ETHNIC PROFILING

FROM THE GOTHAMIST

Assemblyman: Use Ethnic Profiling To Catch Terrorists

In the wake of a Nigerian man's failed attempt to blow up an airplane as it landed in Detroit on Christmas, Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind is calling on authorities to instate a policy of ethnic profiling to stop would-be terrorists. According to CBS, the Borough Park Democrat — who was last spotted protesting against the inclusion of gays, gypsies, and the disabled at a Holocaust memorial — argues that politicians must "[l]et law enforcement do what it feels is necessary without tying their hands."

"This is the time we need to do the kind of things that we would not do under ordinary circumstances," said Hikind, who plans to introduce the profiling bill when legislation reconvenes in January. "It is to use ethnicity as one, and it's very clear, as one of the many different things that law enforcement can use." If history is any record, this bill won't go far. In 2005, Hikind proposed similar legislation that never even reached the Assembly floor. Though his first attempt at enacting ethnic profiling didn't get far, supporters defend the controversial measure and say it has worked successfully in Israel on El-Al Airlines.

But security experts and other lawmakers say a more effective strategy for combating terrorism is for the public "to become better at spotting suspicious behaviors and then be more willing to come forward and report what they see," according to the CBS.

By Ben Muessig in News on December 29, 2009 3:38 PM