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Criminal vs. Racial Profiling

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Submitted By chynadoll420
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Racial profiling is not the same thing as criminal profiling. Racial profiling is any police-initiated action that relies on the race, ethnicity, or national orgin rather than the behavior of an individual or information that leads the police to a particular individual who has been identified as being. or having been, engaged in criminal activity. Criminal profiling is any police- initiated action that used the compilation of the background, physical, behavioral, and motivational characteristics for a type of perpretrator that lead the police. Racial profiling does not only violate constitutional rights, but is also ineffective if used in policing. The major reason to oppose racial profiling (aside from constitutional and moral grounds) is that it simply doesn’t work. Empirical studies show that when police use race or ethnic appearance as a factor in law enforcement, their effectiveness in apprehending criminals decreases. Even worse, it has often led to “accidental” deaths, such as the fatal shootings of African American and Latino men.
On the other hand, criminal profiling is effective when applied to policing. Profiling units examine criminal behaviour to discover the characteristics of the offender and the causes of their crimes. Profilers look at three areas of the criminal’s behaviour: verbal, physical, and sexual interaction with victims. To create a criminal profile, profilers consider statistics, basic psychological principles, crime scene behaviour, victimology, location, timing, and their own experience. Profilers will also look for any indication of violence, intelligence, or composure under stress.
Materials used by profiling units are dependent on the crime scene, but the most common information sought is the: Synopsis of the investigation, Relevant and any supplementary reports, Witness statements, Victimology, Maps, Photography and videos of

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