Racial Profiling
Summary: In “You Have the Right to Remain a Target of Racial Profiling,” syndicated columnist Eugene Robinson tries to impress upon his readers that racial profiling is still utilized by today’s police force. Mr. Robinson utilizes statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, to make his point. These statistics are taken from the Federal criminal justice system. Based on these statistics, he states that minorities (primarily blacks) are at least twice as likely to have their vehicle searched on a routine traffic stop. Mr. Robinson further points out the fact that minorities are statistically more likely to receive a citation, where whites are more likely to receive a verbal warning. Finally, Mr. Robinson
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I emphasize “Federal” since the statistics you use are only gathered from Federal cases. You infer, through omission, that these statistics support all traffic violations. I must confess that I agree that it exists on some level everywhere, but not that it’s as ubiquitous as you claim. Profiling is nothing more than a compilation of words like - determine, assess, judge, weigh, evaluate, etc. All are used to statistically determine a predictable manner. You erroneously use the term Racial Profiling when the statistics more accurately suggest the use of the approved profiling method called Offender Profiling. We, as a society, empower our police with the authority to do offender profiling in service to the public. I certainly don’t want to impede on an officers judgment, to conduct a search, based on your claims that it’s not done uniformly. Do you want to be solely responsible for coming up with a list of traffic stop DO’s and DON’Ts for officers? Remember, you would be held accountable for any adverse situations that come as a
I emphasize “Federal” since the statistics you use are only gathered from Federal cases. You infer, through omission, that these statistics support all traffic violations. I must confess that I agree that it exists on some level everywhere, but not that it’s as ubiquitous as you claim. Profiling is nothing more than a compilation of words like - determine, assess, judge, weigh, evaluate, etc. All are used to statistically determine a predictable manner. You erroneously use the term Racial Profiling when the statistics more accurately suggest the use of the approved profiling method called Offender Profiling. We, as a society, empower our police with the authority to do offender profiling in service to the public. I certainly don’t want to impede on an officers judgment, to conduct a search, based on your claims that it’s not done uniformly. Do you want to be solely responsible for coming up with a list of traffic stop DO’s and DON’Ts for officers? Remember, you would be held accountable for any adverse situations that come as a