Does racial profiling work?
Law professor says no BODY: Do you share the widespread belief that racial profiling has been a factor in law enforcement for a long time? David Harris, a law professor at the University of Toledo and a leading authority on the subject, has conducted nationwide studies that challenge this and several other assumptions surrounding the practice which in fact came into widespread use as recently as the 1980s. Does racial profiling work? Issues of Constitutional rights and racial sensitivities aside, does it have any practical value in terms of efficiency or productivity in either crime prevention or criminal apprehension? According to Harris, it not only creates deeper racial tensions and antagonism against law enforcement personnel who might benefit from community cooperation and respect, it is also ineffective. Using case histories as vivid examples of how racial profiling works, Harris examines statistical results from studies conducted by individual states. Without exception, every re
