A powerful, myth-busting argument against racial profiling. Racial profiling—as practiced by police officers, highway troopers, and customs officials—has become one of America's most explosive public issues. But even as protest against the practice has swelled, little attention has been given to the law enforcement basis of profiling. Indeed, profiling has become one of the nation's most hotly contested social issues partly because of the assumption that underlying the practice is a common-sense consideration of racial patterns in crime. Profiling, it has been repeatedly argued, is ultimately rational. Profiles in Injustice dismantles those arguments, drawing on a wealth of new evidence to show convincingly that profiling is not only morally and legally wrong—but startlingly mistaken and ineffective. In this myth-busting book, David Harris—described by the Seattle Times as "America's leading authority on racial profiling"—reveals that the data collected by law-enforcement agencies themselves on racial profiling makes the case against it. Though it has been argued that people of color are targeted by police because they are disproportionately involved in crime, statistics from several states as well as the Customs Service show that the "hit rate"—the rates at which police actually find contraband on people they stop—is actually lower for blacks than for whites, and the hit rate for Latinos is much lower than for either blacks or whites. Profiles in Injustice is the first book to rigorously scrutinize the rationale and practice of racial profiling, as well as its remarkably far-reaching effects, from the way profiling has reinforced residential segregation to how it has corroded public confidence in the criminal justice system. Harris concludes with an examination of law enforcement agencies that have pioneered better, more effective policing while renouncing the poison of racial and ethnic bias.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This thoughtful and scrupulous analysis of racial profiling's history, uses and ultimate failure as a measure for crime prevention takes on even deeper meaning following September 11. Harris, Balk professor of law and values at the University of Toledo College of Law, outlines the various forms of policing connected to profiling: traffic stops, consent searches, and stop and frisks, among others. He analyzes how each, aside from often not passing basic legal or ethical standards, nearly always fails to discover criminals or deter crime. These conclusioins are supplemented by his often surprising analysis of arrest statistics: the New York attorney general's office shows that even though more blacks than whites were stopped and frisked for concealed weapons, the arrest rate of whites for violations was actually higher, while composite profiles of convicted criminals are skewed because 54.3% of violent crimes are never reported to the police. Other studies show just how difficult it is to guess someone's race just by looking at them. This strongly synthetic statistical work is carefully interwoven with case histories (such as that of a Latino U.S. district judge who is routinely stopped by the Border Patrol in Texas), as well as with detailed commentary on court cases and political stories such as State v. Pedro Soto, the famous, and ongoing, case involving state troopers profiling drivers on the New Jersey Turnpike. A brief chapter devoted to profiling of Arab-Americans and Muslims in airports gives a glimpse at specific procedures in place before September 11 that failed miserably. (Feb.) Forecast: The focus of profiling debates has shifted from blacks and Hispanics to Arab and American Muslims. This book lays some of the groundwork for post-September 11 books on profiling that are sure to come, and is rock solid on specifics that remain disturbing; expect strong sales.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Harris is a law professor at the University of Toledo and a Soror Senior Justice Fellow who has written widely on racial profiling, stop and frisk, and other Fourth Amendment issues. In this monograph, he describes what racial profiling is, what tactics are commonly used, and the costs of such profiling in dollars, casualties, relations with police, and wasted police time. As he shows, the impact is not just on African Americans ("driving while black"); Latinos are targeted as criminals/ illegal immigrants, Asian Americans as gang members, Arab Americans as terrorists, etc. Harris argues that statistical evidence shows profiling to be ineffective and recommends many useful alternatives, which include establishing appropriate departmental policies, incentives, and training and collecting data to analyze trends. Harris makes his case powerfully in this well-reasoned and easily understood work. Important and timely reading for criminal justice professionals and students and for those interested in law enforcement policy, it is recommended for academic, public, and criminal justice libraries. Mary Jane Brustman, SUNY at Albany Libs.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Accurate, Eloquent, Searching Look at a U.S. Stain of Shame,
By
This review is from: Profiles in Injustice: Why Police Profiling Cannot Work (Hardcover)
This masterpiece of legal scholarship, clearly and eloquently written for the general public (plus police officers, politicians, and lawyers) lays searingly bare the United States's collective shame of the evil practice of racial profiling and stereotyping. The first 3 of the 9 chapters lay the groundwork of the author's thesis via extensive anecdotal evidence, thoroughly supported by direct quotations and direct observations, many of them from police officers as well as innocent victims. Chapter 4 provides a convincing and well-reasoned [I'm a professional statistician] statistical validation of the author's thesis, plus proof that racial profiling actually decreases probabilities of intercepting criminals. Chapter 5 exposes the hidden but corrosive costs of racial profiling, such as disunity among Americans and the cancer of chronic distrust of police and courts. Chapter 6 extends the discussion beyond African-American victims to East Asian, Hispanic, and Near-Eastern victims. The last three chapters provide the encouragement of a road to improvement, including examples of municipalities and police departments already following that road.Throughout, the author's prose is objective, quietly restrained, and superbly organized and enunciated.
2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Accurate, Eloquent, Searching Look at a U.S. Stain of Shame,
By
This review is from: Profiles in Injustice: Why Police Profiling Cannot Work (Hardcover)
This masterpiece of legal scholarship, clearly and eloquently written for the general public (plus police officers, politicians, and lawyers) lays searingly bare the United States's collective shame of the evil practice of racial profiling and stereotyping. The first 3 of the 9 chapters lay the groundwork of the author's thesis via extensive anecdotal evidence, thoroughly supported by direct quotations and direct observations, many of them from police officers as well as innocent victims. Chapter 4 provides a convincing and well-reasoned [I'm a professional statistician] statistical validation of the author's thesis, plus proof that racial profiling actually decreases probabilities of intercepting criminals. Chapter 5 exposes the hidden but corrosive costs of racial profiling, such as disunity among Americans and the cancer of chronic distrust of police and courts. Chapter 6 extends the discussion beyond African-American victims to East Asian, Hispanic, and Near-Eastern victims. The last three chapters provide the encouragement of a road to improvement, including examples of municipalities and police departments already following that road.Throughout, the author's prose is objective, quietly restrained, and superbly organized and enunciated.
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