Racial Profiling

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes and attempts to understand the rhetoric behind racial profiling by law enforcement officials. It aims to carefully scrutinize the fundamental assumptions made by law enforcement in using race as a factor for assessing criminal activity and risk. The paper then discusses the problems associated with using racial profiling and how these problems should be addressed and how policies should be changed.

From the Paper:

"However, solving the problem of discrimination within law enforcement is an unenviable task. Discrimination exists at the deepest levels of human consciousness, and oftentimes only manifests itself subconsciously. Few if any officers are truly willing to confess to preconceived prejudices simply because of the negative stigma associated with such a claim. The problem has become exacerbated by the wave of intolerance towards expressing and open discussion of racial tendencies within crime. New Jersey state police superintendent Carl Williams for instance was fired for his remarks on racial crime. He explained in an interview that "certain crimes are associated with certain ethnic groups, and it is naive to think that race is not an issue in policing" (HARRIS). Without a viable channel to funnel such visions to others, the sad truth is that few law enforcement professionals would be willing to openly discuss the issues associated with racial profiling in police stops. The problem is endemic and deeply rooted, but it is also one that cannot be openly discussed with social stigma."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Driving While Black: Racial Profiling on Our Nations Highways by David A. Harris, University of Toledo College of Law. An American Civil Liberties Union Special Report, June 1999:
• R. Richard Banks, Racial Profiling and Antiterrorism Efforts, 89 Cornell Law Review 1201-1217 (2004).
• From Racial to Religious Profiling, in Free Inquiry. by Guy Harrison. 2 pgs.
• Policing Space, Policing Race: Social Control Imperatives and Police Discretionary Decisions Journal article by Sandra Bass; Social Justice, Vol. 28, 2001
• The Truth about Racial Profiling, in The American Enterprise. by Martin Morse Wooster. 1 pgs.

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• Term Paper # 90578 : "Criminal Justice: Racial Profiling and Toronto"

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