Is Racial Profiling in Policing Real, or is it a Myth?
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Is Racial Profiling in Policing Real, or is it a Myth?
Introduction
The policing strategy based on racial profiling is not new but has been utilized by police departments across the United States for several decades. Primarily, the officers’ actions are motivated by the race, ethnicity or national origin, as opposed to the behavior leading to the persons’ involvement in criminal activity. There have been debates regarding racial profiling and gauging, whether it is real or a myth. Racial profiling describes the police use of racial or ethnic characteristics to determine who to investigate for unknown criminal offenses. The explicit profiles have been utilized primarily concerning drug interdiction. Racial profiling is a multifaceted issue that has impacted African Americans, lower-class individuals, and the homeless (Hong, 2017). Furthermore, racial profiling is a prevalent daily occurrence that calls for massive intervention. Notably, racial profiling is not limited by the unwarranted police stops of racial and ethnic minorities; it extends as far as “shopping while Black” and “standing when Black.” The trends in racial profiling have boosted the distrust levels amongst minorities, especially African Americans.
Opponents of racial profiling base their arguments on the constitutionality of the strategy. Accordingly, racial profiling is illegal, considering it infringes on racial and ethnic minorities’ civil freedoms, hence accounting for their overwhelming presence in America’s legal system. Consequently, the opponents are opinionated that racial profiling is a strategy used disproportionately, especially among people of color. According to the category who perceives racial profiling in policing as a reality, they back it up, citing its numerous advantages. It is an efficient approach in deterring criminal activity, particularly in areas exhibiting high levels of violence, property crimes, and gang-related issues. The school of thought is drawn from the principle of deterrence theory. Accordingly, the theory postulates the higher the probability of punishment, there is a dramatic reduction of the likelihood of criminal activity committing the crime. Despite the criminal justice system’s numerous efforts to offer improved diversity training at all levels, racial profiling continues to have its way in society. However, the police continue to defend their strategies, grounded on their efforts to safeguard the communities as per the expectation of their duties. The contentious issue has attracted the intervention of police agencies and associations like the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). The IACP has formulated policies to prohibit the practice of racial profiling.
History of Policing in the United States
Primarily, policing sought to enforce control of certain classes, including the slaves and Indians. The policing system was established by drawing from different structures from England, Spain, and France (Glaser, 2015). At the time, the sheriff was the most superior official, thus accorded several duties, including but not limited to the supervision of elections, tax collection, and the legal process monitoring. Notably, sheriffs did not patrol a specific area; rather, they operated away from the office environment. Within the south, policing was introduced through the aspect of slave patrol to ensure slave control. Different regions had varying forms of control as a means of law enforcement. Later, slave codes were established to define Black slaves and families as property pieces, hence prohibiting them from participating in activities undertaken by the Whites. Additionally, southern police departments ensured their economic system remained uncompromised through the implementation of the slave codes. Furthermore, Blacks came to America as slaves to provide labor. Accordingly, the law enforcement policies are outlined with discriminatory objectives that ultimately pave the way for racial profiling. Within the western portion, the Texas Rangers were the first police officers, thus setting up the foundation (Nadal et al., 2017). The slavery-era, too, was marked with innumerable instances of racial profiling. Blacks would be randomly stopped and harassed on the grounds of race and not criminal activity when the slavery tactics were legal. Consequently, the stop and frisk policing strategy was indirectly targeted at the Blacks, hence validating racial profiling’s institutionalism. The decisions are arrived at outside of the context that the officers are targeting an individual simply because the individual satisfies a given description of a criminal suspect.
Constitutionality of Racial Profiling
According to the American Constitution, racial profiling is deemed illegal. This is drawn from the fact that it contradicts the equal protection clause, exempting individuals from unwarranted pursuits and confiscations. Notably, racial profiling hampers effective policing through reduced credibility and low trust levels among minorities. An imminent section of policing that has been adversely affected by policing is the recruitment process. Recruitment of officers hailing from racial minorities has been a long-standing initiative in law enforcement, posing a series of challenges. In a 2014 study of Minnesota, the racial composition of police stops and searches was analyzed. It reported that Black people were overrepresented, with the Whites being underrepresented among the persons stopped and searched by the police (Shjarback et al., 2017). Along the course, racial profiling comes up as a consequence of the police using race and an accumulation of other factors that cause the police to react with suspicion and take the needed action. The police are the official gatekeepers required to protect the public from harm and promote fairness and justice in the communities. However, racial profiling has led countless people to live in fear, forcing the entire communities to live as suspects based on features that are beyond their control.
There is growing evidence of the rampant spread of racial profiling in the United States. A common approach of the police is through traffic violations as an avenue to stop a vehicle from investigating other possible crimes. The majority of African Americans attest to the fact that they have been charged with the offense of “driving while black” (Legewie, 2016). Similarly, a New Jersey study of traffic stops revealed Blacks and Hispanics comprised 13.5% of the drivers on the state highways, whereas they represented 74.6% of those stopped and searched by New Jersey State Patrol. This is backed up by the growing publication of anecdotal information that supports the widespread increase of racial profiling. However, the opponents still insist that the disproportionately higher-stop and arrest rates do not reflect race in their decision making. The police attest to be focused on crucial aspects that have been violated, including violation of driving rules, among other suspicious activities.
Arguments Acknowledging and Defending Racial Profiling
From the defender’s standpoint, racial profiling is permitted in aspects whereby African Americans have committed a disproportionate number of street crimes. In this instance, the cops’ action is justifiable, considering they are scrutinizing the population with the highest number of culprits. The argument is backed up with the notion that racial profiling is a statistically based tool that empowers law enforcement to direct their attention towards the crucial aspects. The efficiency is grounded on the fact that the overall cost of obtaining and processing information is significantly reduced (Hayle et al., 2016). Notably, the arguments are justified based on statistical grounds whereby the disproportionate crime cases are linked with distinct racial minorities. Secondly, the proposers believe in the potential of racial profiling in deterring some crimes. Accordingly, the tactic of random stops, questioning, and pinpointing young males driving during the evening and night hours promotes their explicit identification. Furthermore, it captures the essential details such as time and place. This plays a pivotal role in depriving potential perpetrators of the opportunity of remaining anonymous. Consequently, the victims can avoid arrest for given crimes such as burglary, rape, and robbery. Therefore, the criminals are eventually deterred from proceeding with planned crimes they anticipate.
Racial profiling in traffic stops is centered on drug enforcement, as opposed to dealing with crime. The random stops are primarily targeted at the minorities, hence accounting for their extremely high population. Essentially, racial profiling is held accountable for disproportionate statistics that warrant its continual use (Nadal et al., 2017). Eventually, the notion that minorities, particularly Blacks, are involved in drug crimes will ultimately come to materialize. The police will attempt to look for drug crime amongst the people of color to report several occurrences. Consequently, the majority of African Americans will end up arrested, prosecuted, and jailed, exemplifying the notion of their involvement. Thus, it establishes the foundation whereby they are constantly identified with drug crimes, hence imposing the blame on them.
Arguments against Racial Profiling
The opponents’ arguments are grounded on constitutional concerns and practical considerations. Racial disparities play a sentimental role in American life and law. Since the Civil Rights revolution of 1960, courts have continuously based their rule according to the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause. The emphasis is primarily on the inadequacy of reasonability as a justification of police officials to discriminate on racial grounds. Thus, such scenarios have demanded courts to apply strict scrutiny, classified as the highest judicial review level. Based on the standard’s tenacity, issuing verdicts on racial grounds in governmental decision-making is rarely upheld. Peculiar scenarios which may warrant racial profiling is when it fulfills a compelling government objective. Additionally, if the issue is narrowly tailored with the intent of advancing the objective, it is permissible.
Analyzing racial profiling based on its social costs, it is evident that it performs a major role. Racial profiling operates by eliminating members of racial minority groups of the individual social classes. This is achieved by adding the police’s resentment to the component of law enforcement establishment (Glaser, 2015). Getting rid of African American communities and Hispanics ultimately leads to the increase of uncooperative witnesses who do not want to liaise with the police. The category involves citizens who perceive the prosecutors as their enemy, lawyers that have failed to uphold the rules they were sworn to uphold, and judges whose desire is to get even with the justice system which they perceive to be unfair. Given the need to ensure adherence to law enforcement, a need arises to practice keenness of the police’s deep-seated anger.
Degrees of Police Discretion
Racial profiling occurs in a series of steps, based on the extent to which the officer has the discretion to select whether or not they should make the stop. First, low discretion stops encompass scenarios whereby the officer has minimal discretion not to stop the individual or vehicle. In such contexts, the police would normally stop the driver due to their violation of normal traffic rules. Courtesy of policing regulations, the officer stops, and it happens to a person of color. However, high-discretion stops entail minor violations in which the officer can decide to stop or ignore the vehicle (Shjarback et al., 2017). Such cases compel the officer to base their decisions on racial and ethnic grounds, similar to any other individual. Thus, it is necessary for documentation to happen, considering the incidences open up opportunities for the stereotypes to go undetected. The high-discretion stops have been proven to reduce the overall crime rate, particularly when contraband is detected in the process. Furthermore, interceptions seek to heighten the level of fear in criminals who were proceeding to engage in criminal activity.
Policy Recommendations
Based on the contention on racial profiling’s reality, it is evident that the police and criminals may eventually alter their behavior. One approach entails the increasing sensitivity of the police officers regarding their stop patterns. Increasing sensitivity compels the officers to examine keenly examine their policing behavior and become intentional even as they undertake their tasks. With time, the officers will adapt to make fewer stops, only when the need arises. With time, racial profiling is bound to reduce imminently and eliminated from the policing approach. Racial profiling can impact crime rates in several dimensions. First, it provides the opportunity to strengthen the bond between police officers and the public. Thus, the community becomes actively involved in engaging the police on matters concerning them, providing ample opportunity for them to step in and prevent crime. Notably, the low-discretion stops have an increased probability of targeting criminals considering they are caught unawares. The reduction in racial profiling would minimize the fear in most of the people following their previous encounters with the police (Hayle et al., 2016). Consequently, society would be more open-minded and explore more opportunities to improve themselves and the state at large. Effective accountability monitoring mechanisms will allow citizens to channel their concerns, thus holding the officers responsible. To attain accountability, complaint procedures and disciplinary measures are clearly outlined for the officers.
Conclusion
While not every officer employs racial profiling, there is overwhelming evidence pointing to it. However, there is a detailed and nuanced portrayal, with almost every state passing law mandating the collection of racial profiling data. With the advent of technology, racial profiling is also embracing newer dimensions beyond the common ones. The bottom line is racial profiling in policing is real and generates a negative impact. Primarily, it interferes with the nature of relationships between the police and the community, especially people of color (Legewie, 2016). Thus, African Americans develop resentment towards them based on unfair treatment. Additionally, they resort to protests and demonstrations as they seek to get their pleas heard. Notably, most police departments have risen to the occasion and instituted policies aimed at curbing the practices. Having recognized the ravaging impact it has on society, the police and criminal justice system has explicitly recognized the practice and prohibited it. Several approaches have been utilized, including policies, training, and practice. Departments appreciate the role of maintaining data on all traffic stops, including any post-stop activity. Keeping track of such crucial information helps hold the officers accountable and push them to base their decisions from the point of fairness and justice. Notably, dealing with racial profiling is a collective responsibility of the entire society. Decisive steps ought to be taken to prevent, identify, and respond to racial profiling in policing. This will aid in rebuilding the trust of the minority groups to allow the police to serve them. Notably, the wave of racial profiling continues to change with time. Currently, racial profiling targets Arabs due to the massive fear of terrorist threats, transitioning from African Americans, and drug interdiction. This poses a risk to the fight against terrorism, considering it would make America’s security system quite easy to defeat. Thus, novel forms of racial profiling continue to emerge, hence the need to be constantly on the lookout to manage them effectively.
References
Glaser, J. (2015). Suspect race: Causes and consequences of racial profiling. Oxford University Press, USA.
Hayle, S., Wortley, S., & Tanner, J. (2016). Race, street life, and policing: Implications for racial profiling. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 58(3), 322-353.
Hong, S. (2017). Black in blue: Racial profiling and representative bureaucracy in policing revisited. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 27(4), 547-561.
Legewie, J. (2016). Racial profiling and use of force in police stop: How local events trigger periods of increased discrimination. American journal of sociology, 122(2), 379-424.
Nadal, K. L., Davidoff, K. C., Allicock, N., Serpe, C. R., & Erazo, T. (2017). Perceptions of police, racial profiling, and psychological outcomes: A mixed methodological study. Journal of Social Issues, 73(4), 808-830.
Shjarback, J., Decker, S., Rojek, J. J., & Brunson, R. K. (2017). Minority representation in policing and racial profiling. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management.