U.S. Attorney General to Unveil New Limits on Racial Profiling

The Justice Department is announcing new limits Monday on racial profiling, after a string of unarmed blacks at the hands of white police officers that have stirred widespread protests.

Except for cases involving terror suspects, federal law enforcement agencies will face a broader ban on controls and arrests based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sex or sexual orientation, officials said.

Attorney General Eric Holder is due to detail the new criteria -- which apply to operations involving federal police -- on a conference call with local law enforcement leaders, following a revision of the principles set by his predecessor in 2003.

"As attorney general, I have repeatedly made clear that profiling by law enforcement is not only wrong, it is profoundly misguided and ineffective -- because it wastes precious resources and undermines the public trust," Holder said in a memo.

Holder, the first African American to serve as America's top law enforcement official, had promised to take action after a series of incidents that saw white police officers go unpunished for killing unarmed blacks in Cleveland, Ohio; Ferguson, Missouri; New York and Phoenix, Arizona.

"Particularly in light of certain recent incidents we've seen at the local level -- and the widespread 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 strong and sound policing practices," Holder said.

"With this new guidance, we take a major and important step forward to ensure effective policing by federal law enforcement officials and state and local law enforcement participating in federal task forces throughout the nation."

Exempt from the new criteria will be screenings at borders and airports, along with other federal personnel such as the military, intelligence and diplomacy.

Holder noted that the guidelines were the result of a "scrupulous" five-year review.