Racial Profiling – Florida
"Racial profiling is one, not effective, two, not fair, and, three, not conducive to good relations between law enforcement and communities. It should be a three-strikes-and-you're-out policy."
–
Suha Dabbouseh, AIUSA
How Florida Rates in Protection From Racial Profiling
While Florida'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 Florida to profile African-Americans, it is not illegal to profile African-American men. Moreover, Florida'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 Florida does require traffic stop data to be collected, officers may log a description of the driver or the vehicle, which provides a substative loophole in the law. The law also does 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:
Representatives Corrine Brown, Jim Davis, Peter Deutsch, Alcee L. Hastings, and Kendrick B. Meek