Racial profiling in The Belly of The Beast!
Racial profiling refers to the use of an individual’s race or ethnicity by law enforcement personnel as a key factor in deciding whether to engage in enforcement (e.g. make a traffic stop or arrest). The practice is controversial and is illegal in many jurisdictions.
Definition
The concept of racial profiling has been defined in many ways, including:
- “Any police-initiated action that relies on the race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than the behavior of an individual or information that leads the police to a particular individual who has been identified as being, or having been, engaged in criminal activity.” -Deborah Ramirez, Jack McDevitt, Amy Farrell for US DoJ[1]
- “Racially-biased policing occurs when law enforcement inappropriately considers race or ethnicity in deciding with whom and how to intervene in an enforcement capacity.”-Lorie Fridell, Robert Lunney, Drew Diamond and Bruce Kubu[2]
- “Using race as a key factor in deciding whether to make a traffic stop.” -General Accounting Office[3]
- “In the literature to date, there appear to be at least two clearly distinguishable definitions of the term ‘racial profiling’: a narrow definition and a broad definition… Under the narrow definition, racial profiling occurs when a police officer stops, questions, arrests, and/or searches someone solely on the basis of the person’s race or ethnicity… Under the broader definition, racial profiling occurs whenever police routinely use race as a factor that, along with an accumulation of other factors, causes an officer to react with suspicion and take action.”-Jim Cleary[4]
- “Use by law enforcement personnel of an individual’s race or ethnicity as a factor in articulating reasonable suspicion to stop, question or arrest an individual, unless race or ethnicity is part of an identifying description of a specific suspect for a specific crime.” -Office of the Arizona Attorney General[5]
Legality
At a federal level, racial profiling is challenged by both the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which guarantees the right to be safe from search and seizure without a warrant (which is to be issued “upon probable cause”), and the Fourteenth Amendment which requires that all citizens be treated equally under the law.
In his February 27, 2001, address to a Joint Session of Congress, President George W. Bush declared, “Racial profiling is wrong, and we will end it in America. In so doing, we will not hinder the work of our nation’s brave police officers. They protect us every day — often at great risk. But by stopping the abuses of a few, we will add to the public confidence our police officers earn and deserve.”[6]
In June 2001, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a component of the Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice, awarded the Northeastern research team a grant to create the web-based Racial Profiling Data Collection Resource Center. It now maintains a website designed to be a central clearinghouse for police agencies, legislators, community leaders, social scientists, legal researchers, and journalists to access information about current data collection efforts, legislation and model policies, police-community initiatives, and methodological tools that can be used to collect and analyze racial profiling data. The website contains information on the background of data collection, jurisdictions currently collecting data, community groups, legislation that is pending and enacted in states across the country, and has information on planning and implementing data collection procedures, training officers in to implement these systems, and analyzing and reporting the data and results.[7]
In June 2003, the Department of Justice issued its Guidance Regarding the Use of Race by Federal Law Enforcement Agencies forbidding racial profiling by federal law enforcement officials.[8]
Several U.S. states now have reporting requirements for incidents of racial profiling. Texas, for example requires all agencies to provide annual reports to its Law Enforcement Commission. The requirement began on September 1, 2001, when the State of Texas passed a law to require all law enforcement agencies in the State to begin collecting certain data in connection to traffic or pedestrian stops beginning on January 1, 2002. Based on that data, the law mandated law enforcement agencies to submit a report to the law enforcement agencies’ governing body beginning March 1, 2003 and each year thereafter no later than March 1. The law is found in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure beginning with Article 2.131.[9] Additionally, on January 1, 2011, all law enforcement agencies began submitting annual reports to the Texas State Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education Commission. The submitted reports can be accessed on the Commission’s website for public review.[10]
To read more and for reference material please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_profiling
Imagine stumbling upon documentation that has been made public which clearly lays out a systematic “cleansing” if you will of certain races in one of the most Corrupt, Unjust Jurisdictions in the State of Virginia. I have done just that. I am going to reserve my opinion and allow you to come to your own conclusion. Please note that this is live on the website of the Community Profile for Stafford County, Virginia in black and white, no pun intended!
According to the 2010 Census the break down in Race is as follows Total Population 128,961
Whites 87,434 Blacks 21,259 Hispanic or Latino 11,875 Other Races or Mixed race 8393 Refer to page 5
Projected Demographic Growth for 2020 total 176,710 combined and 2030 total 218,772 combined
2020 Projection Whites 130,670 Blacks 27,798 Hispanic or Latino 11,538 Other Races or Mixed Races 6,716
2030 Projection Whites 156,792 Blacks 35,140 Hispanic or Latino 16,809 Other Races or Mixed Races 10,031
Other Races/Mixed Races 2010 8,393 2020 6,704 (decrease of 1,689) 2030 10,031 Do the Math
I am simply stating the numbers which are available online see link below;
http://virginialmi.com/report_center/community_profiles/5104000179.pdf
This information is what is online and what potential business owners, builders, organizations see when they look at the longterm projection of the area. Is it just me or does this appear to be either out of touch with reality or is this someone’s sinister intended reality? Does this lead one to believe that perhaps only the White Race will find Stafford County appealling over the next 18 years and thus All others will move away or simply choose not to relocate to this County? Are there things being said, done, or acted upon to insure that these projections remain on target? You have to ask yourself the question .Who predicted this unbalance and future cleanse?
It is 2012 and time to open up the lines of communication to The Realities Of….
I look forward to your responses and dialogue on this and many other subjects that matter!
I will leave you with this qoute from Mahatma Gandhi ” You must be the change you wish to see in the world “
LaTanya R. Walker
twitter/justiceseeker11
