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Profiling(犯罪剖绘) As the stars of true

游客2023-08-31  30
问题                                         Profiling(犯罪剖绘)
    As the stars of true-crime documentaries, TV series and Hollywood thrillers, criminal profilers have one of the best-known law enforcement jobs in the world. Basic profiling—identifying, the perpetrator(犯罪者) of a crime based on an analysis of crime and the way it was committed—is a common investigative tool. But some fear that police departments have taken profiling too far, harassing or even arresting people because of certain characteristics they might have in common with criminals—or worse yet, because of their skin color. Others argue that in an age of terrorism and violent crime, we can’t afford not to examine people based on crime patterns, even if that means suspicion based on race.
Basics of Profiling
    The most basic kind of profiling is a Be On the Lookout (BOLO) or All-Points Bulletin (APB). You’re probably familiar with these, although you might not have heard it referred to as a profile.
    An APB is a description of a specific suspect accused of committing a specific crime or crimes, usually based on eyewitness accounts. For example, following a bank robbery, police might interview suspects and review surveillance camera footage before releasing the following APB:
    Suspect was last seen in a dark blue Ford pick-up truck. He was wearing a red T-shirt and black jeans. Suspect is described as a white male, 5-feet 10-inches tall and thin with receding blond hair. He has a tattoo of a snake on his left forearm.
    The next step in profiling is the psychological profile. Investigators create this profile in the absence of physical evidence or eyewitness descriptions, or to supplement such descriptions. They take what they know about an unknown suspect and his actions and try to generate additional information. For example, if a serial murderer has been killing the female employees of a law firm, profilers might find it likely that the killer is a male former employee or client of the law firm.
    Other evidence, such as notes left by the killer, the location of the killing, or the state of the crime scene can allow profilers to develop "educated guesses." These guesses might include things like the suspect’s education level, psychological traumas(创伤) he has suffered or where he lives. They are not always 100 percent accurate, and sometimes they can be rather vague.
Predictive Profiling
    With predictive profiling, criminal profiling gets more controversial. Instead of seeking a particular suspect based on evidence at a specific crime, predictive profiling attempts to guess which people are likely to commit a crime that hasn’t happened yet.
    This isn’t a revolutionary idea by itself. Police officers don’t just react to crimes: they patrol, observe and try to spot suspicious behavior that could mean a crime is going to take place. Few people would question an officers’ right to investigate a suspicious situation or question a suspicious person. Even when police departments use their criminal profiles as a justification for searches and arrests without warrants, those practices have been upheld by the Supreme Court.
    Here’s an example. State troopers are patrolling a stretch of highway known to be frequented by drug traffickers(干非法勾当者). The officers know from previous experience that drug traffickers often use rented cars, travel in the very early morning, and put the spare tire in the backseat to leave more room in the trunk for drugs.
    At 4:00 a.m. an officer notices a car that fits this profile. The driver is not breaking any major traffic rules, but the trooper pulls the car over anyway, hoping to spot some evidence that could lead to a search of the car. This is considered profiling. The practice of noting criminal tendencies and creating a written profile is sometimes attributed to Florida Highway Patrolman Bob Vogel, although it was probably carried out by others at the same time or prior to Vogel’s use of "cumulative similarities."
    This kind of profiling can occur when the high-level officials create a policy and program that instructs officers to investigate people who fit a predetermined profile. It can also be part of an unofficial policy, an aspect of the police department’s culture passed down from veteran cops to newcomers on the force. Sometimes it simply results from an officer’s experience. After years on the job, he has learned what signs might indicate criminal activity.
    To determine if such a profile justifies a warrantless arrest or search, the officer must be able to describe the specific factors that ltd him to believe the suspect was a criminal. A hunch or a feeling won’t stand up in court. The following statement probably would.
    The suspect appeared nervous and made several contradictory statements. In the back seat, I could see a shoe box full of 35mm film cans, which drug couriers frequently use to store drugs. The car smelled like air freshener spray, which is often used to cover up the smell of illegal drugs. I spotted the suspect driving slowly up and down a block I know to be frequented by drug dealers.
    That kind of profile is not only legal, it’s considered good police work.
Probable Cause Analysis
    During a traffic stop, an officer can take several different actions that require different kinds of probable cause for them to be legal. Here we’ll examine each step and break down the elements of probable cause.
    Pulling over a vehicle. To legally pull someone over, an officer needs to have witnessed a traffic violation. He can also check the license plate number to see if the car is stolen or if there are arrest warrants out for the registered owner. If the car and its occupants fit a criminal profile, the officer can make a stop as long as he can describe specific factors that fit the profile. The race or skin color of the driver and occupants can’t come into play, however.
    Questioning the suspect. Once the officer pulls over a vehicle, he doesn’t necessarily have to write a ticket. If the vehicle seems suspicious, the officer may just want to question the occupants, check their licenses against the department database and look inside the ear. He can look at anything in plain view in the ear. However, he does not have sufficient cause yet to enter and search the ear. To do so would violate the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. However, if this preliminary investigation adds more weight to the officer’s initial suspicion, he may have probable cause for an arrest and search. Again, this depends on the presence of specific factors in the profile, not just a "feeling" and race cannot be a factor.
    Consent to search. If the actions of the suspects or the contents of their car raise further suspicions, the officer can ask the driver for consent to search the ear. No one is ever required to say yes, but if they do, the officer needs no additional cause. The suspect has waived(放弃) his Fourth Amendment rights, and the officer can conduct a full search. The officer is not required to tell the suspect that he can refuse consent (at least, not under federal law—some states may have laws requiring this notification). This aspect is controversial because not everyone is a ware of their right to refuse consent, and many people say yes out of fear or the feeling that the officer will do the search anyway.
    If consent is refused, the officer may detain the suspects for a reasonable amount of time. In 2005, the US Supreme Court decided that using a drug-sniffing dog around the outside of a vehicle does not require a warrant nor any specific suspicion or probable cause, and does not violate the Fourth Amendment. If the dog "alerts" to the presence of drugs, that creates enough probable cause for a full search, without consent or a warrant. The "reasonable" a mount of time provision is vaguely defined, although wait times up to 90 minutes have been allowed by federal courts.
    Full search with probable cause. The alert of a drug-sniffing dog, or seeing drugs or weapons sitting in plain sight inside the car are the most commonly accepted forms of probable cause.
    If the officer performs any of these actions without probable cause, then any evidence gathered as a result will not be allowed court. This could make it very difficult to successfully prosecute the suspect.
选项 A、Y
B、N
C、NG
答案 A
解析 由题干关键词Basic profiling, widely used investigating tool可将答案定位至第一段第二句。由这部分的主要结构But some fear that... Others argue that...来看，对这种调查手段是存在不同意见的，由此证明本题陈述正确。
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