Racial Profiling In Law Enforcement

To what degree can ethnicity or race be utilized to target innocent individuals for stops, searches, and arrests? Although racism has always existed, through the past decade it has become more apparent. The United States has constantly fought difficult battles to put a stop against racism and discrimination. A numerous amount of faultless lives and liberties have been lost in search for racial equality. Unfortunately, racial profiling has become a more serious controversial issue in law enforcement practices that has reached public attention. While the term “racial profiling” has only recently come into play, law enforcement has always used ethnicity and race as a basis for law enforcement to act upon. Overtime, conflicts between law enforcement
and minorities have continued to emerge. “Research consistently shows that minorities are more likely than whites to view law enforcement with suspicion and distrust. Minorities frequently report that the police disproportionately single them out because of their race or ethnicity.” (United States, Dept. of Justice 1). In today’s society, people fall victim to racial profiling everyday.