Racial Profiling of Dearborn Case and Undermining of Community Policing
Your work will be assessed for demonstrated critical thinking, analytical and communication skills. Read the instructions carefully and present your response in a clear and organized fashion.
After 9/11, the federal government announced a major program to conduct "voluntary" interviews with 5,000 holders of temporary visas from Arab countries thought to have significant ties to Al Qaeda. The Justice Department wanted local law enforcement personnel to conduct these interviews, with federal agents playing a supporting role. In Dearborn, Michigan, where the population of individuals of Arab descent has grown to nearly 30 percent since the 1960s, city and police officials resisted this plan. They insisted that the feds conduct the interviews (in plain clothes), supported by the local police and monitored by them to make sure that the feds acted professionally. The locals also got the feds to abandon the idea of unannounced calls and agree to schedule visits via letters, stressing that the interviews were voluntary and that there was no reason to suspect the individuals being interviewed of terrorist activities. (Source: Thacher, David: "The Local Role in Homeland Security," 39 Law and Society Review 635-76 [September 2005]).
• Does such questioning as in the Dearborn case constitute racial profiling? Does it undermine the principles of community policing? Appx. 600 words
• Do the police need the discretion to use such investigative techniques in order to prevent and probe crime? Appx. 600 words
• How does police and prosecutorial discretion allow for racial and ethnic discrimination in the criminal justice system? Is allowing such discretion desirable, when used fairly? Appx. 600 words
• What are some ways of curbing or checking this discretion to make the system more fair? Do you think these things will be effective? Why or why not? Appx. 600 words
You should address these questions in a paper of approximately 2,400 words, relying primarily on the readings and other materials. You may include independent sources. All information should be documented in MLA style.
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Policing and Prosecution
Racial Profiling of Dearborn Case and Undermining of Community Policing
After the 9/11 terror attack, the United States government suggested that the local policing and the federal agents needed to conduct voluntary questioning within the Dearborn, a region highly concentrated with Arabs. It was due to the association of the Arabs with the Al-Qaeda groups. However, the local police resisted the idea claiming that it was suitable for the federal officers to conduct the interviews themselves (Thacher 655). The questioning of the Dearborn Arabs, specifically those with the temporary United States visas, constituted racial profiling because the interviews targeted the Arabs alone, indicating that the federal government had already suspected the Arabs to be part of the Al-Qaeda group.
The Dearborn region was occupied by the Arabs ethnic group, indicating that the Arabs were the target group for questioning. In recent years, the Arab community has recorded a rocky history with community policing based on ethnicity and racism issues (Thacher 648). The Arab population in the Dearborn had grown when the region experienced high incidences of police brutality and racial intolerance. During the 1940s to 1980s, the Arabs had experienced harassment from the police, specifically during the reign of Hubbard. The police were believed to be spying on Arabs, which damaged their reputation with the Arab community. Since the relationship between the local policing and the Arabs in the Dearborn had been destroyed, the questioning was likely associated with racial profiling.
Moreover, the police officers within the Dearborn region were pressured by the Arabs to provide enough security to the residents as capricious Arabs had been killed. There were also incidents of students' torture by the police which resulted in demonstrations. Since the local policing did not take the Arabs' issues and allegations seriously, investigations and questioning would prove significant racism against the Arabs society (Thacher 648). Thus, the suspicion the Arab community in the Dearborn region had over the police was likely to contribute to racial profiling during the questioning process.
Further, many Arabs' names such as "Hussein or Mohammed" is familiar. They would result in the police and federal agents suspecting innocent Arabs within the Dearborn region to be part of the Al-Qaeda group. Therefore, there would be increased chances of promoting mistaken identity, which would be difficult to settle (Thacher 657). The questioning also would result in excessive pressure where an interviewee would be pressed to offer information they do not have. Therefore, the questioning of the Arabs in Dearborn entirely constituted racial profiling.
The process of engaging the police in questioning ruins their principles regarding community policing. Police officers are expected to promote security by establishing a strong reputation with society. Engaging the police officers to question the Arabs in the Dearborn region would result in conflicts between the police and the Arabs. Since the police officers had a rocky relationship with the local policing, the questioning process would catalyze the enmity between the two groups. Therefore, the police officers in Dearborn were justified to deny conducting the interviews themselves.
The policing principles also advocate for proactive solving of problems within a systematic and routine fashion instead of responding to crimes immediately after occurring. Thus, community policing emphasizes agencies developing solutions to the underlying factors contributing to public safety challenges. The federal government was wrong to initiate the police officers to interview the Arabs. Their focus should be safe for all and assure the interviewees'' security during the interview to win society's reputation (Gabbidon and Higgins 137). Lastly, engaging the local police in conducting the interview would contribute to enmity and hatred against the individual police officers who were to be involved in the questioning process. The police officers should not put their lives in danger by wrongfully engaging with the community as the public may arise against the police officers in the future and kill them.
Police Discretion and Use of Investigative Techniques
The police officers use discretion, which entails speaking and behaving not to offend the public. The police officers are supposed to use discretion to make decisions within the legal setting. In the case of Dearborn, the police offices utilized discretion where they denied engaging directly in interviews but instead embarked on assuring the Arabs community of their security during the process. Police decisions and actions are primarily based on communities where they partner with the community within the neighborhood to identify issues of crimes or plans emerging from some of the community members to violate the laws (Thacher 639). For instance, community policing actively cooperated with the Dearborn Arabs during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Arabs notified the police in advance, leading to combating the situation. Thus, since police officers are concerned with maintaining law and order, they interact with social actors who are the citizens at various levels (Gabbidon and Higgins 137). Therefore, they should use discretion to avoid ruining their future reputation with the community, which would result in society denying them relevant information in the future.
Discretion is crucial in policing because it assists the police officers in avoiding misusing their power and authority by making decisions that are considered sound and favorable depending on the situation at hand. For instance, in cases where racism or ethnicity is likely to emerge, the police officers may avoid the problems or take a neutral stance to handle the conflicts (Thacher 643). In the situation of the Dearborn, the police officers opted to be impartial where they supported federal agents to conduct the questioning, with the police having the duty of escorting them to the Arab community they wished to interview. The police avoided crimes or conflicts that could emerge due to racism and hatred through the neutral stance.
Discretion assists the police in promoting interest status honor on the society. The police surveillance indicates that the target object by surveillance can never be trusted. Utilizing coercion leads to stigmatization; policing discretion advocates for the thing should be awarded the interest within status honor. However, there are situations where the policing techniques stigmatize a group of individuals. However, status honor utilized by community policing is based on the category of ethnicity and race. If surveillance targets an abstract class or a generic group of suspected criminals, there should be no singling of a specific social group (Thacher 645). Thus, the police in Dearborn did not support the issue of singling the Arabs in Dearborn. The case of Dearborn questioning by the Federal government brought about conflicts with police discretion in which the ethnic honor is damaged and crimes are likely to probe.
Moreover, discretion in policing and investigative techniques is crucial as it aids the police in implication the city's interest and overcoming political issues. The legitimate utilization of authority regarding policing by political power relies on the local government's legitimacy perspectives. If police utilize their powers recklessly, they will likely undermine public cooperation and face instability as crimes arise. Thus, the worry of economic interests leads to the police officers applying decretion to avoid crimes from emerging, which w...