How does criminal profiling differ from bias-based profiling?
While criminal profiling does add elements (such as gender, race, or ethnicity) to a list of factors scrutinized to identify a suspect, these elements are only parts of several pieces of the puzzle that police must put together to solve crime.
Bias-based profiling occurs when, whether intentionally or unintentionally, an officer applies his or her own personal, societal, or organizational biases or stereotypes when making decisions or taking police action, and the ONLY reason for that decision or action is because of a person's race, ethnicity, background, gender, sexual orientation, religion, economic status, age, culture or other personal characteristic, rather than the observed behavior of the individual or the identification of the individual as being, having been, or about to be engaged in criminal activity.
Policy