Racial profiling
Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the offender profiling, selective enforcement or selective prosecution based on race or ethnicity, rather than individual suspicion or evidence. This practice involves using discriminatory practices and often relies on negative stereotypes. Racial profiling can include disproportionate stop-and-searches, traffic stops, and the use of surveillance technology for facial identification. Racial profiling can occur de jure or de facto. Critics argue that racial profiling is discriminatory as it disproportionately targets people of color. Supporters claim it can be an effective tool for preventing crime but acknowledge that it should be closely monitored and used in a way that respects civil rights.
The subject of racial profiling has sparked debate between philosophers who disagree on its moral status. Some believe that racial profiling is morally permissible under certain circumstances, whereas others argue it is never morally permissible.
Justifications
Those who argue in favor of racial profiling usually set some conditions for racial profiling to be justified, typically fairness, evidence-basedness and non-abusiveness. Proponents of racial profiling generally argue that, if these conditions are met, it can be an efficient tool for crime prevention because it allows law enforcement to focus their efforts on groups that are according to crime statistics and correlates of crime more likely to commit crimes.Mathias Risse and Richard Zeckhauser provide a consequentialist analysis of racial profiling, weighing the benefits and costs against each other. They conclude that racial profiling is morally permissible because the harms done to the search subjects are fewer than the potential benefits for society in terms of security. Moreover, the subjects themselves also benefit because they will live a safer environment overall.
Risse and Zeckhauser conclude that the objections to racial profiling are not rooted in the practice per se but in background injustice in our societies. Instead of banning racial profiling, they argue, efforts should be made to remedy racial inequality in our societies.
Criticism
Criticisms of racial profiling can be divided into objections against profiling in general and objections specifically against profiles about race. For examples of the former, some argue that making inferences based on purely demographic data is inegalitarian, and others that such demographic inferences are intellectually unreliable. For an example of the latter, some opponents of racial profiling claim that those who support racial profiling underestimate its collective harms and fail to recognize how the practice can exacerbate racism.Adam Omar Hosein argues that racial profiling may be permissible under certain circumstances, but the present circumstances make it unjust. The costs of racial profiling for black communities in the U.S. are much higher than Risse and Zeckhauer account for. Racial profiling can make targeted individuals assume they have an inferior political status, which can lead to an alienation from the state. This can make racial profiling turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy when an individual is more likely to commit a crime because they are perceived as a criminal.
Hosein also points to an epistemic problem. Arguments in favor of racial profiling are based on the premise that there is a correlation between belonging to a specific racial group and committing certain crimes. However, should such a correlation exist, it is based on data that is skewed by previous racial profiling. Because more subjects of a certain racial group were targeted, more crime was registered in this group. It is therefore epistemically unjustified to assume that this group commits more crime. Racial profiling intersects with gendered profiling. Some argue profiling of men contributes to sex differences in crime.
By country
Australia
Canada
Accusations of racial profiling of visible minorities who accuse police of targeting them due to their ethnic background is a growing concern in Canada. In 2005, the Kingston Police released the first study ever in Canada which pertains to racial profiling. The study focused on the city of Kingston, Ontario, a small city where most of the inhabitants are white. The study showed that black-skinned people were 3.7 times more likely to be pulled over by police than white-skinned people, while Asian and White people are less likely to be pulled over than Black people. Several police organizations condemned this study and suggested more studies like this would make them hesitant to pull over visible minorities.Canadian Aboriginals are more likely to be charged with crimes, particularly on reserves. The Canadian crime victimization survey does not collect data on the ethnic origin of perpetrators, so comparisons between incidence of victimizations and incidence of charging are impossible. Although aboriginal persons make up 3.6% of Canada's population, they account for 20% of Canada's prison population. This may show how racial profiling increases effectiveness of police, or be a result of racial profiling, as they are watched more intensely than others.
In February 2010, an investigation of the Toronto Star daily newspaper found that black people across Toronto were three times more likely to be stopped and documented by police than white people. To a lesser extent, the same seemed true for people described by police as having "brown" skin. This was the result of an analysis of 1.7 million contact cards filled out by Toronto Police officers in the period 2003–2008.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission states that "police services have acknowledged that racial profiling does occur and have taken measures to address , including upgrading training for officers, identifying officers at risk of engaging in racial profiling, and improving community relations". Ottawa Police addressed this issue and planned on implementing a new policy regarding officer racially profiling persons, "the policy explicitly forbids officers from investigating or detaining anyone based on their race and will force officers to go through training on racial profiling". This policy was implemented after the 2008 incident where an African Canadian woman was strip searched by members of the Ottawa police. There is a video showing the strip search where one witnesses the black woman being held to the ground and then having her bra and shirt cut ripped/cut off by a member of the Ottawa Police Force which was released to the viewing of the public in 2010.
China
According to the New York Times, the Chinese government has been racially profiling Uyghurs using facial recognition and surveillance technology. Uyghurs are a Muslim minority living primarily in China's Western province of Xinjiang. The report described these methods as "automated racism". In research projects aided by European institutions it has combined the facial output with people's DNA, to create an ethnic profile. The DNA was collected at the prison camps, which are interning more than one million Uyghurs, as had been corroborated in November 2019 by data leaks, such as the China Cables.Germany
In February 2012, the first court ruling concerning racial profiling in German police policy, allowing police to use skin color and "non-German ethnic origin" to select persons who will be asked for identification in spot-checks for illegal immigrants. Subsequently, it was decided legal for a person submitted to a spot-check to compare the policy to that of the SS in public. A higher court later overruled the earlier decision declaring the racial profiling unlawful and in violation of anti-discrimination provisions in Art. 3 Basic Law and the General Equal Treatment Act of 2006.The civil rights organisation Büro zur Umsetzung von Gleichbehandlung makes a distinction between criminal profiling, which is legitimate in Germany, and ethnic profiling, which is not.
According to a 2016 report by the Interior ministry in Germany, there had been an increase in hate crimes and violence against migrant groups in Germany. The reports concluded that there were more than 10 attacks per day against migrants in Germany in 2016. This report from Germany garnered the attention of the United Nations, which alleged that people of African descent face widespread discrimination in Germany.
A 2017 statement by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Rights after a visit to Germany states: "While the Basic Law guarantees equality, prohibits racial discrimination, and states that human dignity is inviolable, it is not being enforced." and calls racial profiling by police officials endemic. Recommendations include legal reform, establishing an independent complaint system, training and continuing education for the police, and investigations to promote accountability and remedy.