Profiling and US Amendments Gabriel Anthony Farias Fresno State University Just what is the difference between criminal and racial profiling? Is there a difference? In this essay, I will define and give a brief comparison between the two. I will also define and discuss possible violations of the fourth and fourteenth amendment of the United States Constitution. At the end, the reader should understand the difference between the two distinct types of profiling, and acknowledge that specific circumstances may cause a violation to one amendment, without directly affecting another. Forensic psychologist Richard N. Kocsis indicates that criminal profiling can be defined as “…identifying, that is, predicting who is most likely to offend in given ways and who may be most at risk in terms of being a victim of crime” (Kocsis, 2007). It’s a method used by Law Enforcement to identify suspects that are more likely to commit certain crimes. Instead of basing suspects primarily due to the suspect’s race, ethnicity or religion as racial profiling generally does. In essence, it’s about making education guesses based on evidence presented. Take serial murder cases, identifying how the killer approached the victim, his motive, and level of …show more content…
(2017) Examples of racial profiling might include officers stopping a Hispanic or African American individual for a traffic stop because of their race and not because any illegal activity took place. This may also occur in neighborhoods, for example an African American male in a White neighborhood might be questioned because he would appear to be out of place. Fortunately for us, we have the amendments that protect our individual rights and