- Racial Profiling Issues - Literature review Example

Driving while Black (Literature Review) Table of Contents Contents Pages Introduction 3 2. Definition of Racial Profiling 3 3. Racial Profiling 4-5 4. Steps to counter DWB 6 5. Denial of DWB 7-8 6. Conclusion 8 7. Bibliography 9-10 Introduction DWB or Driving While Black (or brown) is the term motorists have coined for the racial profiling of drivers by the police, on the motorways of the American continent and UK. Racial profiling is a highly charged issue and has become a major political concern within the society. Literary debate ranges from articles and reports confirming and condemning the existence of racial profiling to others denying the widespread existence of institutionalized racial profiling. This paper focuses on the various literary documents published on this issue reviewing both sides of the debate. Definition of Racial Profiling Generally the term “racial profiling:” is seen to have two definitions narrow and broad definition. Racial profiling relates to the conduct of law enforcement officers in dealing with members of black and other minority groups for police inspection. In Minnesota House of Representatives Research Department: Racial Profiling Studies in Law Enforcement (http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/pubs/raceprof.pdf ) Jim Clearly states the two definitions of racial profiling as the narrow definition where “racial profiling occurs when a police officer stops, questions, arrests, and/or searches someone solely on the basis of the person’s race or ethnicity. Critics typically use this definition when condemning racial profiling, as do law enforcement agencies when denying the existence of racial profiling.” And the broad definition as “racial profiling occurs when a law enforcement officer uses race or ethnicity as one of several factors in deciding to stop, question, arrest, and/or search someone.” Racial Profiling Racial profiling is based on the supposition that members of certain racial groups are markedly more prone to be mixed up in criminal activities, especially drug related offenses. In view of the numerous allegations of racial profiling by the police many surveys have been commissioned and completed by the government. These reports unfailingly demonstrate the high incidence of racial profiling on the roads. In CBC NEWS INDEPTH: RACIAL PROFILING (2005, May 26) (http//:www.cbc.ca/news/background/racial_profiling/).the article reveals that “Studies of police statistics in Kingston, Ont., released in May 2005 found that young black and aboriginal men were more likely to be stopped than other groups. The data showed that police in the predominantly white city were 3.7 times more likely to stop a black as a Caucasian, and 1.4 times more likely to stop an aboriginal person than a white” In World Socialist Website: New Jersey internal records document widespread racial profiling of black and Hispanic motorists. (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/dec2000/race-d02.shtml.) Mazelis, states that a report was released by the state of New Jersey revealing that an organized policy of searching cars driven by blacks or Hispanics has been in force for at least a decade. The statistics confirm that ethnic drivers, consisting of 13 % of state motorists, accounted for over 80 % of those stopped by the police for checking. A 1999 memo from Deputy Attorney General Debra Stone reveals, “Racial profiling exists as part of the culture.” Stone reported that veteran troopers functioned as “coaches” in showing new troopers how to carry out racial profiling. “Trooper after trooper has testified that coaches taught them how to profile minorities,” Stone wrote. “The coaches also teach this to minority troopers.” (Mazelis, F. 2000) The AIUSA claims to have received multiple reports demonstrating that “Driving While Black or Brown” is still used as a foundation for criminal suspicion. They present many individual cases one of which is that of Milton Reynolds, an African-American schoolteacher described in Amnesty International USA: Testimony from Amnesty International USAs hearings on Racial Profiling Victims Accounts of Racial Profiling While Driving (http//:www.amnestyusa.org/us-human-rights/other/rp-while driving/page.do?id=1106662) All the above reports and individual cases make a strong case against the law enforcement agencies showing the officers to be guilty of racial profiling. In ‘Driving while Black’ and all other Traffic Offenses: The Supreme Court and Pretextual Traffic Stops.” The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, vol. 87 (2), 1997. David Harris says “The stopping of black drivers, just to see what officers can find, has become so common in some places that this practice has its own name: African Americans sometimes say they have been stopped for the offense of ‘driving while black’....I have heard this phrase often from clients I represented in Washington, D.C., and its surrounding Maryland counties; among many of them, it was the standard way of describing the common experience of constant stops and harassment of blacks by police....Profiling is not the work of a few ‘bad apples’ but a widespread, everyday phenomenon that will require systemic reform.” Steps to counter DWB Much legislation and court decrees have been passed and surveys have been conducted to address the problem of DWB or racial profiling on the streets .some success stories areas follows: RecentlyACLU reached a settlement for a federal lawsuit filed in 1998 on behalf of the Maryland NAACP and several individual plaintiffs charging that Maryland State Polices troopers were still involved racial profiling based on evidence gathered. In American Civil Liberties Union: Racial Justice: Racial Profiling Landmark Settlement Reached With Maryland State Police In "Driving While Black” Case (http://www.aclu.org/racialjustice/racialprofiling/index.html.)Gary Rodwell, vice president of the ACLU of Maryland says "More than twelve years after being wrongfully pulled over, harassed, and humiliated on I-95 in Maryland, I can finally tell my son that justice is possible when your rights have been violated in America," "This long chapter in our lives is over, but if this settlement prevents someone else from being targeted based on race, it was worth it." In New York Times: New Jersey Adopts Ban on Racial Profiling (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B05E6DC113EF937A25750C0A9659C8B63.) In a great step towards the banishing of racial profiling the General Assembly today passed a bill that will make such profiling carrying a punishment of five years in prison and a $15,000 fine. An analogous bill has already cleared the Senate. In Rhode Island news: The Providence Journal:Panel told police fail to end racial profiling (http://www.projo.com/news/content/RACIAL_PROFILING_HEARING_09-20-08_GIBLHT4_v8.1605e4d.html.)Norman G. Orodenker, chairman of the Rhode Island Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights says. “The problem of racial profiling is still going on,” “The question is, what do we do about it.” He said the committee will issue a report and probably recommend state legislation” (Landis, B.2008) Denial of DWB A common fear expressed by the dissenters in the debate over the phenomena of racial profiling is very well voiced in RAND : News & Events : Commentary : Measuring Racial Profiling by Police (http://www.rand.org/commentary/070604LEF.html.) by Jack Riley and Greg Ridgeway as follows “Racial profiling by police is a complex phenomenon that is extremely hard to measure. We all want complete answers on whether such profiling is taking place in communities, but we won’t get those answers from incomplete data. Unless we take the time to ask the right questions and get the right answers, the truth about how much racial profiling is really going on will remain unknown.” In Star Tribune: How not to address claims of racial profiling (http//:www.americanexperiment.org/news/op-eds/2001-03-14.php) Katherine Kersten says “Raw numbers are meaningless -- and can be very misleading -- unless we compare them to the appropriate statistical baseline. It would be misguided, for example, to conclude that Minnesota police are sexists, who unfairly target men, because men make up 95 percent of our states prison inmates, but only about 50 percent of its population.” In City Journal: The Racial Profiling Myth Debunked (http://www.city-journal.org/html/ 12_2_the_ racialprofiling.html.) Heather McDonald notes that arrests by state troopers have plummeted after the Whitman–Justice Department racial profiling pronouncement. Consequently, murder jumped 65 percent in Newark between 2000 and 2001. One thing did not alter after the much-hyped consent decree: the percentage of blacks stopped on the New Jersey turnpike for speeding persistently exceeded their ratio in the driving population. After a study on the speeding behavior on the turnpike requested by the New Jersey troopers accused of persistent racial profiling, it turned out that Black motorists speed twice as much as white motorists, and speed at higher levels even more. In fact only 23% Blacks are stopped. In reality the police stop blacks more for speeding as they speed more. DWB has nothing at all to do with it. In City Journal: The Racial Profiling Myth Debunked (http://www.city-journal.org/html/ 12_2_the_ racialprofiling.html.)Heather McDonald says “While racist cops undoubtedly do exist, and undoubtedly they are responsible for isolated instances of racial profiling, the evidence shows that systematic racial profiling by police does not exist.” Conclusion In order to solve the fundamental problems in the dispute over racial profiling, effort needs to be made to balance individual rights as well as community interests, and to fashion police tactics that are both successful in reducing crime and consistent with democratic ideology. Bibliography: 1 American Civil Liberties Union: Racial Justice: Racial Profiling. (n.d.). Retrieved Oct. 26, 2008, from http://www.aclu.org/racialjustice/racialprofiling/index.html. 2 Clearly, J. (n.d.). Minnesota House of Representatives Research Department. Retrieved Oct. 20, 2008, from www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/pubs/raceprof.pdf . 3 Donald, H. (2002). The Racial Profiling Myth Debunked. City Journal, Spring. Retrieved Oct. 26, 2008, from http://www.city-journal.org/html/ 12_2_the_ racialprofiling.html. 4 Ferdico, J., Fradella, H., & Totten, C. (2008). Criminal Procedure for the Criminal Justice Professional. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. 5 Harris ‘Driving while Black’ and all other Traffic Offenses: The Supreme Court and Pretextual Traffic Stops.” The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, vol. 87 (2), 1997. 6 INDEPTH: RACIAL PROFILING. (2005, May 26). Retrieved Oct. 23, 2008, from www.cbc.ca/news/background/racial_profiling/. 7 Kersten, K. (2001, March 14). How not to address claims of racial profiling. Retrieved Oct. 28, 2008, from www.americanexperiment.org/news/op-eds/2001-03-14.php . 8 Kocieniewski, D. (2003, March 14). New Jersey Adopts Ban on Racial Profiling - New York Times. Retrieved Oct. 26, 2008, from http://query.nytimes.com /gst/fullpage.html?res=9B05E6DC113EF937A25750C0A9659C8B63. 9 Landis, B. (2008, Sep. 20). Panel told police fail to end racial profiling | Rhode Island news | projo.com | The Providence Journal. Retrieved Oct. 26, 2008, from http://www.projo.com/news/content/RACIAL_PROFILING_HEARING_09-20-08_GIBLHT4_v8.1605e4d.html. 10 Mazelis, F. (2000, Oct. 2). New Jersey internal records document widespread racial profiling of black and Hispanic motorists. Retrieved Oct. 26, 2008, from http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/dec2000/race-d02.shtml. 11 Racial Profiling. (n.d.). Retrieved Oct. 22, 2008, from www.amnestyusa.org/us-human-rights/other/rp-while-driving/page.do?id=1106662 . 12 Riley, J., & Ridgeway, G. (n.d.). RAND | News & Events | Commentary | Measuring Racial Profiling by Police. Retrieved Oct. 26, 2008, from http://www.rand.org/commentary/070604LEF.html. Read More