Njsp Profiling Term paper

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NEW JERSEY STATE POLICE RACIAL PROFILING

SEAN SILVERS

PROF. ROMANO

11/6/00

Racial profiling is a law enforcement strategy that encourages police officers to stop and question African Americans simply because of their race. Although not raised as a major issue in the courtroom during the trial of the four police officers who shot Amadou Diallo (who were acquitted in February), racial profiling is often employed by police, officially and unofficially, and was likely a factor in the police shooting of Diallo.

Racial profiling took off during the highly publicized explosion of crack cocaine in inner-city neighborhoods in the 1980s, which bolstered the perception of drugs as a black problem -- even though statistics showed most cocaine users were white. Drug enforcement agencies began using racial profiling to "sweep" neighborhoods and in arresting disproportionate numbers of African Americans for drug related offenses.

A profile of potential drug users and sellers was developed to assist policemen in picking out and questioning likely offenders. These profiles continue to be used by law enforcement in combating crime.

Recent high profile cases and studies of racial profiling in New Jersey and Maryland prompted Congress to introduce the Traffic Stops Statistics Study Act of 1999, directing Attorney General Janet Reno to conduct a nationwide study of the race of drivers who are stopped by law enforcement. Congress is expected to vote on the bill later this year.

The current debate on racial profiling has been tied to allegations of police brutality and institutional racism. In response to one shooting of an unarmed black man by a police officer, video cameras were installed in police cruisers in Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland. A four-year investigation of alleged police brutality in Montgomery County by the Department of Justice resulted in demands that officers must ask drivers their age, sex and race, and then compile that data for regular reports as a way of monitoring future police behavior toward minority suspects.

The bad side of Racial profiling is that it is inherently biased in its basic assumption that blacks are more likely to commit crimes than other minorities or whites. This assumption has precipitated numerous, documented incidents of police brutality against minorities on New Jersey and Maryland roads, and is certain to have done the same elsewhere. When racial profiling is used as a tactic in law enforcement, law-abiding African Americans justly fear for their safety and freedom.

Racial profiling defeats its purpose by fueling mistrust and anger in black communities toward law enforcement because the policy encourages institutionalized racism in police forces nationwide.

Some believe that racial profiling makes statistical sense. African Americans commit a disproportionately high percentage of the crimes that draw the attention of the police. While some innocent people may face police stops because of racial profiling, it is a small price to pay for safe streets. Crime rates in the U.S. have decreased significantly over the last decade, in large part because racial profiling has become an important part of a more aggressive law enforcement policy.

There are some statistics that need to be examined while discussing racial profiling. Between 1992 and 1996, 58 percent of all car jackers were african american. African Americans only make up 12 percent of the population. African American make up 13 percent of the country’s drug users. 74 percent of all criminals sentenced to prison for drug possession are african american (Carrilli). It is human nature for a police officer to want to search a suspicious character. The statistics prove that blacks tend to be involved in more suspicious activity then many of the other races.

In 1998, Governor Christian Whitman fired Col. Carl William's from the position of Superintendent of the State Police for comments he had made on the issue of Racial profiling. In response...

Carrilli,Silvio, “Are Racial Profiles a Legitimate Tool for Law
Enforcement”, Speakout.com, April 20 2000.

Farmer, Jr., “New Jersey NAACP Lawsuit Settlement”, New Jersey Department of LAw and Public Safety, March 1 2000.

Wickman, DeWayne, “Governor Whitman’s Racial Profiling Flip is a Flop”, USA Today, July 21 2000. You should cite this paper as follows:

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