Racial Profiling – Colorado
"Racial profiling blinds law enforcement to real criminal threats and creates a large hole in the national security net. Unless the federal and state governments end this harmful practice, we are all at risk."
–
Joshua Rubenstein, AIUSA
How Colorado Rates in Protection From Racial Profiling
While Colorado's racial profiling laws seek to address the problem of police illegally stopping and searching pedestrians as well as motorists, the law's effectiveness is undermined by an anemic definition of the problem. By only banning profiling "solely" based on race, ethnicity, or national origin, it essentially allows police to utilize profiles that include other factors (such as gender or age) in addition to race, ethnicity, or national origin. Accordingly, while it may be illegal in Colorado to profile African-Americans, it is not illegal to profile African-American men. Moreover, Colorado's racial profiling laws ignore the very real problem of racial profiling against religious minorities, who have been increasingly targeted since September 11, 2001. While limited racial profiling data was collected in the past, there is no ongoing effort to collect data in order to evaluate and analyze substantive changes and remedies. Additionally, while the laws allow law enforcement agencies to receive complaints, they do not hold officers accountable for their actions. The laws also do not give the public the right to go into court and ask a judge to order the police to stop racially profiling area residents and motorists.Protection from racial profiling: Insufficient
Members of Congress supporting the End Racial Profiling Act of 2004:
Representative Diana DeGette