Racial Profiling: Problem or Solution

1793 Words4 Pages

Everyday people are pulled over for speeding, and broken tail lights, but does it become an issue when law enforcement start pulling people over for no reason. Racial Profiling, while sometimes used inappropriately, can sometimes be a good thing because it can help cut down on illegal immigrants, drug trafficking, and help prevent terrorism. Many issues arise regarding legal immigrants and non-legal immigrants in quiet neighborhoods nationwide. Racial profiling has been increasing for many years, from the 1500’s up to present time.

Debora Kops defines racial profiling in two ways; a narrow definition and a broad definition. Narrow definition describes stopping and searching based solely on race itself, while the broad definition not only includes race, but takes into account age, location of neighborhood, type of clothing worn, and type of vehicle, and time of day (9). When people talk of racial profiling, they only use the narrow definition; this is an incorrect definition of what racial profiling actually is. In the 1970’s, the first method of profiling was put to use in locating drug traffickers (Kops 32-35). Come the mid-1980, the government and the drug enforcement agency (DEA) started Operation Pipeline (Kops 37). Operation Pipeline is described as “An intelligence-based assessment of the method by which drug networks transported bulk drugs to drug markets” (“Data Collection” 1). Law enforcement were trained to apply a specific profile, looking for evidence of concealment in a vehicle, fast point to point driving, age and race (“Data Collection” 1). In 1988, the New Jersey police were investigated by the United States Department of Justice. During this investigation, much awareness rouse to the public defining racial prof...

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...mnesty. The Truth About Racial Profling: FIVE FACTS. 29 March 2011 .

5. Issue, At. Racial Profiling. Ed. Helen Cothran. San Diego: Thomans Gale, 2006.

6. Kops, Debora. Open for Debate: Racial Profiling. Tarrytown: Marshall Cavendish, 2007.

7. Little, Cheryl. "The War on Immigrants: Stories from the Front Lines." Summer 2008. Americas Quarterly. 29 March 2001 .

8. University, Northeastern. "B." June 2001. Racial Profiling Data Collection Resource Center at Northeastern University. 29 March 2011 .

9. Wms, Vil. Profiling in the United States: Used by Law Enforcement and More. 8 June 2008. 14 April 2011 .

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