Racial profiling is defined as selecting someone for investigation on the basis of race or ethnicity. The practice has been the topic of intense public debate and the foundation for numerous lawsuits. Since 1999, several states have passed laws requiring the collection of data on the race, ethnicity, age, and gender of people detained for questioning to identify whether racial profiling is a problem.
Until recently, racial profiling applied mostly to the practice of pulling over young, black male drivers. Statistically, black males age 15 to 28 are responsible for roughly 20 percent of violent crime, so cops were not acting completely out of racial bias. A Drug Enforcement Agency interdiction program called Operation Pipeline has trained more than 25,000 police officers nationwide to stop people with certain physical characteristics under the pretext of safety or traffic violations to find illegal drugs in vehicles on interstates frequented by drug traffickers. And the practice has been effective in identifying many criminals. It's an effective strategy, but totters on the line between smart policing and discrimination. Fear of litigation and media criticism has some cops reluctant to rely on their instincts when deciding whether or not to stop a suspect. What is prudent police work to one person is racial profiling to another. In fact, the ACLU has recently erected billboards and an online complaint form to recruit plaintiffs for racial profiling lawsuits, leaving law enforcement even more hesitant to make stops.
Since Sept. 11, however, a new breed of racial profiling is making headlines: Flying While Arab. Arab Americans are complaining that they are being harassed by police because of their ethnic background, while authorities struggle to find a balance between racial profiling and reasonable security.
Civil rights leaders have reported numerous cases where Arab Americans were ordered off airplanes because they made other passengers nervous. Surveys and polls show support for the very practice critics of racial profiling have been opposing, saying that it is appropriate under the circumstances. A Los Angeles Times Poll said 68 percent of those polled approve of law enforcement randomly stopping people who may fit the profile of suspected terrorists. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll says that 58 percent of Americans support requiring all people of Arab descent to "undergo special, more intensive security checks before boarding airplanes in the U.S." The Detroit News, whose readership includes a large Arab-American population, found 59 percent of those polled would support law enforcement officials taking "extra precaution in delaying people of Arab descent who are flying"; 61 percent believe "extra questioning or inspections are justified."
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