The Truth About Racial Profiling.(Brief Article)

The Truth About Racial Profiling Heather Mac Donald, "The Myth of Racial Profiling," in City Journal (Spring 2001), Manhattan Institute, 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, New York 10017.

There's been an increasing uproar about "racial profiling," where police officers allegedly pull cars off the highway solely to harass black drivers. But Manhattan Institute fellow Mac Donald argues that good policing involves detaining suspects based on many factors. Moreover, efforts to eliminate "racial profiling," could burden officers with red tape and allow criminals to go free.

People who claim "racial profiling" exists offer two types of evidence, Mac Donald argues: "anecdotal, which is of limited value, and statistical, which upon examination proves entirely worthless." It may be true that some rogue cops might be obnoxious toward blacks, but after police officers began videotaping highway stops, "most charges of police racism, testified to under oath, have been disproved as lies."

There is also no statistical evidence supporting racial profiling. An ACLU study of Philadelphia traffic stops noted that the race of the suspect was not recorded in half the stops, making any racial comparisons invalid. Studies by Temple University social psychologist John Lamberth, which were used successfully in ACLU lawsuits in Maryland and New Jersey, compared traffic stops for drivers going 1 to 6 miles over the speed limit. But since most police only stop drivers who speed excessively, Lamberth's study is useless in judging how cops actually behave.

While Mac Donald finds little evidence of ...