Profiling is Good

I was watching an episode of "The Good Wife" a couple weeks ago. One of the story lines involved a law suit brought against a newspaper for contributing to the death of one of the paper’s staff in a bombing of the newspaper building. The bombing was allegedly the work of Muslims upset about the paper having published a political cartoon depicting Mohammed going through an airport security screening. While the defense firm was working on the newspaper's defense, the firm’s investigator was asked to look into the backgrounds of all the employees who might be middle eastern and/or Muslim. The investigator made a comment complaining about having to engage in racial profiling.

I am sick and tired of the race card being played in these circumstances. I have been a practicing lawyer and litigator for 28 years. I spent about 12 of those years doing criminal defense work. So, I am very sensitive to and adamant about protecting individual civil rights. I was on the front line for many years defending the Constitutional rights of my clients against the overwhelming resources of the state. I was always (and still am) suspicious of law enforcement. They are human and are subject to the same imperfections, motivations, and weaknesses as the rest of us. Unfortunately, I have come into contact with some bad apples in my career. On the other hand, the vast majority of them are fine professionals who are trying to do a very difficult and dangerous job. Yet, as in any walk of life, there are bad ones.

The complaint about racial profiling is political corruption run amuck. In my opinion, the people screaming the loudest about it are the biggest racists. And because these racists scream so loud and their voices are amplified by the liberal media, the rest of us are intimidated and fearful of speaking the truth. The truth is that there is no racial profiling when law enforcement does its job properly. It is because these politically correct loud mouths scream so loudly and have intimidated so many people with their willing accomplices in the liberal media that law enforcement’s job is made more difficult and our safety and security are jeopardized. Profiling is a standard law enforcement and criminal justice technique. Let me give you an example.

A burglary is committed in a home, at night. This is a very serious felony in my state. The owner is threatened with a hand gun and beat up by the burglar. The burglar makes off with money, jewelry and electronics. Law enforcement is called to the house. The first thing they ask the victim to do is to describe the burglar. So, let’s say that the victim describes the burglar as a black man, about 6 feet tall, with a moustache, and driving a dark sedan. A sketch is made based upon the description of the victim, and it is circulated throughout the city. A BOLO (be on the look out) or APB (all points bulletin) is broadcast and disseminated by law enforcement. Now, the description given by the victim is broadcast by the newspapers, TV and radio stations. The sketch is shown on the TV and printed in the newspaper. In the world of political correctness, the liberal loud mouths would be screaming racial profiling. Why? The suspect is a black man, and describing him as such is racist.

Once the description of the suspect is disseminated, law enforcement begins looking for a person that matches the victim’s description of the burglary suspect. Law enforcement officers begin stopping and questioning individuals that match the description given by the victim. According to the liberal loud mouths, law enforcement is now engaging in racial profiling, because the only individuals they are stopping to question are black men, with moustaches, about 6 feet tall, driving dark sedans. If law enforcement were being politically correct, they would not limit their questioning to black men. Instead, they would be stopping 70-year old Hispanic grandmothers and interrogating them about the burglary. Or, maybe, to appease the liberal loud mouths, they stop white clean-shaven males who are 5’6" feet tall and riding motorcycles for questioning. What sense does stopping and questioning people who do not match the profile make? It is a total waste of time, effort and resources to stop and question people who do not fit the profile. In the world of political correctnes, law enforcement does stop and question those who do not fit the description, because they are afraid of offending the liberal loud mouths, or are afraid of being investigated and sued for trumped up civil rights violations.

So, if the 9-11 hijackers were all middle eastern males between the ages of 25 and 34, why are white grandmothers being stopped and searched more thoroughly? How can one be a racist and a bigot when looking at people who match the description of the bad guy? The answer is simple: political correctness. Unfortunately, this political correctness will be the death of many of us and of our nation if it continues unchecked.

God Bless you. God Bless our Troops. God Bless the BSA. God Bless America.
Patriot Mark