My second article was about consumer racial profiling to identify shoplifters. Large retailers such as JCPenny, Wal-Mart, Dillard's, and Cracker Barrel use profiling to identify shoplifters. Many retailers are losing billions of dollars each year to shoplifting. The article uses Gallup polls to find out whether people support this tactic and to know ones surprise most people do support it. It is also known that African Americans were most likely to raise suspicion among other races of people according to my research. An interview based study found that blacks felt that they were targeted by excessive surveillance. To support this theory an experiment was conducted among white groups and black groups. They were instructed to inquire about sunglasses to purchase that had sensor tags on them. The sales clerks complied with both groups of customers demands but disguised researchers noticed that the black group was more closely watched then the white group. In addition, it is also noted that sales clerks are more likely to profile than security personnel. Lastly, the article discusses is it ethical to use such strategies to identify shoplifters.
From article: "These empirical analyes of cases pointed to the fact that sales clerks, as opposed to security personnel, were the ones most likely to be accused of CRP."
From article: "However, in recent years, it has been alleged in litigation that racial/ethnic profiling represents another preventative tactic that has been used by well-known retailers such as Wal-Mart JCPenny, Dillard's, and Cracker Barrel, among others (Gabbidon,2003; Harris, 2003).
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