First
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. Through advocacy and outreach to targeted constituencies, The Leadership Conference works toward the goal of a more open and just society – an America as good as its ideals.
What they say.
Why Profiling is a Flawed Anti-Terrorism Tactic
As in the street crime context, terrorism profiling is a crude substitute for behavior-based enforcement. It violates core American values, including the constitutional guarantee of equal protection. It also hinders anti-terrorism efforts because it alienates people and communities that are critical to the success of the anti-terrorism effort.
Why Profiling Hinders the Anti-Terrorism Effort.
Focusing on the many Arabs, South Asians, Muslims, and Sikhs who clearly pose no threat to national security detracts from the anti-terrorism effort. First, it diverts precious law enforcement resources away from investigations of individuals - including Arabs and Muslims - who have been linked to terrorist activity by specific and credible evidence. Second, it ignores the possibility that someone who does not fit the profile may be engaged in terrorism, or may be an unwitting accomplice to terrorism.
That race is an ineffective measure of an individual's terrorist intentions was made clear in a memorandum circulated to American law enforcement agents worldwide by a group of senior U.S. law enforcement officials in October 2002. The memorandum, entitled "Assessing Behaviors," emphasized that focusing on the racial characteristics of individuals was a waste of law enforcement resources and might cause law enforcement officials to ignore suspicious behavior, past or present, by someone who did not fit a racial profile. One of the authors of the report noted: "Fundamentally, believing that you can achieve safety by looking at characteristics instead of behaviors is silly. If your goal is preventing attacks . . . you want your eyes and ears looking for pre-attack behaviors, not characteristics."
The memorandum urged investigators to focus on actual behavior involving selection of targets, recruitment and organization of members, acquisition of skills, assessing vulnerabilities of targets, acquiring financing, probing boundaries, communicating with conspirators, using insiders, maintaining secrecy, and acquiring weapons.128 An emphasis on race, the memorandum noted, distracts from the observance of potentially suspicious behavior.
The San Bernardino terrorists were Arab and practicing at a gun range for years. Is that enough cause to alert authorities. Well in this case at least in hind sight, it should have been. Word War III has begun. We are all accountable to be alert for unusual activity. Is that profiling?
The memorandum urged investigators to focus on actual behavior involving selection of targets, recruitment and organization of members, acquisition of skills, assessing vulnerabilities of targets, acquiring financing, probing boundaries, communicating with conspirators, using insiders, maintaining secrecy, and acquiring weapons.128 An emphasis on race, the memorandum noted, distracts from the observance of potentially suspicious behavior.
The San Bernardino terrorists were Arab and practicing at a gun range for years. Is that enough cause to alert authorities. Well in this case at least in hind sight, it should have been. Word War III has begun. We are all accountable to be alert for unusual activity. Is that profiling?
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