As a component of its Center for Excellence project, the University of Baguio School of Criminal Justice and Public Safety (SCJPS) hosted a webinar on March 3, 2024, focusing on racial profiling. Titled “Examining Racial Profiling in Law Enforcement: Impacts, Challenges, and Strategies on Reform”, the webinar utilized the Zoom platform to offer a comprehensive examination of racial profiling and its impact on the field of criminal justice.
Dr. Richard Jonathan Taduran, a renowned authority in Forensic Anthropology, was the webinar’s keynote speaker. His expertise and experience in the field made for an incredibly insightful seminar, imparting integral knowledge to the attendees on the problem of racial profiling and its effects on communities of color. Racial Profiling is a discriminatory practice that heavily relies on the race, color, or ethnicity of a person when suspecting them of committing a crime. The webinar went into great detail regarding challenges posed by racial profiling, going over the strategies for reforming law enforcement practices to ensure justice and equality for all members of society.
Mr. Taduran also explored the more ethical practice of Criminal Profiling, a method that makes use of the characteristics of a crime to draw conclusions about the probable offender’s personality and other traits. Participants of the webinar actively participated in meaningful discussions, exchanging experiences and ideas aimed at addressing the critical issues of racial profiling and the applications of criminal profiling.
The seminar saw dozens of attendees from the different sectors of public safety, including uniformed and non-uniformed personnel of the Philippine National Police, the Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. Also present were government employees from organizations such as the Multipurpose Cooperative of the Provincial Government of Ilocos Sur, as well as faculty members and students from private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and state universities and colleges across the Philippines, such as the University of Baguio, Benguet State University, Isabela State University, King’s College of the Philippines, Northeastern College, PHINMA Araullo University, and Quirino State University
The event serves as an advancement in tackling and reducing racial profiling within law enforcement. It underscores the commitment of UB to fostering informed dialogues and cooperative initiatives geared towards societal change. Though the road ahead may pose significant challenges and obstacles, the university and the School of Criminal Justice and Public Safety will continue on the journey to ensure that the future is safe for all members of society.
