by Jeff Johns

Created on: February 25, 2010   Last Updated: February 26, 2010

Here is a news flash, law enforcement types have utilized profiling of potential suspects when trying to solve crimes for years. The reason why they use profiling is pretty simple; it works!

Let's not confuse police profiling with the pop culture, serial killer profilers of television shows like Criminal Minds or movies like Silence of the Lambs, we're talking about the more basic approach of adding up the disparate pieces of a puzzle to draw a conclusion that includes an outline of a perpetrator that fits the bill.

The simple addition of the R-word makes this a hot button issue. Race in America has become a third rail subject; the so-called “third rail” is the line that carries the electric charge to power a locomotive, touch this rail at your own risk!

Despite all of the simplistic arguments against profiling Muslims, that usually start out with a mention of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, the facts are pretty straightforward; the single largest terrorist threat that faces the United States stems from disenfranchised, Middle Eastern males who practice a particularly strident strand of the Muslim religion known as Whahhabism.

Successful criminal profiling breaks down to a pretty basic, three-tiered approach:

1- Studying the clues. The age old police process looks at physical evidence, locations of the crimes, perpetrators who are in custody. Think of it as a history lesson of the crime, with past indicators predicting future events.

2- Studying the crime or act of terrorism itself. This can involve the complex process of re-creating the the events and elements that led up to a prior crime. By talking to known associates of the perpetrator, utilizing information garnered from those involved in terrorist plots that have been captured before they could execute the act.

3- Studying the mind of the criminal. Getting inside the thought processes and what motivates them to perpetrate these catastrophic acts of terror. Much of what goes into this third phase comes from the interrogation of suspects.

The process helps law enforcement agencies to draw up a profile, a picture if you will, of what a “typical” terrorist suspect might be. Based on recent history that profile would likely be a young, male, of Middle Eastern descent.

The basic fact is that if you look at the most recent cases of acts or attempted acts of terrorism, these are the folks that fit that profile. See the so-called Underwear Bomber or the alleged Fort Hood shooter, Nidal Malik Hasan, as prime examples.

It's not likely that an 82 year old, Grandmother of six, hopping on a plane in Boca Raton to fly north to spend Christmas with the family in Philadelphia is among even the top fifty potential terrorists, even if she is trying to get her knitting needles on the flight.

Yet that Grandmother will likely be subjected to nearly the same level of scrutiny at the airport security check point as that Middle Eastern male.

It is the fear of cries of racial profiling and being labeled a racist, that has spawned this ridiculous wave of political correct policies that has everyone from the aforementioned Granny and even small children being subjected to over-the-top, scans, searches and shoe doffing that is so common place at U.S. Airports.

Is profiling of suspected terrorists perfect or fool-proof? Is it the only method we should utilize to fight terrorism? The short answers are no. It is however a better method of concentrating and focusing our anti-terrorism efforts on those who are actually commiting the crime.

I for one would be willing to run the risk of acts of terrorism by octogenarians, to let Granny keep her Dr. Scholl's and support hose in place.

Learn more about this author, Jeff Johns.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.