The author argues logic against political correctness.
Quote:
Last week, the Obama administration announced new curbs on racial profiling by federal law enforcement. Before deciding whether this is good or bad policy, we might try to develop a description/definition of racial profiling or any other kind of profiling.
A good definition of profiling in general is the use of an easily observed physical characteristic as a guess for some other, difficult-to-observe characteristic. The reason people profile is that information is costly and they seek methods to economize on information costs. One way to do that is through profiling.
Imagine a chief of police in a city where there has been a rash of automobile hubcap thefts and he’s trying to capture the culprits. Should he have his officers stake out and investigate residents of senior citizen homes? What about spending resources investigating men and women 40 or older? I would imagine that he would have greater success in capturing the culprits by focusing most of his resources on younger people — and particularly on young men. Doing so would more likely lead to the capture of the culprits because hubcap theft is a young man’s game. My question to you is whether you’d bring charges against the police chief because he used age and sex profiling — and didn’t investigate seniors and middle-aged adults.
Some years ago, a Washington, D.C., taxicab commissioner, who is black, issued a safety advisory urging D.C.’s 6,800 predominantly black cabbies to refuse to pick up “dangerous looking” passengers. Cabbies in D.C. and other cities often bypass black males for fear of robbery or of being taken to an unsafe neighborhood. We seriously misunderstand the motives of a taxi driver who racially profiles and passes up a black customer if we use racism as the sole explanation for his behavior.
The reality is that race and other behavioral characteristics are correlated, including criminal behavior. That fact does not dispel the insult, embarrassment, anger and hurt a law-abiding black person might feel when being stopped by police, being watched in stores, being passed up by taxi drivers, standing at traffic lights and hearing car door locks activated, or being refused delivery by merchants who fear for their safety in his neighborhood.
It is easy to direct one’s anger at the taxi driver or the merchant. However, the behavior of taxi drivers and owners of pizza restaurants cannot be explained by a dislike of dollars from black hands. A better explanation is they might fear for their lives. The true villains, to whom anger should be directed, are the tiny percentage of people in the black community who prey on both blacks and whites and have made black synonymous with crime.
It depends how you define profiling. If you are talking law enforcement: profiling to narrow down a suspect for a crime that has been committed with few leads is not only ok, but necessary. Pulling someone over that has done nothing because they are black and driving through an upscale area or white and driving through the "hood" is not ok. Cab companies running a private business should be able to refuse service to whomever they want.
(12-17-2014 08:04 AM)EverRespect Wrote: It depends how you define profiling. If you are talking law enforcement: profiling to narrow down a suspect for a crime that has been committed with few leads is not only ok, but necessary. Pulling someone over that has done nothing because they are black and driving through an upscale area or white and driving through the "hood" is not ok. Cab companies running a private business should be able to refuse service to whomever they want.
Humans profile ALL THE TIME as a defense mechanism in an attempt to make sure "their person" remains safe. It is a safety mechanism the human race has developed over time that has helped assure the continuation of the species. We do it based on previous knowledge learned that certain situations, animals, and yes - people - can lead to an unsafe environment. We as a people are being foolish to ignore it.
With that said, what we have to do is profile in a controlled fashion and not just assume that ALL of a particular group are members of an "undesirable" group - and - it would not be right to violate someone's civil rights with our profiling. There does need to be "rules of profiling" that government employees need to follow.
However, to ignore that someone that can't speak English might be an illegal alien or that someone that speaks and appears to be from the Middle East and is just getting off the plane is just a fool's game of political correctness that will eventually bite us in the a$$.
(12-17-2014 11:21 AM)Fitbud Wrote: I think profiling is just lazy police work. If you don't have the work ethic to properly investigate then you have no business wearing a badge.
Easy to say if one isn't a police officer. I have no idea what those folks go through each day. Whatever helps them survive each day the better.
Criminals use profiling all the time when staking out potential victims. They go after Women, Elderly or Solo people that They can rob, rape or assult and have a quick getaway. They wont go after a youthful large male unless They are a group of Thugs and know They can easily over power Him. They won't go after someone whom might appear to be Armed either unless They shoot Him first.
(12-17-2014 11:21 AM)Fitbud Wrote: I think profiling is just lazy police work. If you don't have the work ethic to properly investigate then you have no business wearing a badge.
The fact is that you do forms of profiling every day in your job as a teacher. I'm not saying it's illegal or even wrong that you do it.
For example, you're a hall monitor at lunchtime, you see a group of boys congregating together - the "profiling" thought goes through your head, "Ah - looks like something's up over there", and you go over to check it out and quite possibly "break-up" the group. You have profiled - without any proof of any wrongdoing I might add.
To suggest that humans don't profile all the time is just kidding yourself. The trick is to do it and not infringe on people's rights in the process.
Policemen going over to "check-out" a congregation of dudes on a street corner is a form of profiling - what happens after he goes over to "investigate" will determine if he has messed with someone's rights.
(12-17-2014 11:21 AM)Fitbud Wrote: I think profiling is just lazy police work. If you don't have the work ethic to properly investigate then you have no business wearing a badge.
You can't assume everyone is a suspect. Then nothing would ever get solved.
(12-17-2014 11:21 AM)Fitbud Wrote: I think profiling is just lazy police work. If you don't have the work ethic to properly investigate then you have no business wearing a badge.
You can't assume everyone is a suspect. Then nothing would ever get solved.
............and you'd do no more than chase your tail all day every day.
(12-17-2014 11:21 AM)Fitbud Wrote: I think profiling is just lazy police work. If you don't have the work ethic to properly investigate then you have no business wearing a badge.
The fact is that you do forms of profiling every day in your job as a teacher. I'm not saying it's illegal or even wrong that you do it.
For example, you're a hall monitor at lunchtime, you see a group of boys congregating together - the "profiling" thought goes through your head, "Ah - looks like something's up over there", and you go over to check it out and quite possibly "break-up" the group. You have profiled - without any proof of any wrongdoing I might add.
To suggest that humans don't profile all the time is just kidding yourself. The trick is to do it and not infringe on people's rights in the process.
Policemen going over to "check-out" a congregation of dudes on a street corner is a form of profiling - what happens after he goes over to "investigate" will determine if he has messed with someone's rights.
What I consider profiling is assuming that a gathering of people is doing something illegal because they are all black or assuming a kid is going to be stupid because they don't know English.
That's just being lazy. Too lazy to get to know people, too lazy to find out what they are really about.
(12-17-2014 11:56 AM)Fitbud Wrote: What I consider profiling is assuming that a gathering of people is doing something illegal because they are all black or assuming a kid is going to be stupid because they don't know English.
That's just being lazy. Too lazy to get to know people, too lazy to find out what they are really about.
Lots of cops get assaulted or killed trying to find out what people are about.
(12-17-2014 11:21 AM)Fitbud Wrote: I think profiling is just lazy police work. If you don't have the work ethic to properly investigate then you have no business wearing a badge.
The fact is that you do forms of profiling every day in your job as a teacher. I'm not saying it's illegal or even wrong that you do it.
For example, you're a hall monitor at lunchtime, you see a group of boys congregating together - the "profiling" thought goes through your head, "Ah - looks like something's up over there", and you go over to check it out and quite possibly "break-up" the group. You have profiled - without any proof of any wrongdoing I might add.
To suggest that humans don't profile all the time is just kidding yourself. The trick is to do it and not infringe on people's rights in the process.
Policemen going over to "check-out" a congregation of dudes on a street corner is a form of profiling - what happens after he goes over to "investigate" will determine if he has messed with someone's rights.
What I consider profiling is assuming that a gathering of people is doing something illegal because they are all black or assuming a kid is going to be stupid because they don't know English.
That's just being lazy. Too lazy to get to know people, too lazy to find out what they are really about.
....and what you consider as profiling may be profiling, but my point, which you obviously missed, is that profiling actually covers much more than what your definition lists and that profiling isn't always a bad thing.
However, you prefer to play your troll game. Carry on.
![[Image: williams-w2.jpg]](http://archive.lewrockwell.com/williams-w/williams-w2.jpg)
