Profiling Revisited

December 12, 2010

A few months ago I posted a short piece on profiling. With the recent insanity implemented by the professional voyeurs and gropers employed by the TSA, I've been thinking about revisiting that issue, and yesterday I saw a very good piece on it on the American Thinker website. In it, Selwyn Duke points out that

there's no such thing as "racial profiling." Rather, there are only two types of profiling: Good profiling and bad profiling.

Good profiling refers to thorough, effective profiling. Bad profiling refers to sloppy, ineffective profiling. Profiling is nothing more nor less than making a judgment based on a rational analysis of a series of actual events, and assessing the likelihood of involvement in a past event or making a prediction of future events, based on the patterns established in those prior events. It's what scientists, businessmen, baseball coaches, admissions officers, and parents do all the time. It's common sense.

As Duke explains, profiling is also much more fair than other methods, because the methods and conclusions can--and must--change with the circumstances. He writes:

If the facts on the ground change -- if, let's say, massive numbers of alabaster-skinned, Christian Norwegians become suicide bombers -- the profile will change. As of now, however, those willing to sacrifice themselves to blow up an airplane are 100 percent of the time Muslim and 99 percent of the time non-white. That's called a strong correlation. That's called the world's most specific profile. It's called something you ignore at your own peril.

Because I choose to live prudently, and because I value my life and the lives of my family members, and because I value my property, I profile the individuals I deal with, come in contact with, or am near each day. I base that on every piece of data available, whether it is my own experience or the accumulation of experiences of others. It includes appearance, speech, movements, smell, personality, beliefs, anything at all that establishes a consistent pattern connected with damaging behavior.

Rational adults profile.

Cross-posted at Old-fashioned Clarity.