CONCLUSION

The practice of profiling by race, ethnicity, religion or national origin runs counter to what is arguably the core principle of American democracy: that humans are created equal, and are entitled to be treated equally by the government, irrespective of immutable characteristics like skin color, faith and ethnic or national origin.

The argument for bias in policing is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If blacks are considered by police to be more likely to commit crimes, they will be stopped and investigated more than whites, and the “crime rate” among blacks will increase. Likewise, if the police concentrated their efforts on white citizens, they would find an increased hit rate among whites as well. If Arabs or Muslims are considered by the

Department of Justice more likely to be terrorists, it will investigate, detain, interrogate and deport more Muslims or Arabs, consequently creating a numerical basis for the initial belief.

Numerous law enforcement officials believe that racial, ethnic, religious or national origin profiling actually poses a national security risk. If you are an airport screener and you believe that every terrorist is going to be Middle Eastern, you are not going to look as hard at people of other ethnicities. In addition, biasbased profiling - because of its lack of specificity wastes resources and ineffectively allocates personnel.

At stake in the fight to end racial profiling arc the fundamental principles of democracy upon which our country is based. Those principles deserve our vigorous protection.