Racial Profiling When Discussing Law Enforcement and Term Paper

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Racial Profiling

When discussing law enforcement and crime prevention, one inevitably hits up against a philosophical impasse -- the rights and freedoms of the individual are inherently at odds with the purpose of the government which has its interest in controlling their actions. As law enforcement becomes increasingly tough-minded, it is increasingly true that the rights of the innocent must be sacrificed along with the rights of the guilty. So those who are more interested in the law than in freedom will inevitably be at odds with those who are more interested in freedom than in the law -- as there is no way to logically determine which is more valuable, so there is no way to logically determine which deserves the greater protection. The issue of racial profiling is one which falls into this area of debate quite naturally. It is generally inspired not by rabid racism but is considered to be a legitimate way to enforce the laws which, because of institutional racism, takes on a very racist nature -- yet it can be defended on the behalf of the lawful. On the other hand, racial profiling and other "preventative" measures which are based on future rather than past crimes inherently punish the suspiciously innocent along with the guilty, and may be tyrannical.

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I do not support racial profiling, because while it may be effective in reducing some crimes, it does so only by violating the rights of the innocent and contributing to the institution of racism. Though racial profiles do give law enforcement an excuse to ferret out crimes otherwise invisible, their limited scope creates a mythology of Caucasian innocence which leads to a lack of crime prevention among white people, while simultaneously encouraging mistrust and certain forms of lawlessness among minorities. "[Racial profiles] capture some who are guilty but at an unacceptably high societal cost. The practice undermines public confidence in law enforcement, erodes the legitimacy of the criminal justice system, and makes police work that much more difficult and dangerous." (Harris) Yet while racial profiling may be destructive both to individuals and to the system, there is still a degree to which it makes law enforcement easier -- and this is the degree to which it is dangerous......

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