In Eugene Robinson’s essay “You Have the Right to Remain a Target of Racial Profiling,” Robinson argues that police officers still racially profile when pulling over people for traffic offenses. He uses a Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics report that states that white, African-American and Hispanic drivers are equally likely to be pulled over by the police in a traffic stop. He doesn’t believe this to be true and delves deeper into the findings. Robinson notes that African-Americans and Hispanics are much more likely to be searched and be the subject of “police use of force”. Black drivers were also twice as likely to be arrested as white drivers, and Hispanics were more likely to receive a ticket. Whites were more likely to receive written or verbal warnings that blacks or…
The article entitled “The state of race relations [Editorial].” was written by M. Fletcher & K. Thompson was taken from the Courier-Journal website http://www.courier-journal.com/ dated January 17, 2010 but was retrieved on January 27, 2010. The article focuses on racial profiling, particularly that of Black Americans by law enforcement.…
While whites who have done nothing wrong generally have little need to fear constitutional violations by the police, this is decidedly untrue for blacks. Blacks attract undesirable police attention whether they do anything to bring it on themselves or not. This makes "driving while black" a most unusual issue of constitutional criminal procedure: a search and seizure question that directly affects a large, identifiable group of almost entirely innocent…
Racial Profiling is the biggest complaint in the black community, and one of the primary reasons why African Americans are put behind bars at a very fast rate. There could be a young sophisticated black male walking down the street , and because of his height, skin color, attire, and hair he could be stopped and searched. Sometimes the police may mistakenly identify a person as someone else and charge the person , and the individual may spend years behind bars until found innocent. "Blacks in Cleveland received one and a half times (1.53) their proportional share of traffic tickets, while whites received slightly less than two-thirds (0.60) of their share, another minorities received eight per-cent more than their proportional share of tickets (1.08)" (Dunn 971) The quote is saying that African American are pulled over for tickets more than white people. This quote show that cops pull people because they see black skin. A lot of times when a person is found innocent the government do not give them anything to make up for the time that was lost, but instead they throw them back into the world with nothing but confusion.…
In terms of motorists, in 2005 Black drivers were three times more likely to be stopped and searched by police than Whites, and were twice as likely than White drivers to be arrested during a traffic stop (“Reality of Racial Profiling”). These findings demonstrate that police are more likely to target people of color than Whites and case studies have shown that this practice is counterproductive and a misallocation of law enforcement resources. For example, in Arizona although Black motorists were more likely than Whites to be stopped and searched, Whites who were searched were more likely to be carrying contraband (“Reality of Racial Profiling”). The case study in Arizona exemplifies a problem in the criminal justice system that must be addressed. Minority motorists are more likely than White motorists to be stopped and harassed by police based off the inherent belief that people of a minority race, ethnicity, or religion are more likely to engage in criminal or unlawful activity than…
Seemingly officers spend more time worrying about minorities than whites. Imaginably a young black male was observed driving by an officer in a nice vehicle going through a white neighborhood. The officer would probably find a reason to pull the driver which is called profiling. A lot of suspects are profiled because of prior history in the system, or stick out due to their environment. “For example, if someone who is obviously poor is frequently seen in a more affluent neighborhood, such a person may be profiled as someone with possible criminal intent” West Encyclopedia of Law (2005). This activity by law enforcement is unjust; sadly most of the officers believe they can do whatever they please. The citizens of the United States have certain rights to privacy; officers need to identify definite criminals making sure they are absolutely committing…
Racial profiling, over-policing and excess force are plaguing communities all over the country: Pennsylvania’s American Civil Liberties Union empowers Pennsylvanians with a new app designed to address law enforcement misconduct: The Mobile Justice PA app http://www.aclupa.org/education/mobile-justice-pa/ came about partly due to the instances in which Philadelphia police officers impeded or arrested citizens who were filming them.…
In the United States of America racial discrimination still exists to this day. Minorities in our country are not seen as equal people. When a person is deprived of their human rights it makes them feel degraded and troubled. In order to become a more civilized country, we must forget the color of our own skin and live with each other as one. In the article “Why Racial Profiling is a Bad Idea” by Tom Head, discusses the way cops pay more attention to those of minority races and how they usually find them guilty of crimes they didn’t commit. Even though many officers will deny their participation in this type of profiling, a lot use this tactic to pull over and arrest Minority races. The article “Racial Profiling Lives On” by Devon Carbado, Cheryl Harris and Kimberle Crenshaw, also displays examples of how racial profiling continues to this day. There are many ways cops can search/arrest African Americans or other Minorities for no reason and still keep from breaking the Fourth Amendment and the authors of “Racial Profiling Lives On” supports there claims with emotional examples that appeal to a pathological type of audience.…
Cited: Harris, D. (1999). "Driving While Black: Racial Profiling on Our Nation 's Highways." Retrieved October 10, 2010 from the American Civil Liberties Union database on the World Wide Web: http://www.ACLU.org.…
Some readers may challenge my view by asserting that police are here to protect world and that what they see as probable cause is good enough if their keeping criminals off the street. My response is this: Police officers may put criminals away and find justice but some may still do extra to help them which causes the innocent to be wrongfully accused. Some readers may also challenge my view by asserting that it’s not only white police officers that stop-and-frisk African Americans or even are considered to be racial profiling. My response is this: It’s not really about who is doing the racial profiling because it’s not about being racist. It’s about who wants the reward for the accomplishments as far as how many criminals they have caught at the end of the quarter. African Americans are just considered to be easier…
US District Court Judge, Shira Scheindlin, in Rich Calder’s article discusses how the NYPD has been systematically targeting minorities and violating their 14th amendment guarantees of due process and equal protection (NYPD’s stop-frisk policy violated rights: judge). It shows evidence that minorities are treated poorly in comparison to other races, which increases their animosity towards the police. By seeking out innocent minorities, it not only deprives them of their rights, but also relinquishes the purpose of the stop and frisk.…
Justice is said to be blind, at least that is what the Supreme Court says. But in many instances, it has caused others to think differently. The scale on which justice is weighed has been corrupted from the inside and has caused this great controversial issue to rise. That issue is racial profiling and its implementation in police investigations and court systems. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, racial profiling is defined as the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual’s race alone. It is something that has been used and is continuously used as a crutch for people to get their “so-called” justice they think they deserve. But many of these same people fail to understand that racial profiling is different from criminal profiling. Criminal profiling is defined as a reliance on a group of characteristics that they believe to be associated with a specific crime. Yes race is involved, but it is not the only factor contributed.…
Over the past several years, the use of race by law enforcement agencies in their policing activities has received considerable attention across the country. The controversy regarding "racial profiling" has centered on police departments' practices related to traffic stopsexamining whether police have targeted drivers based on their race or ethnicity. Significant anecdotal evidence has suggested that some departments may be treating drivers of some races or ethnicities differently than white drivers. Parties using multiple definitions have complicated the debate over racial profiling. Variation among these definitions means that interested parties are often discussing different types of police practices, behavior, and policies to implement into the law enforcement agencies. As such, proposals or senate bills to prohibit racial profiling would prevent a range of police activities depending on which definition was used. The fourth (unreasonable searches and seizures) and 14th (equal protection of the laws) amendments of the U.S. Constitution provide a framework for the protection of drivers from indiscriminately being targeted by the police in traffic stops. In moving to define and outlaw racial profiling practices, state legislatures have needed to consider whether they intend to (1) specifically ban police behavior, which is already unconstitutional under federal law, or (2) provide additional protections, which go beyond existing federal law.…
The volatile issues that surrounds “racial profiling” has led police agencies across the nation to start collecting information about traffic stops, especially for people of color. The controversy is supported by research that police officers may be racially biased in their decision making to stop someone. The article that was published in 2012 studies the consensus and conflict theories concerning racial disparities in the rate of police stops. The author suggested that both police deployment and race out of place arguments played a significant role in explaining the patterns of street stops, traffic stops, probable cause and consent searches.…
The judging of an individual’s character by their race did not become relevant because of the Rodney King beating, the attacks on the World Trade Center, or the illegal aliens crossing the Mexican border. Racial Discrimination has been a reoccurring issue for centuries. Throughout time, these judgments and discriminations have led to unwarranted searches, racial riots and unjust prosecutions. Racial Profiling not only adds to this overwhelming issue but is upheld by the U.S. government and prominent leaders. Racial profiling has caused divisions between black men and the police, negative effects on immigration and race relations, and false imprisonment, further proving that racial profiling is not defensible public policy.…