In law enforcement, a profile is a set of general characteristics and features that are defined as being suspicious. For example, if a series of bank robberies occur involving young men in leather jackets, neighborhood police may profile young men in leather jackets. This means that the police will view people fitting this description as more likely suspects. In turn, the police will be more likely to stop and question young men wearing leather jackets than people meeting other descriptions. Racial profiling is the use of racial generalizations or stereotypes as a basis for stopping, searching, or questioning an individual. In contrast with profiling in general, racial profiling raises serious issues about the civil rights of individuals who are stopped only because they appear to be of a particular race. Some experts prefer the term "racially biased policing" because of difficulties in precisely defining racial profiling...