.... It can include signature profiling, psychological profiling, modus operandi and hundreds of other aspects to pre-identify criminal intent. The techniques are used worldwide as those gang societies emerge as dangerous to civilized populations.
Recently three Middle Eastern looking men raised interest while snapping pictures of entrances and exits in a mall in Vancouver. Many people saw it and reported it. Later it was said by police that the three were British tourists and they had poor vision. Hmm. Really? This was accepted by officialdom even though all three were taking pictures. So all three had poor vision? As it turned out to be innocent there was no panic. But would that dispel any apprehension for you? Doesn't work for me. We hope that CSIS would also require further info of such public suspicions.
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| If you see something, say something |
The latest mantra in a wary and nervous North America and Europe has been; If you see something, say something. So people did. No slight against our three British tourists. It is what it is.
Last week a hotel in Burkina Faso, was stormed by al Qaeda leaving 28 dead. Westgate Mall in Nairobi was labeled a massacre! London was bombed. Paris is fresh in memory for Charlie Hebdo and the Bataclan theatre. Jakarta, Indonesia had 12 killed too.
The local police in Vancouver said they were not profiling. Of course they were not, they did not swoop down on the three and make arrests. Shoppers in the mall saw something and said something. It was the public at large who were profiling. For whatever reason but probably on a new awareness of news events around the world. They held a subliminal profile of what they saw as a potentially dangerous situation.
Every week we see another mall or public facility bombed or attacked by jihadists, or Islamic radicals. And in spite of assurances by police, the public feels threatened and nervous. Profiling will only get more intensive and extensive.
What causes profiling?
Past history? Events that lead to confirmed suspicions? Some Highway Patrol officers in America are as high as 90 % correct when pulling over drivers on certain highways they suspect of transporting drugs. Border patrol are excellent at targeting smugglers. Reading the signs that alert their suspicions is subconscious profiling.
You don't need anything but experience, and people everywhere are gaining that experience just through paying attention to news reporting. We see the nasty characters on TV and their demeanor registers in our minds. And over time we form a profile of those criminals.
Even dogs are profiled. Watch people on the street avoid a pitbull. Why? Because their minds automatically make a negative profile on pitbulls based on the thousands of attacks on humans and the subsequent publicity.
Why do the cops watch an orange Lamborghini with a teenager revving it while driving? Because most police anticipate that Daddy's money bought him that car and he is very likely to kill himself against a tree from street racing. No one needs a written profile to be aware.
What of two 'hunters' in dark glasses wearing those cloth caps that fold down over the ears, and hunter vests while cruising past in their pickup truck with a old camper unit. Moose decals on the rear door. There is no hunting in town. So what are they doing besides giving you the creeps?They need to do nothing, in many minds these are the guys from a horror movie who are looking for chain saw targets.
Profiling is a viscous circle. Once two real murderers looked just like those two in that truck .... newspapers and TV exploited the story, Hollywood picked up on it for horror value. Many saw the actor characters on TV and the profile was complete, from real to fiction to real again. At least in public minds.
Profiling goes way back. Wear long hair, a headband and a tie-dye shirt and it will be assumed you smoke pot. Look the part and expect attention.
Profiling is here to stay.
Many believe there are just too many instances and too many repugnant groups who want to cause trouble to a free society, and the public is now into the psychological technique, perhaps unconsciously.
The so-called downside of these actions is political correctness and that some people may be accused of actions seen as suspicious when actually innocent. The upside is that someone may prevent a mass killing in their midst.
And politically correct, unpleasant or not, if you see something, say something.
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| If you see something, say something |
We have to accept profiling.
