americans and Latinos , racial profiling and "DWB " have also become shorthand phrases for police stops of Asians Native Americans , and , increasingly after 9 /11 , Arabs , Muslims and South Asians . HYPERLINK "http /www .aclu .org /profiling http /www .aclu .org /profiling

Interest Groups

After September 11 , all of the hijackers who carried out the attacks that day were Arab men , and observers began saying that racial profiling is a suitable tool for the war on terrorism . And the public seems to agree . Researches showed strong majorities in favor of subjecting those of Arab descent to extra scrutiny at airports . Captivatingly , blacks and Arab-Americans were even more expected than whites to favor such policies (Samuel R . Gross Debra Livingston , 2002

Already , most of us have had the chance to see...