An analysis of PERF's proposed policy to end racial profiling by law enforcement in the United States

This study evaluates the practical application of the Police Research Forum's (PERF) proposed policy to end racial profiling among law enforcement officers in the United States. A population of 168 recently retired law enforcement officers were surveyed, and a usable response rate of 70.8 was obtained. The officers were given PERF's proposed policy along with ten scenarios involving possible racial profiling. They were then asked to determine if the officer's actions in the scenarios complied with the proposed policy. It is determined that as the scenarios became more complicated and less obvious, the more divergent the respondent's answers became. This suggests that while this policy may be an interim solution to the racial profiling problem, further study needs to be conducted to discover an even more effective answer to the problem of racial profiling by law enforcement officers in the United States.