Racial Profiling... Pros And Cons

[Socrates]

[quote name='Sojourner' post='1101494' date='Oct 26 2006, 11:01 AM']


Not sure what you're referring to here ...
My concerns about racial profiling, and profiling in general, are twofold. One, that profiles will be abused, and that innocent people will be unfairly harrassed or mistreated as a result. Two, that reliance on a particular profile blinds police and security personnel to non-conforming people who pose real threats.

I'm not saying that profiling can't be a valuable tool ... but it should be used carefully, with proper respect for its limitations.
[/quote]
Risking people being "unfairly harrassed" vs. risking many deaths by terrorist activity.

It should be obvious which is the lesser evil here!

(Basically all people recently involved in terrorist attacks have been young Middle-eastern men. Sure, security should also be alert to "non-conforming people," but, the statistics being as they are, that is no reason to ignore Middle-eastern males to search white grannies in order to fulfil some politically-correct quota so we can all feel good about not being labeled "racist.")

[Sojourner]

[quote name='Socrates' post='1101981' date='Oct 26 2006, 07:19 PM']
Risking people being "unfairly harrassed" vs. risking many deaths by terrorist activity.

It should be obvious which is the lesser evil here!

(Basically all people recently involved in terrorist attacks have been young Middle-eastern men. Sure, security should also be alert to "non-conforming people," but, the statistics being as they are, that is no reason to ignore Middle-eastern males to search white grannies in order to fulfil some politically-correct quota so we can all feel good about not being labeled "racist.")
[/quote]
Uh ... none of my concerns had to do with political correctness. I am all about preventing death and destruction, but I am not convinced that racial profiling is an effective tool in doing that. I'm much more persuaded by things I've heard and read that argue that it's more effective to train security personnel to recognize suspicious behaviours. The vast majority of middle-eastern men are not terrorists. Wasting time focusing on them solely because of their skin color leaves huge gaps through which people who don't conform to the profile can easily slip through.

So, I find it difficult to advocate an investigative tool that has questionable effectiveness, and which results in mistreatment and harassment.

[Socrates]

[quote name='Sojourner' post='1102001' date='Oct 26 2006, 07:44 PM']
Uh ... none of my concerns had to do with political correctness. I am all about preventing death and destruction, but I am not convinced that racial profiling is an effective tool in doing that. I'm much more persuaded by things I've heard and read that argue that it's more effective to train security personnel to recognize suspicious behaviours. The vast majority of middle-eastern men are not terrorists. Wasting time focusing on them solely because of their skin color leaves huge gaps through which people who don't conform to the profile can easily slip through.

So, I find it difficult to advocate an investigative tool that has questionable effectiveness, and which results in mistreatment and harassment.
[/quote]
Both should be used; it isn't an either-or situation. All I'm saying is it makes sense to pay more attention to those who fit the "profile" of almost all known terrorists.

And well-trained terrorists may not necessarily act "suspicious," and not all people who appear to be "suspicious" are necessarily terrorists. No one method is perfect.

[Anomaly]

[quote name='Sojourner' post='1102001' date='Oct 26 2006, 07:44 PM'] Wasting time focusing on them solely because of their skin color leaves huge gaps through which people who don't conform to the profile can easily slip through. [/quote]Ding, ding, ding, ding!
EXACTLY! Given limited resources, it's better to develp accurate and workable profiles that don't wast time and leave gapping holes. Ethnicity is a legitmate [b]part[/b] of the profile. It's not picking on them for their skin color.

[Red Knight]

I think the pros and cons of racial profiling have been fairly well addressed. I think we are missing the point as it pertains to transportation security.

In transportation security, you have a large number of variables to address as a member of a security team. I would argue that the most important variable is behavior observation.

Being able to notice when something doesn't quite fit in. That is what you are looking for. Race may be the part that doesn't quite fit.

To illustrate what doesn't fit in, I will give an example. When travelling in a convoy through Baghdad, you see garbage along the road (possible IED) so you pay a little more attention to it as you drive along. You see vehicles driving along the same road, you observe the driving behavior for erratic movements, slowing down, speeding up, etc. You are approaching a school zone during the period when children are playing outside. You notice a lack of children. That doesn't fit in. Something bad is about to happen.

My point is, it takes education, training, and the ability to observe and think quickly, to defeat terrorists.

The problem I have seen courtesy of many flights since 9-11-2001, is the inability of the TSA to accomplish the above requirements. I observe the TSA security personnel, and I shake my head. I have heard numerous stories of the observations of others.

The TSA personnel I have observed don't stray from the procedures published for them. They follow them TO THE LETTER and if anything doesn't fit they get confused, you can see it in their eyes.

Can anyone explain to me why someone traveling on official business as a member of the U.S. armed forces should receive additional scrutiny? It defies logic.

A successful security program requires proactive people that have a base of doctrine to turn to for application.

From a military perspective, the reason America's military is successful as it is in combat, is that, in the enemies eyes, we do not follow our own doctrine.

The reson it appears that way, is because our soldiers are trained to understand our doctrine and apply it in individual and creative ways based upon the situation.

If our security personnel followed that model, we would be extremely successful in securing our transportation system and making the experience a little less painful for the average traveller.

[Winchester]

The main thing is to not have sissies protecting us. Or sissies with lots of legal authority.