How Racial Profiling Helped Elliot Rodger Murder 7 People in Isla Vista

Racial Profiling

Everyone involved in this tragedy was white. So, why do I bring up racial profiling?  Please hear me out.  The parents of Elliot Rodger contacted the police and informed them that they were concerned about their son. We don't know the exact conversation.  But we do know the gist of the police report that was sent back to the parents. They concluded that he was "perfectly polite and courteous" but appeared to have problems finding a girlfriend.

Now what if the parents and Elliot Rodger had been black?  What is the probability that the police going to his apartment checking for "irregularities" would not have been vigilant, search warrant in hand, ready to rip that kid's apartment to pieces?   The reason for the stark difference in approach is one of mentality.  Law enforcement officers believe at the core of their being that their salaries are paid by wealthy and middle class Americans who need to be protected from the inner city poor.  This is why police brutality and profiling have been such permanent fixtures in black neighborhoods.

So mass murderer Elliot Rodger admits in his 137 page manifesto how nervous he was when the police came to make the welfare check, "saying his whole plan would have been foiled had the officer found his guns and writing, which were in his room."  But he needn't have been.

Now do you see my point?   I guess you could call what happened in the case of Elliot Rodger  "reverse police un-brutality non-profiling."  And  look at the results.  The Santa Barbara police department was  incapable of doing a simple, straight forward job of checking out a kid who had mental problems and was threatening mass murder.  

Will the Santa Barbara police have learned any lessons? Will America have learned any lessons?