NEW YORK, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A New York state legislator has called for police to use racial profiling in random searches of people using New York's transit system.
Brooklyn Democrat Dov Hikind said he plans to introduce legislation allowing police to use racial profiling to target Middle Eastern-looking passengers when they search bags.
Speaking to reporters, Hikind held up a list of the FBI's most wanted terrorists, and noted they all looked similar.
"They all look a certain way," he said. "It's all very nice to be politically correct here, but we're talking about terrorism.
"There is a terrorist profile for a potential suicide bomber, and it's not the 75-year-old grandmother ... who has an oversized tote bag firmly tucked under her arm," said Hikind.
However, city police were quick to denounce the plan, the New York Post reported.
"Racial profiling is illegal, of doubtful effectiveness, and against department policy," said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.
