Professor Reginald Whitaker
Profiling – From Racial to Behavioural

Profiling is seen in very different ways by the profilers and the profiled. Analysis of the effectiveness of the practice varies dramatically according to the perspective of the analyst. Policing and security agencies assert that they do engage in racial and religious profiling, as such, and that such profiling is neither efficient nor effective. Those on the receiving end on the other hand assert that they are targeted along racial and religious lines. In certain senses, both the profilers and the profiled are right.

This paper will focus on a case study of improvements in security screening of air passengers in North America and Europe using the Israeli-inspired concept of ‘behavioural profiling’ of passengers, in which emphasis is placed on detecting atypical or anomalous behavioural patters that flag a small number of suspect passengers for closer scrutiny. A federal advisory panel on aviation security, of which the author was the chair, examined behavioural profiling closely and, while refusing to rule the concept out, expressed caution about moving too quickly in this direction. While there may be value from a risk-management perspective, there may also be pitfalls to this approach, not the least of which is racial stereotyping.

Reg Whitaker is Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus at York University and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Victoria. Recent books include The End of Privacy: How Total Surveillance is Becoming a Reality ( 1999) and Canada and the Cold War with Steve Hewitt (2003). He served on the Advisory Panel to Justice O’Connor on the Commission of Inquiry into the Maher Arar affair; chaired the Advisory Panel to the Minister of Transport reviewing the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority Act in 2006; and is currently advising the Commission of Inquiry into the Air India bombing on the aviation security aspects of the Air India bombing.