Racial Profiling by Police

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Recommended: universal declaration of human rights article 3

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, categories all human beings as free. Article one identify all human beings as born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Article two states, Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. The act of racial profiling goes against our human rights. Racial profiling has been a controversial issue for a plethora amount of time in the United States of America.

According to the National Institute of Justice, racial profiling by law enforcement is defined as a practice that targets people for suspicion of crime based on their race, ethnicity, religion, or nation origin. Creating a profile about the kinds of people who commit certain types of crimes may lead officers to stereotype against a particular group and act according to the stereotype given to a specific ethnic group and applying it to everyone that may seem to be apart of that ethnic group rather than one specific person displaying one specific behavior. This paper, therefore, is designed to focus on law enforcement and racial profiling.

Many believe (myself included) the concept of selecting individuals by the color of their skin begin during slavery and segregation. D...

... middle of paper ...

...ave vowed to protect and serve.

Works Cited

Brown, J. K. (2013, November 22). In Miami Gardens, store video catches cops in the act. Miami Herald.

Freda, A., Mueller, G., & Laufer, W. (2013). Criminology (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Lopez, A. B. (1995). Origins of the Drug Courier Profile. Retrieved from Race, Racism, and the Law: http://racism.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=921:origins-of-the-drug2012&catid=130&Itemid=241

National Institue of Justice. (2013, January 10). Race, Trust, and Police Legitimacy. Retrieved from http://www.nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/legitimacy/traffic-stops.htm

Smothers, R. (1999). 2 New Jersey State Troopers Indicted in Turnpike Shooting. New York Times.

Taylor, P. N. (2003). A National Analysis of Racial Profiling and Factors Affecting the Likelihood of Traffic Stops for African Americans .

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