Racial Profiling

racial differeIn order to understand racial profiling, it must first be correctly defined. Although different authors use different criteria for the term racial profiling, Merriam-Webster's definition for the word racial is "of, relating to, or based on a race (Merriam-Webster, 2006; p.855)." The definition the dictionary puts forth for profiling is "the act of suspecting or targeting a person solely on the basis of observed characteristics or behavior (Merriam-Webster, 2006; p.830)." Based on these definitions, racial profiling could be defined for criminal justice purposes as targeting a person based solely on the characteristic of race. Most people, law enforcement officers included, would consider racial profiling based on this definition as ethically wrong. However, a case must be made for the use of profiling based on race in some circumstances.

Critics claim that racial profiling has no place within the justice system because it targets minorities who are not necessarily doing anything illegal. They argue that the evidence that shows that racial profiling as a successful tool in the law enforcement arsenal is skewed, and that those targeted are actually less likely to perform illegal acts than others who are not targeted, because those who are not are less likely to get caught, while those who are targeted are much more likely to be caught in an illegal act, so they will perform less illegal activity.

The evidence supporting racial profiling states that this argument is invalid because many illegal acts are cited as being done by minorities, specifically in terms of gang activity. Many people feel that racial profiling is ethically sound because in order to obtain a suspect, an officer must be looking for a person with certain characteristics. For example, it would be absurd for an officer to be looking for a young male that is tall, wearing a red shirt, black baseball cap, and jeans, who has brown eyes, and a goatee, without mentioning whether he is white or black, Asian or Hispanic. The description would be incomplete without race and could possibly describe many people who would be stopped for nothing other than fitting a vague description. However, it would also be outrageous to have officers look for a white man. This description is also much too vague to be valuable to officers.

Theories

Michael Boylan wrote in a special issue focusing on racial profiling in The Journal of Ethics. He argued that there are different kinds of racial profiling, and different scenarios in which it would be appropriate. His argument was that racial profiling can be done in an ethical manner when it is used as part of the investigative process, but that it cannot be done before determining whether or not a crime has been committed. Token analysis is the term Boylan used because it places the "emphasis on the individual", meaning that it does not target a wide range of people but rather a specific yet unnamed individual (Boylan, 2010; p.137). He argued that type analysis is ethically wrong because it focuses on the abstract (Boylan, 2010; p.137). Boylan recognized that racial profiling is a point of contention among advocates and critics. However, he believed that by putting a system in place where race is only discussed after it has been determined that a crime has been committed and evidence has been gathered and analyzed that racial profiling