Racial Profiling Research

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the racial profiling survey, conducted by the United States Institute of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR 3151), was specifically designed to examine any differences in the rate that white and non-white drivers are subjected to traffic stops and to subsequent enforcement action arising from traffic stops. The author states that, according to the PPCS, black drivers were more likely than whites to be stopped while driving, as well as being stopped more than once within the same year. The paper relates that perhaps the most significant finding of the PPCS relates to the so-called "outcome test" of police searches. If the justification for racial profiling practices is "good policing", the data should reveal that searches of non-white drivers and their vehicles are more likely to disclose contraband than searches of white drivers, but, in fact, the data reveal the exact opposite.

From the Paper:

"One of the most significant inquiries included in the PPCS analysis was an examination of the characterization of racial profiling, by some law enforcement representatives, as merely "good policing". This argument has often been used to suggest that non-white minorities drivers are disproportionately more likely to possess illegal contraband or to be engaged in criminal activity, thereby justifying the consideration of a driver's race among the factors giving rise to the initiation of traffic stops and police investigations."

More papers on Racial Profiling Research:

• Term Paper # 90578 : "Criminal Justice: Racial Profiling and Toronto"
• Analytical Essay # 135465 : "Racial Profiling in Toronto, Canada"
• Analytical Essay # 135263 : "Racial Profiling"

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