Isnt profiling more and more acceptable depending on the level of potential threat?

Question

I mean if we knew that Purple men, were bent on smuggling a dirty nuke into our cities and make a mushroom cloud, killing millions of people, is it not then ok to pay particular attention to Purple men?

Isnt that a bit different than Purple men have a 25% higher crime rate in their neighborhood, so if you see a purple man driving around a non-purple neighborhood, you pull him over to make sure he has not stolen anything.

Answer 1

Profiling (using ones experience and intuition) has always been good for law enforcement officers.

"racial" profiling (basing ones judgement based only on skin color) is foolish, wrong, and illegal.

I doubt many in law enforcement use "racial" profiling.

Answer 2

No, your logic is wrong. If I were a purple man trying to bring in a bomb, and I knew you were profiling purple men, I would find a pink woman or orange child to carry out my attack.

As for the neighborhood example, pulling over a purple man makes no sense unless a purple man was reported as having done a crime very recently in the area, and left the scene in a car like the one he is driving. Otherwise, you are wasting the time of the officer, harassing a citizen who by our constitution must be presumed innocent, and probably missing the actual criminal.

Answer 3

There is intelligent profiling and then there is abusive profiling.

Obviously "Driving while black" pullovers and "Carrying a concealed wallet" shootings are thinks we need to stop from ever happening. Pulling over vehicles 'cruising' through neighborhoods and using non-lethal weapons for unknown identity confrontations are smarter.

Terrorists have been able to bypass profiling almost from the very beginning. The requirement that airline passengers declare that their luggage has not been outside of their presence is a result of terrorists using non-profile girlfriends to carry explosives.

Profiling over things like suspicious behavior and foreign nationality make more sense...as do general examination of everyone regardless of their "good guy after all" profile. These are much more selective than going after a whole religion or shade of skin and letting everyone else pass.

Answer 4

Why is it that law enforcement professionals agree that profiling is not an effective means of preventing any crime? Perhaps because there is no way of actually examining enough members of a group to catch those who would do you harm? Or because those who would do you harm would change their plans to avoid the place where you'd catch them? Regardless, since those in the know don't support this method, why should anyone support it?

Answer 5

Kind of, but you don't want to be harassing people just because of there purplocity.
I think the airport screeners should be far more thorough in investigating a Muslim than random old ladies, because there is an undeniable large scale effort by certain Muslims to intentionally wreak mass destruction on us, but it would be irresponsible for police to single out motorists because they are of a certain ethnicity.

Answer 6

Hello McFLY!!!!!!!

That's why the Purple People Eaters were created!

Answer 7

What is a purple man, Im unfamiliar with that term....

Answer 8

Very true! Profiling has been around forever but since it has been given a name it has become taboo.

Answer 9

Yes, conservative males who rail against homosexuality should be monitored for sexual deviance while in public restrooms...

Answer 10

It has always been acceptable to everyone but the america-haters.