NCJ Number
177471
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 26 Issue: 6 Dated: June 1999 Pages: 62-66
Date Published
1999
Length
5 pages
Annotation
"Racial profiling" refers to when a police officer stops a car simply because the driver is of a certain race. Educational efforts are needed to counter inaccurate public perceptions of police stops because racial profiling is becoming a more prominent issue in media headlines.
Abstract
The American Civil Liberties Union is against all pretext stops because of the chance that racism and racial profiling will be involved. In addition, racial profiling has created a crisis of confidence in law enforcement in certain communities and some police departments voluntarily collect data to determine if racial profiling is going on. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is against legislated data collection, however, because of the additional burden a system not designed by law enforcement may place on police operations. Nonetheless, data collection can be a powerful tool for law enforcement in terms of identifying the existence of racial profiling and eliminating the problem. The IACP recommends zero tolerance of racial profiling by police officers. 3 photographs