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Alyssa Bell

Professor Lamons-Raiford

English 001

30 July 2016

Research Paper: Police Racial Profiling

Not just one, but all lives matter. No matter if you are white, yellow, black, or an alien

from another planet, no one should assume and target any individual based on their appearance

or because of their profession. A hot and current topic in the media and news is the concern of

police racial profiling. Police racial profiling can be defined as, “The discriminatory practice by

law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's

race, ethnicity, religion or national origin” (ACLU 1). It has become a controversial subject and

has added to the many problems we face in the U.S. This controversy basically revolves around

the interaction between the country’s law enforcement and its black citizens. The American Civil

Liberties Union said, “Racial profiling is a longstanding and deeply troubling national problem

despite claims that the United States has entered a “post-racial era” (ACLU 1). Clearly many

members of the black community feel they have been targeted by the police force and demand

justice and equality, while at the same time the law enforcement community does not want this

issue to escalate and get out of control. Like any controversy, there are at least two sides to this

issue which involve different viewpoints. The more verbal of the black community have

expressed the idea that all cops are bad and should be punished for what they see as injustice. On

the other hand, police officers feel they have the duty to protect the community from the criminal

element. The issue of racial profiling is an important one because it doesn't appear to yet be
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resolved and leads to further division within our country. Historically, racial profiling has always

existed. A classic example was the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

However the current issued pits many in the Afro American community against the police, and

over the last 18 months seems to have taken on more significance. Police racial profiling is

commonly thought to be a continuation of America’s historical sense of racism. My intention is

to show that things are not as simple as they initially might seem. One simply cannot take the

meager evidence offered by news networks or both parties as the gospel truth. There is more to

be considered. Hopefully by doing so, the entire country can take a step closer to solving its race

relations problem.

Police inhumanities and skeptic actions have led many to feel a sense of mistrust towards

law enforcement. Several members of the black community have shown their discontent of cops

in a series of group gatherings such as protests, rallies, and more. The participants involved are

between law enforcement and many the ethnicity of African-American. Each side expresses their

speculations and do come in agreement. It is difficult to obtain an agreeable total number of

officers employed in the U.S., but some sources would estimate this claim from over a million to

about 800,000-900,000. Many of these officers have been targeted by protesters and retaliators,

because their actions have been condoned unjust and discriminatory towards certain ethnic

groups. All police officers have to go through a rigid and comprehensive screening process

simply to reach for hire. It is not like an officer just goes out and does whatever they want to do,

they are still required and expected to follow the same laws as everyone else. First officers must

pass a psychological examination, a physical examination, a thorough background check, and

several extensive oral exams. Out of the many applicants who apply, only a few in the bunch get
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to put on a uniform. Considering the protestants argument, many African-American personnel’s

questions the work of police officers. A number of African-Americans have seen all law

enforcements activities to be unconstitutional and have become very infuriated due to the lack of

equality among all citizens in the United States. The criminal system of this country was

purposely designed to provide a safe environment for the public and deter further criminal

behavior in the nation. Police agencies are a segment of the criminal justice system so officers do

not simply have the authority to act in any manner or way that they feel is perpetrated as

appropriate. There are always going to be two sides to every argument, as some people may

think that officers are using excessive force towards the public, or on the other hand if they are

conducting reasonable force. We may never know the true intentions.

There is always a starting point to which something commences. For the instance, the

fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri took place on the

night of August 9, 2014 which had sparked a whole new controversy between law enforcements

and angered African-American citizens. Within hours the African-American community erupted

with protests, claiming it was an unjustified shooting based on racial profiling. However the

Department of Justice Investigate Report was not completed until March of the following year.

How is it possible those early protests could have been based on actual facts? Should one be so

quick to judge? The act of one single officer ignited a whole fire among many crazed protesters.

Many of the opposers feel like they need to fight for their equality and want petitions to be

accustomed so that they can change the way how one is brought up in the future. From what I

have observed, it appears that the major contention of those who protest racial profiling is their

feeling that such is simply another extension and continued form of racism- making judgments
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and decisions solely based on one’s race. Several African-Americans perceive that they being

personally attacked because of their skin color and their stereotypical behaviors and want to be

seen as equivalent to anyone else that they are compared to. But in a coincidence to all of this, it

is possible that someone makes a mistake. Is it possible that a handful of the 800,000 to one

million police officers succumb to human frailties’’? Of course it is. As much as the public

would like every officer to be absolutely perfect, that is simply unrealistic thinking. Police

officers are humans and all humans make mistakes. That has always been the case and is likely

to always be. However considering the number of officers in this country, the number of stressful

situations they encounter daily, and the instantaneous decisions they must make, one has to find

it remarkable that the mistakes made are so minimal in number. This issue of racial profiling of

police officers, has escalated in a way to as it is getting out of control. As stated by a source,

“The United States has a history of racial profiling, and, in some cases, the incidents were

particularly egregious” (TheFreeDictionary 1). This problem has always been an issue going

back as far as slavery in the 1800s and racial prejudice in the area of major league baseball, i.e.

Jackie Robinson. Personally there is always going to be racism in the world, but we as citizens

are obligated to use our own wisdom and judgment to see the difference between right and

wrong.

So does racism still exist in America? Racism has existed in America every since the first

Europeans came ashore. One only needs to listen to the rhetoric of the Klu Klux Klan or the

white supremacist to know that it does. Does racial profiling exist in law enforcement? Probably,

to a minuscule extent, considering the total number of deputized officers nationwide. Is

protesting necessary? Maybe, if it raises the level of consciousness of law enforcement and leads
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to productive changes. However, violence and additional law violations have no place in a

protest. Such only gives the impression of unruly mob acting in anarchy. There is a chance racial

profiling will continue to exist as long as people are skeptical, fearful, and untrusting of others

whose appearance and actions are different than their own. Racial profiling has been seen all

around the world in many different time periods. Ranging all the way to when Hitler purposely

labeled many “inferior” races, later leading to the Holocaust, all the way to present day as an

individual would fear going out in public dismay that someone is going to harm their well-being

because of what they look like. Racism is present everywhere one may go. Racial profiling and

racism in all existence does differ from any time periods or places and its outcomes will not be

incompatible with to the odds we face today. I believe that this world is more diverse than it will

ever be and with these conflictions happening, it is leading this country to proceed in further

division. The secret to eliminating, or at least reducing, racism may well be development of

greater connection through living, working, and social arrangements among different races.

Closer proximity usually leads people to the realization that people have more in common than

they initially thought, and erases many of the stereotypes they previously held. When

considering where those initial stereotypes originated we should remember we are for the most

part a product of our environment. Many investigations have been in progress of condoning a

solution to this problem and examining the further effects of this issue on police racial profiling.

Recent investigators and researchers have proven that nearly everyone will agree that there is a

strong relationship between poverty and crime. There is just as strong relationship between

education and poverty. Thus should be no surprise that the majority of criminal activity is

committed by those experiencing poverty- all of which has little, if anything to do with racial
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profiling. Another factor that investigators emphasized on that had well come into play when

thinking of racial profiling is that of education. Over 31% of Hillsbourgh’s population obtained a

Bachelor’s Degree and over 26% received their Graduate Degree. Yet in East St. Louis over 23%

failed to obtain or complete high school. Only 8% received a Bachelor’s Degree and 3.3%

obtained a Graduate Degree. In relation to that idea, one may look at how minority populations

have been responsible for the majority of crimes committed. Based on this fact, it may appear

minorities are being profiled but rather misleading due to the factual numbers of percentages. For

instance, the city of Detroit, Michigan predominantly made up of African-Americans, proceed in

high crime rates of murders, burglaries, and more. Common sense would suggest that the

majority of police contacts would be with the prominent race of those cities. In this instance, a

police officer conducts a traffic stop, using the rule of reasonable cause, and the subject happens

to be African-American. Is this an indication or reason to believe the stop was the result of racial

profiling? It might simply be the result of where in the United States the action occurred. For

example, if the stop took place in East St. Louis, Missouri where African-Americans make up

97.41% of the population, there is an excellent chance the subject of the stop was going to be

African-American. On the other hand, if the traffic stop occurred in Hillsbourgh, California,

where Caucasians make up 65.5% of the city, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if the subject turned

out to be Caucasian. This doesn’t necessarily mean that racial profiling wasn’t a factor, but it

does mean that before one jumps to a conclusion, statistics might be an important issue to

consider. Recent studies have shown that, “African Americans now constitute nearly 1 million of

the total 2.3 million incarcerated population” (NAACP 1). Now why would this be? Typically

lower income communities, such as Detroit, tend to make up the majority of crime in the
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country, but unfortunately race is associated with lower income communities, why that is, is for a

separate discussion. Many investigators had emphasized their ideas towards these concentrations

because they wanted to inform readers about different factors that may well enough affect the

proposals of racial profiling. Many of my gathered information was centered in on the ideas of

certain individuals because of the accuracy on their material written, the reasonableness of the

source, and its detailed support of the authors assumptions, compared to other sources. So many

people view this issue in a different light, so it may be hard to narrow down your searches to the

right one. In relation to that idea, one may look at how minority populations have been

responsible for the majority of crimes committed.

Racial profiling of any sorts will always have existence in this world that we live in. This

will not be the last time in history that such an issue like this one will occur. There will still be

the same contestants involved in this issue and this problem will still be a very hot topic in the

future. There will still always be prejudice people and sometimes one cannot change the views

and thoughts of an individual. People today only assume and make assumptions based on what

they see or hear from rumored facts on news stations, broadcasts, and more. One should look at

the facts before making predictions. An old adage says, “One should withhold complete

judgment of another until he has walked in that other person’s shoes.” Thus it is admittedly

difficult, if not impossible, for me, as a young Caucasian female, having never been stopped by

the police, to authoritatively address the issue of racial profiling. My only information of the

subject comes from watching news broadcasts, reading newspaper accounts, researching

websites and historical books, and discussion with family members and friends. However,

despite my lack of personal experience, I feel my judgments and assessments of the subject are
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as accurate as accurate as anyone else’s with similar circumstances. Look at it this way. If one

bites into an apple and encounters a worm, should one believe and act on such belief that all

apples have worms? If one encounters an African-American committing a criminal offense,

should one believe and act on such belief that all African-Americans commit criminal offenses?

If one encounters a police officer engaging a suspect solely based on the suspect’s race, should

one believe and act on such belief that all police officers engage suspects solely based on the

suspect’s race? Of course not. Such thought, belief and behavior is totally irrational.

Overall all not everything is the way it may seem and I have proven that in order for one

to make conjectures, one must have simply evidence to back up their claim. I do not have an

answer to fix all problems but with the contributions from all, together we can take a step closer

to solving our race relations problem. Along that idea, I found something that stood out from the

rest. 99.9% of law enforcement officers criminally profile, rather than the suggested racial

profiling . If certain races are responsible for the majority of crimes, then it is easy to be misled

that law enforcement officers racially profile but rather the facts are in the numbers. Look at it on

a way in a police officer's’ head. Police officers are not trained to simply wound a person who

may be causing the officer or another individual harm, if someone is putting other lives at

danger, the officer is going to engage in injuring the offender to where no more harm to others is

occurring. In the instance of most of these police shootings, an officer has a very limited time to

react in a dangerous situation. Police officers put their lives on the line everyday just to make

sure that the community is safe and protected. There are many different types of cops, but none

should be intentionally targeted due to the actions of others. Not all African-Americans should

be presumed bad either because in the end, we are all human. One human is different compared
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to another human and not based upon race, ethnicities, and nationality more in the views of

one’s’ character. Violence and crime, however is not going to be the solutions to all answers. In a

conclusion to all, we should learn to accept and cherish what we have before it is gone. Not

knowing whether or not a police officer is going to return home to his/her family, is the sacrifice

and willingness that officers risk for the protection and service to complete strangers.
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Works Cited

"Criminal Justice Fact Sheet." ​NAACP​. Unknown, n.d. Web. 27 July 2016.

"Just How Dangerous Is Police Work? | The Agitator." ​The Agitator RSS​. The Agitator, 28 Dec.

2007. Web. 27 July 2016.

"Racial Profiling." ​American Civil Liberties Union​. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2016.

"Racial Profiling: Definition." ​American Civil Liberties Union​. Unknown, n.d. Web. 27 July

2016.

TNO Staff. "New FBI Crime Figures Confirm: Black Towns Most Dangerous, White Areas

Safest -." ​The New Observer​. Unknown, 04 Dec. 2014. Web. 27 July 2016.