Maintenance of public trust and confidence in the police are critical to effective policing and are achieved largely through fair and equitable treatment of the public. This is a basic requirement of law enforcement and the right of all persons in our society. All persons having contact with members of this department shall be treated in a non-partisan, fair, equitable and objective manner, in accordance with law, and without consideration of their race, color, ethnicity, creed, age, gender, and sexual orientation, national origin, socio-economic standing or other individual characteristics or distinctions.
Bias-based policing, also referred to in some instances as (illegal) profiling, refers to a decision by an officer to stop, detain or search an individual based solely on the race, color, ethnicity, creed, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, socio-economic standing, or individual characteristics or distinctions. The Pensacola Police Department prohibits biased-based policing/illegal profiling as a law enforcement tactic and will not tolerate or condone its use by any member.
However, criminal profiling is a legitimate law enforcement tool. It is an investigative method by which an officer, through observation of activities and environment, identifies suspicious behavior by individuals and develops a legal basis, consistent with the Fourth Amendment, to detain and question.
Any person may file a complaint with the department if they believe they have been stopped or searched based on illegal profiling/bias-based policing. No person shall be discouraged, intimidated or coerced from filing such a complaint.