Analysis of the phenomenon of racial profiling in the use of stop and frisk in the U.S. police

Rasna diskriminacija v delovanju organov kazenskopravnega sistema v Združenih državah Amerike sega daleč v zgodovino in je še danes globoko zakoreninjena v organizacijskih kulturah, sistemih, postopkih in nenazadnje tudi posameznih akterjih kazenskopravnega sistema. Ravno policija je tista, ki zaradi narave svojega dela prestavlja prvotni stik s skupnostjo in kot taka s svojo diskrecijsko pravico odloča o uvedbi policijskega postopka. V diplomskem delu se osredotočimo na analizo pojava rasnega profiliranja v postopkih »stop and frisk«, kar lahko povzamemo kot uporabo rase pri odločanju, koga ustaviti, zaslišati in preiskati. Zaradi omenjene prakse so rasne manjšine v ZDA, sploh temnopolti, izpostavljene pogostokrat neupravičenemu in neutemeljenemu stiku s policijo. Na ta račun so bile vložene mnoge tožbe, iz njih pa izhaja kar nekaj prelomnih sodnih primerov, ki so s svojimi zaključki začrtali uporabo pooblastila »stop and frisk« v prihodnosti. Izvajanje rasno diskriminatornih postopkov s strani policije v javnosti vedno znova vzbuja neodobravanje in zaskrbljenost, kar posledično vodi v izgubo zaupanja v policijsko delo in oslabljeno sodelovanje skupnosti, kar pa je v nasprotju s policijsko zaprisego služenja in varovanja skupnosti kot primarne policijske funkcije. Poleg postopkovnih nepravičnosti pa rasno profiliranje pušča tudi dolgotrajne negativne posledice v življenjih nedolžnih posameznikov, ki so neupravičeno izpostavljeni kazenskopravnemu sistemu.Racial discrimination in law enforcement in the United Stated goes back a long way and is still deeply rooted in organisational cultures, systems, proceedings and ultimately individual actors of the criminal justice system. It is the police who, by the nature of their work, has the initial contact with the community and as such has the discretion to decide whether or not to initiate a police proceeding. In this thesis, we focus on analysing the phenomenon of racial profiling in stop and frisk proceedings, which can be summarised as the use of race in deciding who to stop, question and frisk. As a result of this practice, racial minorities in the US, in particular black people, are often subjected to unjustified and unwarranted contact with the police. Many lawsuits have been brought on this account and several landmark court cases have emerged from them, which have set the future course of the use of stop and frisk. The implementation of racially discriminatory practices by the police has repeatedly aroused public disapproval and concern, resulting in a loss of trust in the US police and weakened community cooperation, which is contrary to the police oath to serve and protect the community as a primary policing function. In addition to procedural injustice, racial profiling also has long-lasting negative consequences in the lives of innocent individuals who are unfairly subjected to the criminal justice system