Ethnicity and the Police (Part II)

Monica Angulo

CJA/344

August 6, 2014
Instructor Name

Ethnicity and the Police

Racial profiling indicates the system law enforcement officials use to target people for suspicion of crime grounded on the person's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin. Criminal profiling, usually, as performed by police, is the deduction on a group of characteristics they consider to be connected with crime. An example of racial profiling is the use of race to conclude which motorists to stop for minor traffic violations (usually referred to as "driving while black” or “driving while brown"). The use of race to conclude which individuals to search for illegal paraphernalia is another example of racial profiling. This practice, however, can result contra productive, as highlighted in the following cases.
Racial Profiling Gone Wrong Poor judgment calls based on racial profiling have been made by law enforcement officials, where racism and discrimination has taken over violating individuals’ civil rights, creating friction with the community and the public.
NYC Cop Testifies to Targeting Young Black Men As hearings began to examine New York City’s stop and frisk policy, one police officer testified that he was instructed by superiors to target young Black men between the ages of 14 and 21. In 2011 alone, New York City police executed 685,724 stops as part of the stop and frisk policy. In total, they had carried out over 5 million traffic stops, and 85 percent of those stopped were black or Latino (Strasser, 2013). Officer Pedro Serrano, the testifying officer, presented a concealed recording he had attained of a conversation with his superior where he was instructed the race of people to target, although not that he should stop everyone of that race: Stop “the right people, the right time,