Profiling
With the controversy over the practices of the Transportation Security Administration and the current focus on the Trayvon Martin murder case in Sanford, Florida, the entire issue of profiling has once again become a matter of public debate. Specifically, if what aviation security officers and defendant George Zimmerman have done is either questionable or wrong, how is it that what John Douglas and the agents he trained is “right”?
Good question. And an important one in the world of criminal justice.
The simple answer is that employed as an isolated or stand-alone metric, “racial profiling” is virtually useless as an investigative, predictive or cautionary tool. This is in spite of the allegation that George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin because he believed male African American teens were inherently dangerous, or even Reverend Jessie Jackson’s famous quote,”I hate to admit it, but I have reached a stage in my life that if I am walking down a dark street late at night and I see that the person behind me is white, I subconsciously feel relieved.”
That is, while a significant subset of street robbers may be black teenaged boys or terrorists may be Muslim men, in no way can you reverse the equation and assume that most black teenaged boys are criminals or Muslim males are terrorists.
Race only becomes significant in profiling when it is one component of profiling. In other words, if the experience of the past two decades has shown that the overwhelming majority of terrorists have been Muslim men, it would be not only foolish but irresponsible not to include that specification in a profile if the evidence is there to support it. By the same token, it has been our experience that most sexual predators are white males. That doesn’t mean African Americans or Asians are not capable of such horrific crimes, it just means that whites are the first class we look to.
But again, this designation is only useful if it is combined with other qualifiers, such as age, family background, place of residence, intelligence, criminal record, educational, employment, marital and socioeconomic status, pre- and post-offense behavior, recent changes in life situation, and many other components suited to the particular case or problem under review.
So was George Zimmerman being unreasonable in being wary of a young black man in a hoodie walking through his neighborhood at night? Probably not. But what happened after that is for the jury to decide.
And are TSA officials being unreasonable in giving special attention to Middle Eastern looking men passing through security checkpoints at airports? No, unless they presume they are potential terrorists simply because of their appearance or ethnicity.
But effective profiling involves a lot more than that. It is why the self-proclaimed expert talking heads on television so often get it wrong. It is why the “young white male loner” cliche is nothing but a joke in real profiling operations. That is why there is only one John Douglas. And it is why, like most other sophisticated skills and disciplines, a little learning can be a very dangerous thing.
I learned that in watching, “The Dog Whisperer” where ignoring barking dogs was used. So I tried it with my sisters dogs when I arrived with no one home. Being quiet and not staring at them, waiting for them to sniff me wasn’t working. My sister told me to say their names and they would be ok. My eldery mother got impatient and they immediately ran past me to her in the car.
So i study the whole picture, realize that the experienced know the intuitive art of their craft, but have been successful in training dogs to not bite, properly greet someone at the door, to not haul out my running shoes, and to not go after each others bowls.
The muddled history of domestic violence is certainly troubling, but I am not putting Zimmerman up for Man of the Year. And of course, law-enforcement officers, the official ones, are not always pristine either. At least where I live, there are many incidents of police domestic violence. It does say Zimmerman had an alcohol problem at the time of his incidents but isn’t clear, the article I read, whether he is clean and sober now or not. I’m sure it has come out, but I am not watching anything except highlights.
A case like this where an armed citizen is out patrolling makes me appreciate the training that law enforcement professionals receive for approaching a suspicious person. We don’t hear about all the times when these approaches are done properly and without serious incident. Nevertheless, Cornerstone you’re right that there are still many cases of stressed out or prejudiced police creating disasters.
The more I listen to the highlights of the trial, the less culpable Zimmerman seems. The police are supporting him despite the fact they are nearly always on the side of the prosecution. I believe the truth lies somewhere in the middle on this one and that in the end, both Trayvon and Zimmerman contributed to the outcome to varying degrees.
I agree, at first we think here was an officer who was beaten severely and followed protocol.’
Now the expert witness gives the possibility he may have never even been struck by this boy whom was murdered with ill will like the radio transmissions suggests. This man is a cop so he is somewhat forensically aware but he is looking like a killer not a cop.
Remember the officer who murdered a woman in her home and was said to be serving a warrant? Well turns out the warrant was gained under false pretenses thus all actions committed were unlawful. Same thing I think here the man abused his authority to serve a racial vendetta
With respect to our founding fathers I try to be as libertarian as I can be on every topic, and I believe the second amendment means what it says. But I am horrified at the thought of a person with a history of domestic violence like Zimmerman out patrolling the neighborhood with a gun. It is a recipe for disaster.
I didn’t know he had that type of history. I am surprised that he was able to get a police officers post with all the background checks. I am reminded of Edmund Kemper who was a killer from the beginning and he was rejected due to his size. Psychopaths love official potions. I hope Zimmerman was interviewed as one because the prosecution could prove a lot about this man by the inconstant story he would have given.
Where is the force continuum Zimmerman?
Mr. Douglas, first I would be confident in saying that TSA is simply using the Patriot Act as it was meant to be. However, they are doing exactly that when they as an individual to submit to a chemical analysis, as they have me. I am of Lebanese decent but my grandfather was a great man and a Catholic as I am. It does hurt my feelings because I know behavior and profiling well and when they do this it feels as though they are calling me a dangerous man, which I am not. I remember that number one TSA has a fraction of the knowledge we do and number two my grandfather was a caring man who during the great depression allowed tenants to remain in their homes even though they could not pay him. So I let it go because it is not personal and reassures me they care about the innocent women and children as I do.
With regard to the Martin case I do not blame the policeman at all, we are taught as law enforcement to be suspicious. That’s our job catch criminals and protect innocence. I just the other day was driving home and I saw a black man around 22 riding a bicycle and wearing a hoodie, it was around 82 degrees! The next thing I saw was an attractive young woman jogging and traveling in the opposite direction as the biker but the same direction as me. This coupled with the look the biker gave me was enough to encourage me to go to a nearby park and wait for the woman to reach the area I was. Now I did this perhaps because I needed the peace of mind that she was safe but I never did see her and at the park I saw another black male at a dance studio. He seemed out of place and his behavior suggested he was nervous and that was enough to write down his plate and pray that the Lord allow that young girl to arrive home safely, because it seemed odd enough to be a dangerous situation for her. I know I can not save all the women in the world or even in our country, but I can and will make sure that the men hurting them in the past and future never get away with it for very long. There is only one John Douglas that is true, but as the student of your creation of this art form there is also only one C.M.(Me). And I’m good Mr. Douglas, truly you will be proud of me one day if you are not already. I look up to you all that paved the way, and showed me there is a way of getting ahead of these crimes. And one day you’ll be able to see just how much I was telling the truth here. And also how I was able to bring old cases to closure by myself and give justice to men whom even to this day think they have beat us all. They have not John E. Douglas because you were my teacher and even if you do not see it yet you will one day. In short the world will be a better place for women and children because of the men you all are and the man that I am.
God Bless you and Mr. Olshaker I am still praying for your dear friend who was killed doing exactly what I would have, it could have been any of us. We still need to find the third shooter correct? I never forget that is why cold cases are my area of expertise, and Gary Ridgeway is not finished yet. He has violated that plea agreement since day one, now he has been in court in 2011 and the next time he is the judge will likely reject his plea of guilty and violate his terms. So therefore, the case goes to trial and he will be on trial for his life. I owe Jeff Baird and Dave Reichert that much, and I owe you John Douglas because he almost killed you by viral encephalitis. I will always think he did that intentionally to you just as he had to Dave Reichert. He murdered two women and placed them in the location he had the first victim so they would be easy to find and they were found on Dave’s daughters birthday. That is not a coincidence these men torture us with our love for the women they kill and that is about as pure an evil as I have ever fought. I don’t ever plan on loosing John Douglas, so there is only one Christopher Mabarak. I just do not have any books but you had a great vocation and I respect that but I know one day you will remember this all and maybe then you will respect me? I can stop serial/motiveless murder like we have seen in the past and I can and am working hard to close those cases that haunt you, that’s why TSA hurts my feelings by paying close attention to me. That was my birthday for heavens sake and it shows their profiling skills suck.