Law, Social Science, and Racial Profiling
The term “racial profiling” describes race-based selection of citizens for interdiction by police and other legal actors. Several studies have examined whether police disproportionately stop minority citizens both in cars and on foot, and, once stopped, whether police are more likely to search or arrest them. Whether these contacts are racially motivated has been the focus of research, litigation, political mobilization, and internal scrutiny by police departments. This article reviews definitions of practices that are commonly described as racial profiling, contrasts these narrow views with the more complex legal standards that have evolved in case law, and assesses whether recent data collection efforts can generate reliable information about the extent and nature of racially disproportionate police contacts with citizens. Data analysis procedures are identified to respond to both legal and normative questions about whether racial disparities in police stops and searches rise to the level of “profiling” and cross the threshold of a violation of constitutional guarantees. The article concludes with a brief discussion of mechanisms for regulating and monitoring police-citizen contacts to address concerns of police and citizens on the racial dimensions of policing.