Racial profiling is illegal in many countries, but it still exists. False assumptions about race or ethnicity can lead to innocent people being suspected of crimes. Racial identity should not be a factor in criminal investigations, although some argue that it can help narrow investigations.
Racial profiling is the consideration of race in the early stages of criminal investigations. If a member of a race is considered more likely to engage in criminal behavior because of his race than he is, he may more often be suspected of committing crimes, even when no evidence exists to justify this assumption. One of the more common instances of racial profiling in places like the United States is the term “driving black” or DWB. In this case, a person of African American descent may be subject to more thorough scrutiny by police officers based solely on race. Innocent people who are stopped by cops, for no other reason than because they are black, are said to have committed the “DWB crime.”
In many countries, racial profiling is illegal. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. There are numerous instances where people of certain racial or ethnic groups are automatically suspected of crimes based on race. Unfortunately, racial profiling often contains false assumptions about people’s race or ethnic group. One might assume that African Americans are more likely to be drug users, which to a police officer might warrant arresting more black drivers. In reality, this assumption is false, and there are far more Caucasian drug addicts than African Americans.
Another assumption aimed at certain ethnic groups includes fears that Arab Americans are more likely to be terrorists. Since 9/9, growing fear of another terrorist attack has led some officials and law enforcement organizations to use ethnic Arabs to rule on the possibility that someone could be a terrorist. The fact that most Arab Americans are not terrorists makes this type of racial profiling suspicious.
The problem with racial profiling as a whole is that even though a racial or ethnic group is more likely to be involved in certain crimes, most justice systems are based on the rights of the individual. An individual cannot be considered a suspect simply because of race or ethnicity, and the legal system in places like the United States depends on the collection of evidence to convict someone of a crime. Racial or ethnic identity is not evidence of criminal behavior and should not be considered a factor in those who are suspected of crimes. Some believe that racial profiling is simply an extension of the older racist and ethnocentric behavior that exists in law enforcement and justice agencies.
There are some people who argue that some types of racial profiling make sense. When detectives try to find a person who is suspected of a crime, they may try to identify that person’s race to narrow the investigation. Serial killers, for example, are predominantly Caucasian males, and knowing this could help eliminate suspects. On the other hand, attachment to any racial stereotype can eliminate suspects who are not “typically” suspected of certain crimes. This could lead to investigating the wrong people or excluding people who have committed crimes but don’t fit the stereotypes.
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