Racial Profiling And Looking For Possible Solutions To The Issue (Research Paper Sample)

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Racial Profiling
Introduction
Racial profiling is the singling out an individual or individuals for special offers by the person’s color or ethnic community. The United States has addressed the issue with the aim of protecting the civil rights of the minority groups in the society which belongs to a specific class or group. The government of the United States has carried out several amendments to its constitution which illegalizes racial profiling. For instance, the fourth amendment act offers protection against any unreasonable search and seizure, and the fourteenth amendments provide equal protection provisions making racial profiling unlawful (Engel et al., p.249). The law enforcement bodies have partnered with the legal community in defining conditions that require the application of ethnicity and racism about other factors and behaviors. The paper addresses the solutions to racial profiling which has become a contentious issue in our society today.
The racial profiling definitions vary due to the controversial nature of the issue. According to the Department of Justice, racial profiling is any action initiated by the police which depends on the ethnic community, color or nationality rather than individual’s behavior that guides the cops to a particular person identified as a criminal (Schuck et al., p.491). On the other hand, the General Accounting Office describes it as the application of race as a crucial factor in making decisions regarding whether or not to make a traffic stop (Schuck et al., p.491). Furthermore, the Arizona Attorney General’s office defines racial profiling as the usage of law enforcement officers of a citizen’s ethnicity or race as a base for the articulation of reasonable suspicion to the arresting, questioning or stopping a person (Schuck et al., p.491).
The immigration arena brought the matter of racial profiling into a sharp focus. The period led to the enactment of several laws such as Arizona’s S.B. 1070. Although the law illegalized racial profiling, it faced a lot of critics and branded as one which is impossible to implement unless police officers are involved (Schuck et al., p.491). Almost all illegal immigrants in Arizona come to Mexico and are Hispanics. On the other hand, not every Hispanic of Mexican origin is an illegal immigrant, and that is where the most significant challenge of S.B law arises (Schuck et al., p.491).Thus, there is a high probability that the S.B 1070 law will lead to discrimination by racial profiling against Hispanics who either belong to the United States or other countries.
There exists an imbalance in power between the law enforcement personnel, majority population members and the targeted community that is the minority population by definition (Schuck et al., p.491). The scenario exists in countries where racial profiling is of national importance. Such countries include the United States of America, Canada among others (Schwartz and Robert, p.1392).
Challenges associated with Racial Profiling
The relationship between law enforcement personnel and racial minorities has been compromised in the past. With the current happenings, the strained relationship is still in progress and has become more complicated. The issue of racial profiling has been trending in the social media in association with current killings of the civilians by the police officers (Smith et al., p.4). There has been a growing belief among the minority groups in the society that the police is unfairly targeting them due to their racial background. For instance, research points out that the traffic patrol has pulled over a more significant percentage of Hispanics and black Americans than the Caucasian people (Meehan et al., p.339). A racial profiling study conducted in 2008 in LAPD reveals that the African-Americans were frisked 127% more times than the white people. The research also showed that the rate of arresting blacks in the United States is 29% higher than that of the white people (Engel et al., p.249). The arrest rate is even applicable in instances where the contraband rate established in a suspect is higher for the white people than for Hispanics and black Americans.
Racial profiling is a blackmail method in identifying which race is better than others. However, the ethnic profiling activists argue that the profiling method helps in the identification of criminals, crime preventions and providing protection to the innocent people. They base their arguments in that if the police have a racial profile of a particular person, it can apprehend a “criminal” before he or she commits an offense. (Welch and Kelly, p.276). The racial profiling advocates argue that science and statistics offers a good back up to racial profiling and thus it is not a racist act. On the other hand, the protesters of racial profiling point out that the scientific and statistical evidence form current methods of utilizing skull measurements in the identification of who is a “better race” (Gross et al., p.1413). Therefore, in its evaluation, the demerits of racial profiling exceed the merits.
The controversial aspect of racial profiling arises in the fact that it a harmful practice that supports various unique matters and thus it is problematic to address by use of standard accountability measures of security personnel. The society lays its trust in the law police officers and is provided with extensive discretion in the execution of their responsibilities (Briggs and Charles, p.19). As a consequence, if the political officers are left unchecked, they take the opportunity of broad discretion in abusing their powers in the name of the efficient and effective implementation of their roles (Smith et al., p.87). The racial profiling may transform the police into using violence and excessive force and in the falsification of evidence (Smith et al., p.87).
Solutions to racial profiling
There are various ways of reducing racial profiling in our society today. Some of the ideas are described below.
Establishment of Trust and Legitimacy
The law enforcement culture should focus more on being guardians rather than taking the roles of a warrior, and this helps in building trust and legitimacy within the law enforcement agencies and in general public. The citizens of any country have a higher probability of obeying the law when they believe that the police officers possess a legitimate authority (Gross et al., p.1413). The members of the general public only convene legitimacy to the law enforcement personnel who administer justice in their day to day operations. Establishment of trust and legitimacy is a first pillar and a founding principle of the underlying nature of relations between police officers and the citizens they serve (Gross et al., p.1413). The police should always protect the minority groups in the society which are mostly the victims of racial profiling.
Policy and Oversight
The police officers must execute their responsibilities under strict adherence to the law failure to which they should be held accountable. Different countries have various constitutions which define the code of conduct of the police officers (Cooper and Frank, p.234). The oversight organizations should perform its roles to keep the law enforcement personnel on toes. Any police officer found harassing civilians or minority people in the society with no good reason should face the consequences (Cooper and Frank, p.234). The oversight organizations need to be active in their roles and are expected to ensure that there exists the excellent relationship between the police officers and the citizens. (Cooper and Frank, p.234).
Training and Education
The security docket is expanding every day due to population growth. Education to the various law enforcement officers is essential to equip the police with different skills of handling people from diverse ethnic and racial groups. Every member of the society is valuable and should receive fair treatment (Weitzer et al., p.4). The training should emphasize on the evils associated with racism, ethnicity and racial profiling. The education program should always have a common goal of achieving a pluralistic society where racial profiling will be an issue of the past (Weitzer et al., p.4).
Officer wellness and Safety
The government should put the necessary measures towards ensuring the wellness and safety of the law enforcement personnel. The welfare and safety of such staff are essential to the police officers, agencies and colleagues and protects the public (Weitzer et al., p.4). The strategies result in long-term improvements in the manner of how the law enforcement bodies interact and lead to positive changes in the societies. Therefore, excellent officer wellness and safety fosters a good relationship between the police officers and the public. The process ensures that justice is administered at all times and overcomes the evils of racial profiling (Weitzer et al., p.4).
Alternative Approach to Addressing Racial Profiling
Social Media and Technology
The technology and social media tools can be utilized to restore trust and legitimacy between law enforcement officers and the minority groups in the society. Both the police and other law enforcement bodies can use the channels to educate marginal...