Controversial Issues with Modern Day Policing And the Implications of Racial Profiling

Racial profiling and policing have been an issue that has drawn much attention throughout the nation, putting into question the fairness and effectiveness of policing. One of the most recent events that spurred racial profiling controversy was the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, an isolated event that brought about racial profiling against people who were or appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent with the justification that it was for the security of the United States. There are claims that racial profiling is still being practiced by officers of the law in residential sectors across the U.S. The claims point toward the unfair profiling of people based on their race and socioeconomic situations which, for the most part, consists of African-Americans and Hispanics.

My aim in this paper is to address the debate over racial profiling which is twofold: on one side it is seen as an unfair practice that criminalizes people based on their race and their socioeconomic standing; the other side to the debate is that racial profiling is not something that occurs on purpose but happens as an unfortunate process of being able to apprehend criminals. One study conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2001 showed that “ blacks were somewhat more likely than were whites or Hispanics (12.3%, 10.44%, 8.8% respectively) to report being stopped by police in 1999” (Weitzer & Tuch, 2002, p. 436). Another study showed that the continual race profiling was due to the fact that “those who engage in certain criminal activities and types of violence tend to share certain characteristics relating to specific socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds” (Persico, 2002, p. 1472). The latter supporting the continual profiling of minorities and people of low socioeconomic backgrounds. Through research, I hope to reach the conclusion that racial profiling is real and its aim is to apprehend individuals who break the law but whether a person is marginalized by its practice becomes a matter of perception by the individual.

References

Persico, N. (2002). Racial profiling, fairness, and effectiveness of policing, The American Economic Review, 92(5), 1472-1497.

Weitzer, R., & Touch, S. A. (2002). Perceptions of racial profiling: Race, class and personal experience. Criminology, 40(2), 435-456.