Police Stop and Frisk Lead to Racial Profiling

Introduction

There are several concerns regarding the issues of racial profiling in the United States being associated with the "stop-and-frisk" searches executed by the local law enforcement authorities and the federal department of the country. The constitution of the United States prohibits random “stop-and-frisk” activates of the law enforcers without prior permission or valid reason; however, the law enforcement officials are often engaged in these activities. Due to the stop-and-frisk attempts increased by the law enforcement departments, the immigrants and the residents of the United States have started considering it as an act of racial profiling. Nonetheless, the law enforcement authorities disregard these statements asserting that the stop-and-frisk acts performed by the law enforcement are to ensure the safety of the country and its residents.

In the activity named as stop-and-frisk search, the law enforcement officials stop the resident or the immigrant in the United States due to the possibility of him carrying a weapon. In order to assure this probability, they are authorized to stop and search an individual and the vehicle if he is driving any. The stop-and-frisk activity is to ensure the minimal criminal activities in the country as the law enforcement personnel are authorized to stop and search the criminal suspects; nonetheless, these activities are repeatedly executed by the law enforcement on the civilians of the country. Due to this reason stop-and-frisk activities are strongly condemned by the immigrants and Hispanic ethnicities living in the United States as they consider it an act of racial profiling.

Racial Profiling in the United States

The use of profiling by law enforcement officials has received increased attention in recent years. Partly as a result of its representation in books, movies and on television shows, and partly because of a series of high-profile cases, criminal profiling has become familiar to many people. As its visibility has grown, however, profiling has come under attack from those who say that it is too inexact or open to abuse. Profiling based on race has become particularly controversial (Free, 108). Profiling is most often employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) along with the local police officials, and tends to be used in cases involving serial criminals, particularly rapists and murderers. Many observers, however, disagree over its effectiveness.

Opponents of profiling say that it can lead an investigation in the wrong direction. By concentrating on one type of suspect too early in the investigation, they argue, authorities can overlook valuable leads. In addition, profiling is often inaccurate because it gathers data only from criminals who have been captured. Critics say there is little evidence to prove that profiling is an effective way of identifying or capturing suspects. They point to highly publicized profiles that have turned out to be inaccurate (Free, 111). However, criminals tend to be apprehended by more conventional investigative techniques. Supporters of profiling, on the other hand, argue that it tends to be misunderstood by the media and the public.

Profiling is simply an investigative tool, they say, that is ...