Reply to the following discussion boards and support with references.

Discussion 1:

After reading Racial Profiling I came to a conclusion that there are no pros to it. In the world we live in today people are always profiled because of their race. I see it, hear it and read about it online all the time. I do not believe that protection of public safety is more important than the protection of an individual’s liberty. “Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, “racial profiling” has been extended to persons of Middle Eastern origin or descent.” Not all people who are of Middle Eastern descent are terrorist. For example, the Boston bombers were of Chechen origin. “The defendants produced evidence that the team stopped and searched minorities, particularly African Americans, almost 5 times more frequently than they did white drivers.” Why were African Americans pulled over more than white drivers? White drivers also carry contraband.

Reference:

Buerger, M. (2009). Racial profiling. In J. M. Miller 21st Century criminology: A reference handbook (pp. 741-749). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781412971997.n85

Discussion 2:

After reading chapter 85, Racial Profiling, discuss the pros and cons of the concept that public safety is more important than protecting an individual’s liberty. Under what conditions do (or would) you condone the subordination of individual rights for the security of the community?

In my perspective, they both should be of the same importance. Unfortunately, in public safety protection against individual liberty protection, one must be of higher importance. For this reason, I think the protection of public safety is of much importance than an individual’s liberty. One of the pros is racial profiling; someone could be good policing (MCDonald, 2003); for example, profiling has often been used to find rapists, criminals, and serial killers. Another pro is that it has led to more arrests, narrowing down the number of suspects. But the major pro in racial profiling and the protection of public safety in America has come from using this concept to prevent future terrorist attacks (Pabillare, 2012). However, the concept of public safety comes at the price of an individual’s liberty, and that is where the cons come into play. Racial profiling has led to majors individuals liberties violations. It has also led to racial trauma, unjust shootings, and arrests (PsychologyBenefits, 2020). It is an unfortunate fact that although not all Muslims are terrorists and not all minorities are criminals, most terrorists happen to be Muslim, and most criminals are part of minority groups (Pabillare, 2012).

On the other hand, when it regards the prosperity of the nation and the security of millions of innocent people all around the United States, in my opinion, I would condone the subordination of individual rights. For example, if there were a terrorist threat, I would most likely overlook racial profiling to prevent another 9/11 or Boston Marathon attack from happening. Aside from that, I am sure this might not sound like I deal for some, but sometimes racial profiling happens because of how a person approaches situations, clothing, language, and actions that might lead someone to be profiled. It does not necessarily have to be about race, but unfortunately, it has been led to believe that. Consequently, many people have suffered because of it, on both sides, the civilian and police force.

References

MCDonald, H. (2003, January 19 ). What Looks Like Profiling Might Be Good Policing. Retrieved from MI: https://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/what-look…

Pabillare, J. (2012, December 12 ). Pros of Racial Profiling. Retrieved from Prezi: https://prezi.com/dibapl6njxyk/pros-of-racial-prof…

PsychologyBenefits. (2020, December 2 ). Tag: racial profiling. Retrieved from Psychology Benefits Society: https://psychologybenefits.org/tag/racial-profilin…