The Pros and Cons of Profiling by Law Enforcement

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Introduction

With the society that most individuals are offered today, the world of crime has been constantly transforming. This can influence the typical individual to question if there are too many laws that one should follow, including the penalties that are to be expected. The word crime can insinuate many thoughts of apprehension, segregation, and security when applying the law in accordance to criminal acts being prosecuted. In order for penalties to apply to a particular individual, law enforcement must first be able to track and identify suspects of various crimes. Numerous approaches can be offered for this process, but profiling is a common tactic that has aided law enforcement in seeking justice for both suspects and victims. Although viewed negatively at times, law enforcement profiling is an effective tool for police officers that should not be abandoned due to infrequent and negligible invasions into an innocent person’s personal privacy. Suspect profiling has diverse backgrounds, intentions, and classifications that are demonstrated in various forms and allows law enforcement to evaluate and distinguish any probable evidence. With the following paragraphs I will provide detailed information on what ‘profiling suspects’ means in a law enforcement setting, the pros and cons of profiling, and the reasons why profiling should be used in law enforcement.

Profiling Possible Suspects

Although there have been many proposals offered to the logic behind criminals and how they act, the significance of profiling possible suspects are stressed upon by law enforcement in order to achieve and maintain a way to justify the means. Profiling any possible suspects clearly demonstrates that numerous types of individuals follow oth...

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...critical facts would be deemed as irrelevant.

References

Alison, L., Bennell, C., Mokros, A., Ormerod, D. (2002) The Personality Paradox in

Offender Profiling: A Theoretical Review of the Processes Involved in Deriving Background Characteristics from Crime Scene Actions. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/1101296/The_Personality_Paradox_in_Offender_Profiling

Ford, R.E. (2013). Nature of Crime. Retrieved from

http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~cjreg/NCbiological.htm

Kotake, J. (2001). Psychology and Criminal Profiling. Retrieved from

http://www.bxscience.edu/publications/forensics/articles/psychologicalprofiles/r-psyc04.htm

Young, T.M. (2006). Profiling Pros and Cons: An Evaluation of Contemporary Criminal

Profiling Methods. Retrieved from http://iris.lib.neu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=honors_projects

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