Racial Profiling

Imagine driving home with your family, after enjoying a nice night out of dinner and a movie. All of a sudden you see flashing lights and are being pulled over by a police officer. Your children are asking what’s wrong and why you are pulling over, and you are wondering the same thing. As if being pulled over was not enough, you are then pulled out at gunpoint in front of your crying children and detained for about 30 minutes. Eventually, the officer tells you to go about your way, without offering an apology or valid reason for pulling you over. As you sit by the roadside, in shock and utter disbelief about what just occurred, you feel totally violated and wonder if you are all alone with your feelings. Unfortunately, you are not because everyday countless others will experience some form of racial profiling, and many Americans do not have to imagine being in this type of situation, because it has been there reality for quite some time. Americans are being subjected to racial profiling by local law enforcement agencies, security guards, airport security and the federal government at alarming rates. In 2005, The Department of Justice released a report that documenting the disparity in regards to racial profiling by law enforcement. That report showed that African Americans and Latinos were 3 times more likely than Caucasians to experience force or threat during a police stop, and were also about 3 times more likely to be searched during a stop as reported on a fact sheet posted by the National Association the Advancement of Colored People (http://www.naacp.org/advocacy/research/facts/Criminal.Justice.9.07.pdf). In April of 2008, the ACLU of Arizona issued a report, based on Department of Public Safety (DPS) data, which showed that Minorities were usually stopped for longer periods of time than Caucasians and also 2.5 more times likely to be searched after being stopped by DPS, even though they were less likely to be found with contraband (ACLU of

References: ACLU of Arizona, Driving While Black or Brown 3 (2008), available at http://www.acluaz.org/ DrivingWhileBlackorBrown.pdf. Lacey, Michaels. (2009, March 19) Are Your Papers in Order? Phoenix New Times.  Retrieved September 17, 2009, from ProQuest. (Document ID: 1663646261) NAACP, African American Criminal Justice Fact Sheet 2 (2007), available at http://www.naacp.org/advocacy/research/facts/Criminal.Justice.9.07.pdf “Operation Wetback.” Encyclopedia of Immigration and Migration in the American West, 2009. SAGE Publications. Retrieved September 17, 2009. http://sage-ereference.com/immigration/Article_n231.html>. Racial profiling. (n.d.). Dictionary.com 's 21st Century Lexicon. Retrieved September 29, 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/racial profiling