Essay Sample on Racial Profiling In Peel Region Ontario

Introduction

Racial profiling refers to discriminatory police practice based on ethnic and racial appearances to make decisions on individuals suspicious enough to warrant police attention which results in investigation, detention, questioning, body search and other critical routine activities by the police (Harrison, 2013). Racial profiling by the police is one of the policing issues affecting the entire United States and not just Peel in Ontario. Racial profiling is not only illegal but also immoral because it goes against the moral value of human dignity. In this case, any police-initiated action that relies on race, nationality, and ethnicity can be categorized as a form of racial profiling. Instead, police action should be based on individual behavior or information that leads to a particular individual as a target of an investigation or other police policing procedures (Harrison, 2013). This paper will assess racial profiling in Peel region of Ontario, the role of the police chief in ensuring proper policing practice, rights of individuals which makes racial profiling illegal as well as approaches that can be used to prevent racial profiling.

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Racial Profiling in Peel Region

Different instances of racial profiling have previously been identified in Peel municipality involving police officers. Racial profiling remains a significant challenge in Peel municipality and continues to be witnessed in different regions where the police target individuals based on their ethnic background. In the Peel region most of the targeted people are the people of color who are humiliated and intimidated through detentions and searches without evidence. The United States Constitution protects every citizen regardless of their racial and ethnic background from unreasonable searches and seizures. As a result, racial profiling has been having negative impacts on community policing because of the resulting alienation of the community from the law enforcement organs and the biggest loser is the police. Carding is one of the police practices that in Peel has been associated with racial profiling for being discriminatory towards the minority groups. The United States Code Title 42, chapter 21 on civil rights prohibits any form of discrimination by federal agencies such as the police while rendering their services.

The police chief has a duty towards ensuring a harmonious relationship between the police and the people as well as reviewing policing policies to assess their functionality and overall benefit in ensuring that the police meet their constitutional obligations. A police chief has the responsibility of protecting the rights of individuals in the Peel region and ensuring that the police department in Peel, Ontario behave in a morally acceptable and respect the rights of the people. When changing the police chief, it is essential to install a police chief who is culturally competent and conversant with the Civil Rights Act which seeks to protect individuals from discrimination which will play a significant role towards eliminating racial profiling in Peel, Ontario. Carding has been a divisive policy especially because it allows the police officers to collect personal information from random people without any causal investigation which has been associated with racial discrimination in Peel. The police chief should carry out a policy review on carding to educate the public on its importance as well as ensure that police activity are not suspicious or ethnic motivated which is considered as racial profiling. Individual police officers suspected of taking advantage of carding to carry out any form of racial profiling should be investigated and disciplinary action taken against them to prevent future profiling and tame rogue officers (Harrison, 2013). The police chief should establish avenues to communicate to Peel communities on their policy proposals and their importance before implementing them to prevent future misunderstanding and misconception of their policies by the public.

Reference

Harrison, F. V. (2013). Racial Profiling, Security, and Human Rights. The University of Florida. Retrieved from https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=csrrr_events