Is Racial Profiling Real?
Society has tasked law enforcement with keeping it safe, deterring and preventing crime and punishing those who commit crimes. Society has placed ever-increasing pressure and demand on members of law enforcement to produce results associated with these tasks. In an effort by law enforcement to respond to and manage these pressures and demands exerted by society, profiling has become a means by which they may attempt to fulfill their charge using it to predict criminal activity or identify potential or existing criminals.
Before a discussion of racial profiling can take place one must first understand the definition of profiling. Profiling, as it is used by law enforcement, is the act of taking information associated with past crimes and the criminals who committed them, compiling, analyzing and distilling that information and then using it to predict who will commit future crimes of a similar nature or identify the perpetrators of current crime. The media has both extolled the virtues of and more rarely attacked the shortcomings of profiling, all the while capitalizing on it.
Profiling of serial killers has received a significant amount of airtime over the last few years. Profiling and the media attention it has drawn have been the impetus for many movies and television programs and profiling has wide audience and following on the Internet. Serial killers are at the top of the line when it comes to the models for abhorrent behavior. Their methods are often quite clever and the results of their penchant bizarre. They make great headlines! The media quickly assigns nicknames to these killers, gives them the attention they crave, contributes to the motivation that pushes them to continue and sends panic into the community. Because profiling of serial killers has been so widely publicized as a definitive tool for identifying them, police, as well as the average citizen, have been duped by the propaganda into believing profiling in any form is science at its most effective. When one looks hard at what profiling really achieves, the chinks in the “armor” become noticeable.
People are always looking for a “quick fix,” an instant solution. They want to be able to look at the person approaching them on the street and know if they are safe. Profiling does not qualify as a quick fix or provide definitive information that allows one individual to identify another as a criminal. Profiling is no more than a best guess. Profiling is a formalized extension of generalization (Harris, 2004). Human beings use generalizations to assist in decision-making on a day-to-day basis. If one sees something that glows red, caution is advisable. Why? Because, based on past experience, in general, things that glow red may be hot. While a red-hot stove burner will indeed burn the skin, a low voltage light with a red lens will not. Yet, touching of the glowing red object will be at the least delayed because the generalization is applied by the brain. Humans are the total sum of their experiences and they bring these experiences into their decision-making. An individual who has been indoctrinated since childhood to believe a certain race or culture is “bad” will have difficulty removing that generalization from the decision making process. This is where cultural awareness training for police officers is most needed. While it is more difficult to unlearn than to learn, repeated visitation, reinforcement and enforcement of the learning can cause change. By establishing and enforcing standards of conduct for police officers, departments across the country have an opportunity to root out discriminatory activity by police officers in the communities and in the departments (Davis, 2004).
Has there ever been any complaint raised that profiling of serial killers has an element of racial profiling? The standard profile for a serial killer includes a race in its make up-white. Is this inappropriate? Based on the “science” of profiling, if all the statistical data available points toward a specific ethnicity, then there is a valid reason for that element to be a part of the profile-along with other data. What is racial profiling-really? No one seems to agree on the definition. It means many different things to many different people. The definition seems to depend on the circumstances and who might be up for criticism. This label may be used to identify a small number of officers within a department who are bigots or even a single individual who has conducted his or herself in a biased manner (Gold, 2003). It is a broad label encompassing most any circumstance, real, imagined or any combination of the two, where someone determines bigotry is at work. If it is based on no other criteria than race, then it is not profiling. It is bigotry.
If the police are actively canvassing a neighborhood, looking for a robbery suspect who is described as an Hispanic male, they would be looking at and potentially stopping and interviewing Hispanic males, not Asian women. This is not racial profiling. If a police officer stops and searches a minority on the observation that the individual’s behavior, manner or activities, based on the past experiences of that officer, leads the officer to believe the individual may be engaged in drug related activity, this is not racial profiling. If, however, a police officer stops and searches a minority based solely on the fact that he or she is a minority, this is racial bias.
This country has long been focused on extremes of discrimination toward minorities of by gone eras. In the extremes, some believe it was a horrendous collective of actions that constitute a debt owed by any individual not of that minority-forever, while some believe it was simply the result of inferior genetics. Most believe it was yet another example of man’s inhumanity toward man and that society should try to move on with an eye toward learning from the past and not repeating mistakes. Yet, because there are those with extreme views and because the majority is moderate, the extremes will always capture the attention of the media and shock, amaze or otherwise make news for the moderates. This culture is so concerned with fairness and equality, it lives in a sort of paranoia. Those of one culture may be convinced that everyone of another culture is out to “do them wrong.” While those of another culture may be so wary of saying or doing something politically incorrect that they won’t even converse with members of another culture. The media plays a pivotal role in helping to create this cultural paranoia and continues to evoke emotion with labels and headlines touting racial profiling. Because a single police officer is a bigot, the label spreads over the front page and the entire police department and the accusation of racial profiling take on the persona of a greater conspiracy.
Based on a Gallup poll, “more than 80% of Americans disapprove of âÂ?¦racial profiling.” In the same poll, 59% believe it is a widespread problem (Carrick, 2001). Is there any empirical evidence to support these beliefs? While there are some specific instances reported where race may have been the single motivator for action by the police, no studies could be identified by this author that provide a cross section of statistics that would support the fact that racial profiling is a widespread problem. The idea of racial profiling for the average American may be a creation of the media rather than the result of reality. Those who control the media wield great power through influence.
The term racial profiling makes good headlines, makes people wary and distrustful, but it is a label that should be discarded. There is no profile if the only element of data in use is ethnicity. The term racial profiling is just another term designed to keep a wedge between cultures, sell newspapers and continue to “stir the pot.”
References
Carrick, Grady, (2001), Law & Order, A Police Response to Racial Profiling, retrieved from the Internet, August 8, 2005 from
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=88916076&sid=3&Fmt=4&clientld=59796&RQT=309&Vname=PQD
Davis, Richard L., (2004), Police Department Disciplinary Bulletin, Some Thoughts on Bias-Free Traffic Enforcement, retrieved from the Internet, August 8, 2005 from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=817992671&sid=2&Fmt=3&clientld=59796&RQT=309&Vname=PQD
Gold, Alan D., (2003), Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Media Hype, Racial Profiling, and Good Science, retrieved from the Internet, August 8, 2005 from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=522376341&sid=2&Fmt=3&clientld=59796&RQT=309&Vname=PQD
Harris, David A., (2004), Criminal Justice Ethics, Review Essay/ Profiling: Theory and Practice, retrieved from the Internet, August 8, 2005 from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=732189401&sid=59796&RQT=309&Vname=PQD
