In an effort to avoid being racially insensitive and ward off claims of racial profiling, a major Midwestern university campus police department has decided to no longer identify crime suspects by color. I guess this means that instead of narrowing down a suspect list that everybody will now necessarily become suspect in crimes.
As the PC police take over it is easy to see where this will go. After eliminating identifying characteristics by race we will next move to gender. Gender equality is important after all. Then we will no longer identify crime suspects by body build. No longer will police be able to identify a genderless, colorless person by height or weight. Let us not leave out disabilities. Glasses? Nope. Walk with a limp? Nope. Did the suspect cough or sneeze? Can't ask that question as it violates HIPAA laws. What kind of car did the suspect drive? Can't ask that question either as it reveals economic status. Eye color? No. That might reveal something about a person's ancestors, thus nation of origin and ethnicity. Hair color and texture pose the same problem as eye color. Jewelry? Can't ask as the suspect may have been wearing a cross or Star of David. Clothing? Don't ask as that may also reveal something about a person's religion. Heaven forbid should we start looking for somebody in the Muslim or Jewish communities.
I can see it now. The dispatcher tells officers to be on the lookout (we call it a BOLO) for a suspect in an unspecified crime that took place at an undisclosed location. (Since criminals tend to commit crimes close to home we don't want to single out neighborhoods as perhaps being undesirable.) Press briefings will go something like this: "A person was the victim of a crime. We had a second, third, and fourth crime yesterday. People reported that they too were victims. There being no questions, this ends our press briefing. You can come back tomorrow for further information or you can just make up your own police blotter reports."
What next?
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