Should Ethnic Profiling be Implemented as a Security Measure?
Other security policies that have previously been implemented have failed, so ethnic profiling is needed. Israel has successfully implemented racial discrimination at their airports. Terrorists have historically been able to circumvent even the most stringent security steps. Racial discrimination seems legally justifiable when criminals devise different methods to circumvent new protection policies. Any approach that will help counter terrorism is welcome, and people can remember that it is just one method of stopping terrorism.
The Reasonableness of Ethnic Profiling
First, ethnic profiling is reasonable, and despite any anomalies, it is evident that most of the organizations that threaten are of Islamic ideology and are based in South East Asia and the Middle East. Profiling by law enforcement personnel relies on assumptions that people who are from these origins are suspects (Banks, 2013). African Americans are also the most racially profiled and this is supported by the fact that their estates are where there is a high level of crimes. It is, therefore, clear that it is a reasonable tactic in trying to curb crime and terrorism in our country. Those opposed to racial profiling should give it a chance and not assume that it will fail because the other security measures that were put in place failed.
The Cost Reduction Benefits of Ethnic Profiling
Secondly, racial or ethnic profiling reduces cost over time. If finite resources were put into scanning and accessing each one of the citizens, then it would be a waste especially of time and money. The resources could be employed in taking other measures to curb crime and terrorism. One such measure is reinforcing cockpit doors, both of them are costly, but one of them is wasteful. Apart from wasting state resources, the citizens' time is also spent. Law enforcers have to manage ethnic profiling correctly through following rules; regulations put in place, for example, bigotry and harassment can be controlled by properly supervising the staff.
Using a process known as data mining where it is a combination of behavioral and ethnic profiling, the country can manage crime and terrorism to a certain level (In Zack, 2017). Some of the elements that are entailed in racial profiling are consumer patterns and criminal records. After using racial profiling then behavioral profiling can be applied to notice any suspicious behavior especially at airports and other social gatherings and institutions. Using citizens' information, more than sixty percent of citizens can be eliminated because they have a negligible risk factor. The remaining citizens are then put through racial profiling since less information is known about them. It is the belief of many that support racial profiling that it would be an important step in reducing crime and at large terrorism.
Conclusion
In conclusion, ethical or racial profiling is morally justifiable as its primary aim is not to intimidate citizens or tourists but to solve security issues. It is a reasonable process based on assumptions and facts on crime and terrorism. Most of the crimes in the country involve African Americans, and most terrorist groups are of Islamic origin. It is, therefore, reasonable to profile visitors and citizens ethnically. The fact that the process reduces costs makes it a method that should be employed in trying to solve security issues. Additionally, when combined with behavioral profiling, it becomes more efficient and effective. Organizations and individuals that do not support racial profiling should try supporting it, assumptions that it would be a failure like all the other security measures that have been previously put in place need to be forgotten since the method has been a success in Israel.
References
- Banks, C. (2013). Criminal justice ethics: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
- In Zack, N. (2017). The Oxford handbook of philosophy and race.
