Some New Thoughts About "Profiling"

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Defensive driving - good analogy
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+ 1 for DWARREN123
I like that BUT Defensive driving isn't illegal. Not that it would stop me from doing that or racial profiling. So like Mike in VA said, "Guess which ones I'm going to watch more closely?" Boy if that ain't a no-brainier. Does that make me a bad person?
 
Profiling is not a race thing, it is a collection of obsevations based on the appearance and actions of a person or group. Then based on those obsevations, deciding if the person or group seems to present a problem/threat. The media seems to have tied race to profiling, and that just is not true. There is behavior profiling, and racism; they aren't the same.

Things like:
Are they loud/rowdy
Is their clothing in good repair
Are they well groomed
Body posture/language
Are they courteous to others nearby
Does the person make eye contact
Does something just not fit


Anybody wearing gang colors and acting "ghetto" -->(stupid) is going to get a hard look, and perhaps more; no matter what color their skin is.


It is a first impression broadcast to the whole world based only on you showing up. Does yours say what you would like it to?
 
Profiling is not a race thing, it is a collection of observations based on the appearance and actions of a person or group.
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You are correct but who are we kidding? More likely then not it does TURN INTO a race thing. Anyone who says differently just isn't being honest with themselves.
 
To hell with political correctness. You process whatever information is available to you to evaluate a threat. If the Islamowhacks are causing problems, I'm not gonna jack up little old white ladies and frisk them. Same goes for any other group that is known for TROUBLE.

You can bet your life, quite literally, that the threat will use every advantage at their disposal. They are profiling YOU, looking for an easy victim. You had better use every means at your disposal to make sure that they don't succeed.

This about survival, not some feel-good sociological fertilizer. The stakes are the same as they were in 600 BC, regardless of what is PC at this particular moment in history. Predators live by the law of the jungle. You do not ingore the tiger's stripes while walking that jungle, unless you want to become tiger scat.
 
I understand everyone here's concerns about tough-looking dudes, but I think I can add a few things to this discussion. After leaving the Navy, I spent a few years working in the music business (it's a long story...). Mostly with rap artists. I can tell you for sure that most of the guys you see on the street looking intimidating only look and dress that way because it's part of their culture to wear this "uniform". Most of them don't sell drugs or rob and kill, like you would think from the way they carry themselves. The next time you are grilling in the yard and a bunch of them walk past, instead of giving them nasty looks, ask them if they want a burger or something. Most of them are good folks who respond to kindness the same way anybody else would. I'm not saying you shouldnt be pepared for any situation at any time from any angle, but rather that it's good to make friends with these people. Especially if you share a neighborhood with them.
 
Well, I guess nobody thinks of these things as I do, eh? I expected at least one person to agree that it's a good idea to make friends with your neighbors. I guess everyone here would rather cower in fear or shoot nasty looks at people who, for all you know, may be just like you. Y'all better stay in the backwoods and suburbs because these attitudes are incompatable with modern urban society. It's easier to hate your neighbor when he lives miles away, rather than across the hall.
Go ahead and look at the random dude on the street like you think he's some sort of animal... Guess who's house he's going to visit next if he is a criminal? Yours! Would you rather make friends or become a target? The choice is yours.
 
I agree. I think nobody has anything to say, because everyone's waiting for a response? I live in a college town, half of us look like what they're scared of. If I'm walking down a street here late friday night, at 3 AM and see a group of 6 black/mexican/whatever guys walking down the street dressed in chains, drunk, racuously laughing, shouting at passing cars and waving around a bottle of rum, I'm probably be happy, since I've got a better chance to get a free drink then worried about getting in trouble. Heck, at 3am on a weekend night, I'll probably be drunk too. I practically see no need for my gun here, but I have it for fun. My neighbor across the hall's spent time in jail. I don't know what for, fighting at least. He's not allowed to own a gun. He sells marijiuana. One of the nicest guys I know. He's working to get his degree, working with special ed kids. I go there to borrow stuff all the time, we go partying and picking up girls on weekends. I was squeaky clean before I came here. Live in a well-off suburbs of a major city, right up against the coast, overlooking the ocean. Every house cost over $500,000, and crime's almost nonexistant. Christian parents. I would've reacted the same way as most of the people, and maybe still would over there. But living here's changed my mind a bit about appearances.
 
oldbillthundercheif & razorburn,
I can respond and do so truthfully. I don't avoid minorities or gang banger looking dudes. I speak to all sorts of people but I DO know which people to avoid. I just happen to own a very nice Ford Powerstroke Diesel 4x4 with all kinds of modifications on it and it's sort of a show truck and I get all kinds of comments on it especially from the younger crowd including some pretty seedy characters. But I talk to all of them and indulge in some pretty good conversations but like I said I know which ones to avoid, you know maybe the ones who might be interested in stealing the truck not just looking at it, after all I've got over $50000 invested in it. I encourage the guys to check out the club for Ford diesels (Western New York Powerstroke Association) I started about 3 years ago www.wnypa.org and tell them to come to one of our events. Who knows maybe someday they'll own a Ford Powerstroke. It's not much but it's my little contribution to help and get to know my "neighbors".
 
Hey, old bill.

Just curious.

Is it supposed to be thunder 'chief' or thunder 'chef'.....or is it really thunder 'cheif'?
.
 
Getting to know your neighbors, and being friendly can backfire too (even in a "good" neighborhood.) Back in high school I became buddies with a neighbor. We went fishing together, played ball, etc. Couple months later playing video games one night at my house, the punk went to the bathroom, grabbed my mother's purse on the way, and took every last penny out of it (literally). The kid was very polite, well groomed, and cunning. I don't doubt it was his intention all along, we're just lucky he didn't get away with anything else. Evil comes in all shapes and sizes. No matter how hard you prepare, train, etc. sometimes the odds are just against you. You can't prevent everything, but you can certainly limit your liabilities and exposure.
 
Thundercheif (one word). As in the F-105 Thundercheif. I never piled up as many hours in that fine aircraft as I would have liked, but I trained on one way back in the old days. It was sort of a fluke that I ever got to fly one in the first place. I wonder what they go for on the surplus market?
 
There's situational awareness and then there's paranoia
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Its only paranoia if 2 additional circumstances are met - or one specific condition occurs
1. other people know you are doing it
and
2. nothing happens

If something happens, it wont be paranoia, it will be preperation, if nobody notices your "preperation" then its not a problem.

The one specific condition it would be paranoia is if it is restricting your life. Such as, you wont go out of your house. Then its starting to qualify as an illness...
 
If I recall, to paraphrase Samuel Clemens, "To say that clothes do not make the man is utter nonsense! No naked man since Adam has had any worthwhile impact on society!"

And then a comment from G. B. Trudeau (also paraphrased), "Are you judged by how you dress? Certainly! If you walked into the boardroom of a Fortune 500 corporation wearing the attire of a Hamas terrorist you would have no justification whatsoever in feeling outrage at the immediate and clearly biased reactions you would receive!"

Clearly, then, we must anticipate the reverse is also true, as Friday, from the Addams Family answered, when questioned about her aparrent lack of a costume; "I'm a homicidal maniac. I look just like everyone else!"

I have a sociological baseline of living in near seclusion in the mountains. When venturing out and going even to the flats and Denver, I find I recognize clear behavioral patterns of predator and prey amidst the egoconcentric and often vapid horde. It's cause for cautious and oblique, unobtrusive curiosity.

Absolutely, I profile.

I am not dinner.

Trisha
 
While I have no problem with "profiling," including profiling which has race as a major factor (but certainly not a sole factor), I would like to point out that just because some Black adolescents (or "Hispanic," if that fits the stereotype in your neighborhood) are dressed like young criminals, it does not necessarily mean that they ARE young criminals. Sometimes fashions of dress among high-school kids follow the criminal element even though the behavior doesn't. Where I live, far more high-school kids wear ill-fitting jailbird clothing than could possibly be criminal. It's just a stupid kid thing; they'll grow out of it.

Prejudices are an important tool, but don't let them distract you from Pickpocket's mental exercise.
 
You have serious problems if you un-holster your weapon everytime you're around someone with baggy pants. Give me a break, this isn't 1940. I dunno if you've realized it or not, but times change.
 
The basis of profile is developed from statistical averages of who commits specific unlawful activity based on the inclusion of their percentile of population. Does it come down to race or ethnic profiles ?? Of course it does, because race is normally used to develop the percentile.
 
Crime is an economic issue, not a racial one. People in the lowest income brackets will commit more crime, regardless of their race.
 
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