Some federal agents exempt from new profiling guidelines

The Department of Justice announced Monday stricter racial profiling guidelines amid the controversial killings of unarmed black men by white police officers, but not all federal agents will be required to follow the new rules.

The new profiling guidelines outlined in a memorandum issued Monday expand those that were put in place in 2003, which prohibited federal law enforcement agents from profiling on the base of race and ethnicity. Under the new guidelines, federal law enforcement agents are prohibited from profiling based on national origin, gender, gender identity, religion and sexual orientation.

SEE ALSO: Members of Congress call for an end to profiling by law enforcement

Attorney General Eric Holder has been pushing for these changes for the past five years. A DOJ official told Politico that Holder had been pressing to complete the revision before stepping down as attorney general, which is expected to happen early next year.

“As Attorney General, I have repeatedly made clear that racial profiling by law enforcement is not only wrong, it is misguided and ineffective – because it can mistakenly focus investigative efforts, waste precious resources and, ultimately, undermine the public trust,” Holder said in a statement.  “Particularly in light of  recent incidents we’ve seen at the local level – and the concerns about trust in the criminal justice process which so many have raised throughout the nation – it’s imperative that we take every possible action to institute sound, fair and strong policing practices.”

State and local law enforcement agencies will also have to comply with the new profiling guidelines but only when they’re working on federal law enforcement operations.

The new guidelines, however, won’t apply to agents working along the border and Transportation Security Administration employees screening airline passengers. Secret Service agents conducting intelligence operations will also be exempt.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security stressed, “This does not mean that officers and agents are free to profile. To the contrary, DHS’ existing policies make it categorically clear that profiling is prohibited, while articulating limited circumstances where it is permissible to rely in part on these characteristics, because of the unique nature of border and transportation security, as compared to traditional law enforcement.”

SEE ALSO: The Internet pays tribute to Trayvon Martin with #19ForTrayvon

The American Civil Liberties Union viewed the revision of the profiling guidelines as “an important signal of progress.” But the group also said the revisions don’t completely address the need to reform policing tactics at the state and local level, given that the recent controversial shootings were done by local police officers and not federal agents.

The ACLU also said it’s “baffling” that the new federal profiling guidelines will not apply to some federal agencies, like the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“Using race, the color of someone’s skin, religion, or ethnicity as any basis for suspicion or investigation is demoralizing, unconstitutional, and a practice that should be left in the history books, where it belongs,” Laura Murphy, the ACLU’s Washington legislative office director said in a statement.

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