Racial Profiling

Running head: RACIAL PROFILING & DISPARITIES

Racial Profiling Disparities in the Criminal Justice System

The University of XXXXXXX

Abstract

Profiling was developed to intensify the reduction of street level drug offenders. Minorities have been disproportionately overrepresented in sentencing parameters, searches, traffic stops and do not receive equal protection under the law. Racial profiling has broken the trust in the United States criminal justice system, the only way to prevent the further violations of citizens’ Constitutional rights is to implement reports that will indicate these violations, properly train new officer recruits and improve community relations.

During the 1980’s many United States citizens feared the surge of crime occurring within their communities. Scheingold (1984, 1991) described the interaction effects among citizens’ fear, media coverage, and the political environment as the myth of crime and punishment. Society’s response to the myth of crime and punishment was what Scheingold described as the “politicization” of crime, or the politics of law and order- increasingly harsher penalties and the widening of the punishment net (Engel & Calnon, 2004). The myth of crime and punishment and the resulting politics of law and order had a significant impact on policy making in the 1980’s as the war on drugs was waged (Engel & Calnon, 2004). The new policies implemented during the beginning of the war on drugs goal was to reduce the amount of drugs and drug use. This caused a disparity in criminal justice enforcement and punishment of drug offenses. Profiling was developed to intensify the reduction of street level drug offenders. During the 1980’s decade Federal and State Mandatory guidelines were also implemented to decrease the disparities that were occurring in the criminal justice system. On November 1, 1987 these guidelines were made official. Statistical data typically shows racial, ethnic and gender...