Racial profiling is the discriminatory practice of law enforcement personnel identifying persons for unlawful suspicion based on their race, religion, or national or ethnic origin. As conducted by investigators, racial profiling is dependent on a set of qualities that authorities believe are related to crime. Consequently, a representative of any racial background who serves in a law enforcement agency can utilize their biases to perform racial profiling.
The legal beginnings of profiling may be traced back to terrorist groups and narcotics transportation profiles produced by federal security agencies and communicated to local and state police organizations. Most of today’s racial profiling can be ascribed to a less formalized reason, implying stereotyping (United Nations, 2019). Stereotypes are ideas about the qualities of people who belong to social groups characterized by various factors and racial, religious, or ethnic backgrounds.
Nowadays, the stereotypes that are believed to underpin much racial profiling are mainly addressed. The concept focuses on the fact that many perceive stereotyping as typical human reasoning. However, it is emphasized that it contributes to unwanted, biased judgments and decisions. The challenges created by using collective prejudices to derive conclusions about individuals are highlighted (United Nations, 2019). The fact that few stereotypes created by law enforcement agencies can contribute to the more significant levels of racism and discrimination in this sphere.
Governments must enact official restrictions on racial profiling. State statutes, standards of conduct, or operating procedures for police may all contain such limitations. Legal structures that ban race prejudice and may apply to the act of racial profiling are the most necessary. For example, the Dutch government created norms for selecting people and vehicles while conducting inspections, based on guidelines combating racism and discrimination (United Nations, 2019). Another method of promoting awareness is through the retraining of law enforcement personnel (United Nations, 2019). Many countries, including Australia, Guatemala, and Nigeria, provide civil rights and anti-discrimination training.
Hence, racial profiling is a discriminatory practice that implies judging an individual by their religious, racial, or ethnic background to determine their involvement in unlawful actions. While this procedure is illegal in many countries, prejudices and stereotypes still permeate law enforcement agencies. Among the most effective methods of combating such a process is training police personnel and instilling regulations that will prohibit such approaches to investigations.
Reference
United Nations. (2019). Preventing and countering racial profiling of people of African descent: Good practices and challenges. United Nations.