"The racially discriminatory practice of racial profiling must be challenged when we find we cannot drive down an interstate, walk down the street, work, pray, shop, travel or even enter into our own homes without being detained for questioning by law-enforcement agents merely because of suspicion generated by the color of our skin and other physical characteristics," said Hilary O. Shelton, director of the NAACP Washington Bureau.
Jiles H. Ship, president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, argued that the practice erodes community trust and undermines the very work of policing. "When certain communities view the criminal-justice system as unjust, they are less likely to be cooperative and more likely to withhold information," he said.
David A. Harris, professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh, made it plain. "Failing to address the profiling issue is something our country and our public safety cannot afford."
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