UPI Poll: Profiling by airport screeners

WASHINGTON, April 25 (UPI) -- More than half of respondents in the UPI-Zogby International poll say U.S. airport screeners use racial and ethnic profiling when checking travelers.

And, what's more, those poll participants say those security workers should use profiling when screening passengers.

A total of 59.1 percent of respondents either strongly agree (22.5 percent) or somewhat agree (36.6 percent) with the statement that airline screeners use racial or ethnic profiling. Another 17.1 percent somewhat disagreed with the statement while 13.9 percent strongly disagreed.

Some 65 percent either strongly agree (40.1 percent) or somewhat agree (24.9 percent) that such profiling should be used by security screeners.

Almost 4-in-5 -- 78.2 percent -- of African-American poll participants strongly or somewhat agreed that racial profiling was used and were among the lowest -- at a combined 34.2 percent -- of the groups saying it should be used. African-Americans are often the victims of racial-profiling schemes.

A total of 5,932 U.S. residents participated in the Zogby interactive poll conducted April 13-16. There is a margin of error of 1.3 percentage points.