The issue of racial profiling is very dominant in the law enforcement profiling. It is one of the common challenges that affect not only the American society but also other societies in the world. A perfect example of racial profiling is when police officers inappropriately use the criterion of race when making professional decisions. It also refers to a common practice of summoning an individual based essentially on their race at the expense of their character. However, racial profiling is not the only law enforcement profiling that has been recorded. In the United States, for instance, the drug-courier profile has been typically found of persons who engage in transporting illicit drugs. However, the controversy comes in the sense that there is the existence of a vacuum of a drug courier that is recognized nationally. In that sense there is inconsistent amalgam of personalities that ineluctably lead to stop a suspected person. To safeguard the members of public from uncalled for searches and seizures, the US Supreme Court held that a ready test to determine reasonableness was absent, apart from balancing the necessity to carry out a search that is against the invasion, to which the search involves. Later on, the Supreme Court added an exception citing that the seizure of suspected persons cold be carried on provided there was a probable cause for taking that step.
A good example of drug courier profiling is an incident that happened in the year 1983. The Drug Enforcement Agent seized a respondent after arriving at Honolulu International Airport. Upon a thorough check, the agents recovered cocaine that weighed 1063 grams in his luggage. Under the fourth amendment, the District Court found it right to stop the respondent upon reasonable suspicion, although the Court of Appeal overruled the conviction based on a two part test that assessed the viability of reasonable suspicion.
References
UNITED STATES v. SOKOLOW, 490 U.S. 1 (1989) , 87-1295 (The District Court April 3, 1989). Retrieved from FindLaw.
Withrow, B. (2006). Racial profiling: From rhetoric to reason. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
