NCJ Number
207429
Journal
Illinois Law Enforcement Executive Forum Dated: July 2001 Pages: 55-73
Editor(s)
Thomas J. Jurkanin Ph.D.
Date Published
July 2001
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the validity of data collection in examining, understanding, and solving racial profiling, as well as its impact on police discretion.
Abstract
Racial profiling is defined as officers choosing to target certain individuals for law enforcement and those individuals being chosen because of their race. When discussing racial profiling in law enforcement, the issue of police discretion must be examined. Police discretion is when officers have the power to stop some and not stop others, even when the same law violation occurs. This discretion causes certain individuals to be inevitably stopped more than others. These individuals may feel they are unfairly targeted by police officers causing officers to be under constant scrutiny in the area of police discretion. To address profiling, lawmakers across the country have passed measures dealing with racial profiling. Some State laws require law enforcement agencies to collect information on all traffic stops, such as race, gender, age, ethnicity, and probable cause for stop. Studies conducted on the collection of this information suggest that data collection is the best manner in which to tackle racial profiling. However, law enforcement officials are apprehensive about data collection and generally disagree with it. Officers need to have discretion in their duties. However, through data collection, some of this discretion is seen as being lost. In summary, the solution to racial profiling cannot be data collection alone. References