Abstract
The level of crime and violence in the society has increased significantly and many law enforcers have had to find a number of strategies to deal with the challenges of apprehending criminals. Racial profiling allows law enforcers to address the persistent national problems. Racial profiling is common in the society today as law enforcers and private citizens assess persons based on their racial, ethnic, religious and national origin. In many cases law enforcers often target person of color for humiliating and in many instances these targeted persons face the frightening experiences of being detained, interrogated, and searched because of their racial or ethnic backgrounds instead of their criminal activities. Although racial profiling is legal, law enforcers have abused the procedure as minority groups are not allowed to enjoy the opportunities that the majority groups may enjoy. There are a small number of empirical studies that address the issue of racial profiling in Florida. This study is designed to help persons to understand the various challenges that arises from racial profiling and the way in which racial profiling can impose on the rights of the citizen. In addition, the paper will address the effectiveness of racial profiling in Florida and the way in which law enforcers interact with the minority groups in the society.
Introduction
The Florida Police Department has faced a number of criticisms for their use of racial profiling in their investigations. The recent increase in the number of questionable police shootings and in particular the circumstances surrounding the case of Trayvon Martin has led to public outcries. The Florida Senate Judiciary Committee recently attempted to change the policies on the way law enforcers use racial profiling in their jobs. The law enforcers have often judged blacks and Hispanics as criminal offenders because of their race and previous encounters with persons of similar race. But, race should not be a determinant in the way minority groups are treated as each person is different and should be treated accordingly.
Problem Statement
Over the years, scholars have research on the importance and implementation of racial profiling in the society. But, there is not much related literature on the effectiveness of racial profiling in the State of Florida. In fact, there is a limit on the amount of literature that exists on the ways in which law enforcers interact with the minority groups in the society.
Purpose Statement
As such it was important to carry out a research of this nature. The main purpose of this research is to assess the importance of understanding the minority groups in the society and taking steps to use racial profiling in an effective and unbiased way against the minority groups in the society.
Literature Review
Racial profiling in the society is a cause for concern especially since a number of controversial police brutality cases have surfaced in the last decade. Citizens are calling for justice as there is concern with the reasons that law enforcer provide for the brutality that exists in the society against Blacks and Hispanics in particular. A common definition for racial profiling is that the procedure “refers to the targeting of particular individuals by law enforcement authorities based not on their behavior, but rather their personal characteristics” (What is racial Profiling, 2011). Recently, racial profiling has led to a number of questions n the use and effectiveness of its use in the modern society. Reports show that “the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) Operation Pipeline, which starting in 1984 trained 25,000 state and local police officers in 48 states to recognize, stop, and search potential drug couriers” (Tomaskovic-Devey & Warren, 2009) and was based on the racial background of the suspects.
But, in the 1990s, a number of civil rights organizations have questioned the police use of racial profiling and have concluded that the racial profiling of the minority groups has not led to any improvements or seizures of drugs in black groups than white groups (Tomaskovic-Devey & Warren, 2009). In fact, the author suggests that racial profiling is an ineffective methods employed by law enforcers violates the terms of equality under the Constitution (Tomaskovic-Devey & Warren, 2009).
Similarly, Julissa Catalan argues that “Blacks are more likely than others to be arrested in almost every city for almost every type of crime” (Catalan, 2014) and are at greater risk of arrests for both serious and minor crimes. In fact a number of studies have revealed that race is a major factor in the way police respond to crimes and criminal offenses (Racial Profiling and Traffic Stops, 2013) and the reality is that the public has become frustrated by this bias. With this in mind, the researcher realizes that there is a strong need for further research on the issue of racial profiling and its effects.
Operational Definitions
Racial Profiling
"Racial Profiling" reflects the “discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin” (Racial profiling 2016).
Research Method and Design
Participants
The participants in this research will be drawn from selected members of the university that the researcher attends and law enforcers who are attached to the Florida State Police Department. The participants in each category will be randomly selected from the database of each institution.
Survey
This study will develop instruments that will help to assess the way law enforcers use racial profiling to carry out their daily jobs and the effectiveness of racial profiling in law enforcement. In addition, the survey will attempt to look at the way persons perceive the use of racial profiling in apprehending suspects. The instrument will include the survey dimensions on
Demographics of the selected groups
service orientation in the police force
perceived support for police from the public
perceived support of the police organization and their use of racial profiling
seriousness of crime and the use of racial profiling to reduce crime
perceptions of treatment of minority groups,
alternatives to racial profiling
personal experiences relating to racial profiling
Procedure
Police Officers
The participants will be recruited from the police department database. The selected participants will meet and be briefed on the importance of the survey and asking for the complete participation in an anonymous survey based on the use of racial profiling and its effectiveness in crime. The researcher will elicit the help of the police chief to get approval and to access the department’s database. The survey will take approximately 45 minutes complete.
The students of the selected university are a part of the community and therefore they have experienced racial profiling or have interacted with those persons who have been victims of racial profiling. In addition, the students have prior knowledge of the aims of racial profiling and can give an honest response to the practical and theoretic use of racial profiling. The research will enlist the help of the Dean of Admission in getting access to the school’s database and randomly select every second person who attends the institution and who lives in the state of Florida. The selected sample will be pulled from the third period of a selected day and be brief on the aims of the research. The survey will take 45 minutes to complete.
Hypotheses and Research Questions
H1. Police officers abuse the use of racial profiling and target the minority groups.
H2. Police officers who use racial profiling will become biased in their perception of the
minority groups.
H3: Victims of racial profiling believe that the law enforcers are biased in their approach.
R1. How effective is racial profiling in apprehending suspects in the society?
R2. Does racial profiling allows for minority groups to be treated unfairly in the society?
R3. Does racial profiling affect the relationship between law enforcers and members of
the community.
Conclusion
The racial profiling has come under much scrutiny in the past as members of the society have questioned the fairness of the treatment of the minority groups in the society. Many persons believe that law enforcers in the State of Florida are biased and that they have abused their authority even as they profile suspects. The research will attempt to assess the effectiveness and fairness of racial profiling in the society from the perspectives of law enforcers and members of the community. It is hoped that the findings from the research will help future researches and persons who are interested in gaining new insight into the use of racial profiling in dealing with suspects in criminal cases.
Works Cited
Catalan, J., (2014) FBI Data: Racial Profiling Is Real and Ferguson Is Just the Tipping Point,
Retrieved from http://www.diversityinc.com/news/fbi-data-racial-profiling-real-ferguson-just-tipping-point/ 24 Mar 2016
Racial Profiling and Traffic Stops (2013) Office of Justice programs, National Institute of
Justice, Retrieved from http://www.nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/legitimacy/pages/traffic-stops.aspx 24 Mar 2016
Tomaskovic-Devey, D. & Warren, P., (2009) Explaining and eliminating racial profiling, Spring
2009, Retrieved from https://contexts.org/articles/explaining-and-eliminating-racial-profiling/ 24 Mar 2016
What Is Racial Profiling? http://www.civilrights.org/publications/reports/racial-
profiling2011/what-is-racial-profiling.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/
