Racial Profiling in Theory and Practice

Paper Summary:

There is a clear line to be drawn between discretion and racial profiling when it comes to law enforcement officers making the decision to investigate a crime or suspect on positive grounds of incongruity, suspicion, or report, not race. This paper discusses how in practice, unfortunately, this theory does not always stick. It shows how in practice, police often color-code their targets and look for African-American males.

From the Paper:

"Those officers who fit the description of biased individuals looking for a person of a certain age, race, gender, or otherwise non-related determination factors, however, can be said to be profiling. "From the outset, the war on drugs has in fact been a war on people and their constitutional rights, with African Americans, Latinos and other
minorities bearing the brunt of the damage. It is a war that has, among other depredations, spawned racist profiles of supposed drug couriers" (Harris, 1999, p. 272). Law enforcement officers are supposed to be trained to detect incongruity, not to determine identifiers that are based on factors that have nothing to do with deviance and are superficial in nature."

More papers on Racial Profiling in Theory and Practice:

• Essay # 89060 : "Racial Profiling in Toronto"
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• Analytical Essay # 135465 : "Racial Profiling in Toronto, Canada"

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