Final Research Project
moss.t
racial_profiling.docxRunning head: Annotated Bibliography.
Annotated Bibliography.
Racial Profiling
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Racial Profiling.
Racial profiling refers to the common practice of police officials or individuals in a position of authority using positions of race, religion, ethnicity or national origin of a person to group him/her into a certain category of criminals or criminal activities. This could involve acts of searching people of a specific race for illegal contrabands without probable cause or even stopping people of a specific race when driving to check for violations in traffic rules among others. This kind of criminal profiling based on a person’s race or ethnicity has been so rampant despite the numerous attempts by the government to squash them. For some reason, police officials, especially those not of color, are instinctively suspicious of these individuals of different races or ethnic backgrounds hence subjecting them to unduly procedural searches. These practices are in direct violation of these individual’s rights as they put them in an expressly awkward and embarrassing position that could also lead to potential losses both in reputation and in their daily businesses.
The adverse implications of racial profiling on the people, has led to potential damages and unprecedented catastrophes and needs to be looked at keenly to establish the root cause and solutions to the problem.
Alpert G., Dunham R. & Smith M. (2007). Investigating Racial Profiling by the Miami-Dade Police Department: A multi-method Approach. Retrieved on 7th December 2015, from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-9133.2007.00420.x/abstract
Geoffrey Alpert, Roger Dunham and Michael Smith are all authors who have identified the potential problem in the perception and existence of racial profiling in the policing department where law enforcement officials have acted in complete disregard of the individual human rights that they violate when they engage in such practices. They have also pointed out five possible solutions that are aimed in eliminating this problem.
This article is relevant to my paper as it depicts the solutions that could be used to eradicate this pressing issue.
Meehan A. & Ponder M. (2006). Race and Place: The Ecology of Racial Profiling African American Motorists. Retrieved on 7th December 2015, from
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07418820200095291
Michael Ponder and Albert Meehan propose an ecological dimension to racial profiling through the comparison of the distribution of drivers on the roads to the officers present for proactive surveillance in the predominantly white suburban community which borders the also predominant African America societies. They depict an environment of residential segregation where the white areas are subject to less surveillance as compared to the African American inhabited areas. They also show that the African American people who drive by white areas are also subject to several police stops on account of checking for potential illegal activities that they may be conducting around these neighborhoods.
Their research provides prove to my claims of the issue being rampant in the American law enforcement agencies. It clearly shows the level of discomfort that members of different races are subjected to in relation to racial profiling which is the thesis statement for my final research paper.
Ramirez D., Farrell A. & McDevitt J. (2000). A Resource Guide on Racial Profiling Data Collection Systems: Promising Practices and Lessons Learned. Retrieved on 7th December 2015, from
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=2001598
Deborah Ramirez, Amy Farrell and John McDevitt also show the different data collection systems that can be used in utilizing the practical information and the data analysis models so as to provide an overall overview of the accounts of criminal activities, the manner of arrest of the suspects and the validation of these suspects in finding the actual culprits. Even though the guide might not be comprehensive or thorough, it clearly shows that racial profiling is imminent and needs to be addressed abruptly for the equality of all American citizens.
This guide offers a data collection method that could be useful during information gathering of my final research paper about the adversity of racial profiling all over America.
Russell K. (2001). RACIAL PROFILING: A STATUS REPORT OF THE LEGAL, LEGISLATIVE AND EMPIRICAL LITERATURE. Retrieved on 7th December 2015, from
http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/rrace3&div=9&id=&page
in Katheryn Russell’s book about racial profiling, she points out hoe the issue has been very adamant and the attention that it has attracted on a national level. She further points out that it racial profiling has been a pertinent issue for quite some time now having made little progress on account of lack of better methods of handling the issue. She clealy depicts the ignorance of some law enforcement officers who simply dismiss the matter as good policing or debate that the issue occurs infrequently.
This resource will be used to support my claim that the government is doing very little in trying to suppress and even repress the matter completely.
Smith M. & Petrocelli M. (2015). Racial Profiling? A Multivariate Analysis of Police Traffic Stop Data. Retrieved on 7th December 2015, from
http://pqx.sagepub.com/content/4/1/4.short
Michael Smith and Mathew Petrocelli further point out that very little has been done in terms of research on the matter to curb the problem of racial profiling. In their article on the multivariate analysis of police traffic stop data, they show without a doubt very little empirical research has been done to try and show the impact of law enforcement officer’s disproportionate actions on the minority drivers who happen to mostly be people of color.
This research also helps cement my claims towards the pertinence of the matter and how it has conveniently inconvenienced these minority groups in the society.
Summary.
All in all, the issue of racial profiling has become a menace and has also been greatly ignored to the disadvantage of the minority group that needs to be given equal respect and preferences as the rest of the citizens hence we need to find relevant solutions so as to solve this embarrassing issue once and for all. A lot of resources need to be allocated towards the research of this field in order to solve the pertinent issue and view it as a thing of the past that can be laughed about, not an aching subject that discriminates and disadvantages the minority in the society.
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