Racial Profiling in Policing: An Analysis of Law Enforcement Practices and Crime Reduction Effectiveness
Overview
This paper examines racial profiling practices within law enforcement, presenting two opposing arguments regarding their legitimacy and effectiveness. The author discusses whether racial profiling of African Americans by police officers constitutes a violation of constitutional principles while simultaneously analyzing whether such profiling practices effectively reduce crime rates or assist in suspect identification.
What this essay covers
- Introduction presenting the dual arguments surrounding racial profiling in policing
- Analysis of racial disparities in police enforcement between African Americans and white populations
- Discussion of the practical utility of racial profiling in suspect identification versus its crime reduction effectiveness
- References citing research from Kamalu, Delsol, Nadal, and Davidoff on police bias and racial profiling
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Racial Profiling in Policing
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Criminal Justice: Racial Profiling in Policing
Racial profiling has remained a topic of discussion in the justice sector, with different scholars putting forward a variety of opposing arguments. It can be argued in two ways that both make sense. The mandate of police officers is to maintain law and order using the country’s law and constitution. However, the police have been condemned mainly for profiling the black race while carrying out their constitutional mandate. The argument that arises is whether profiling has lowered the crime rate.
In his research, Kamalu (2016) says the US police officers have been hard on African Americans since time immemorial as opposed to how they handle the whites in case of a suspected criminal incident. It shows that the police officers assume that the dark race breaks the law more than the white race. Desol (2015) believes that the white race violates the laws even, but the police officers do not apply the law on most of them. They are left to get away with the crimes because police believe that the whites are clean and do not commit crimes as the blacks do. The profiling of dark people with the assumption that they are notorious in breaking the law does not lower the rate of crime.
Another viable argument is that racial profiling is helpful and assists police officers in tracking down suspects of a crime.