NCJ Number
136659
Journal
Law and Psychology Review Volume: 15 Dated: (Spring 1991) Pages: 331-350
Date Published
1991
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This analysis identifies objections to the use of drug courier profiles, reviews the judicial response to drug courier profiles, and suggests an approach to prevent the subjective application of the profile criteria by agents in the field.
Abstract
The use of drug courier profiles is objectionable for two reasons: the Supreme Court has failed to provide any guidance as to which or how many of the profile characteristics are required to justify a stop and many of the profile characteristics appear to be based only upon stereotypes of what a drug criminal is supposed to look like or how a drug courier is supposed to act. To resolve this issue, the Court should combine options instituted by the Federal courts. These include the administrative codification of the profile criteria to provide guidance to the agents in the field and to the courts as to which characteristics may be considered and the requirement that at least one fact illustrative of ongoing criminal activity be present to satisfy the reasonable suspicion standard and that probabilistic facts, such as profile characteristics, be considered only if other evidence of an ongoing criminal activity exists. 162 footnotes