Most of us are aware of the Color Code of Awareness as well as the OODA loop and, generically, what profiling entails.  They are NOT separate entities or actions, they are all part of a seamless continuum of awareness and response which is innate to us as living creatures.
 
As humans we are hardwired to look around our environment and make assessments about what is dangerous and what is not dangerous.
 
Our instincts make us do this.  Modern life, with a million things to do, cell phones, iPods and the false sense of security that living among other humans brings, dulls the edge we are born with.
 
Adequate awareness, profiling and planning can mitigate most, though not all, dangerous circumstances.  In other words, avoiding the fight before it gets to that point.  It also provides the advantage of shortening your reaction time to an incident as well as giving you a possible "edge" should it come to an attack.
 
Basically, we can arrange elements of our world into three groups.

Probably or likely to be:

1.                  Dangerous (to us or those we care about)
2.                  Neutral
3.                  Beneficial
 
We make these distinctions based on personal experience and rational internal debate as well as our basic instinct or intuition.
 
A large fire burning inside the hallway of your home is DANGEROUS = RUN!
The flame of a candle on television is NEUTRAL = of no consequence.
The flickering of flames on the logs in your fireplace is BENEFICIAL = ENJOY.
 
You have observed the flames and assessed the potential for danger or benefit and made a decision as to any action required based on your own experience and the relative situations where the flames were seen. 
 
Profiling is considered by some to be a bad word or deed.  Profiling is however, natural, instinctual and necessary for our safety.  We profile daily and continuously without even being aware of it.  An example would be driving into a parking lot and determining the likely safety of parking in one spot versus another.  Lighting, distance to the door, other cars, dark corners and the people in the immediate vicinity all play a roll in that assessment or profile.  All this takes place without verbalization or prolonged internal debate.  You look, you assess, you decide and you park where you think/feel it to be most advantageous.
 
Profiling people is normal and necessary.  If it looks like a typical urban thug, dresses like a typical urban thug and acts like a typical urban thug, then call it an urban thug!  You have just profiled that person.
 
If you see people who don't dress like they come from the area you see them in and are doing something quietly in the shadows while looking over their shoulders repeatedly, you have just profiled that group and their activity.
 
Profiling is nothing more than observation and evaluation.  You observe what there is to see and you assess the probable danger, neutrality or benefit.
 
The Color Code of Mental Awareness, credited to Col. Cooper's adaptation of the Marine Corps system in his book, "Principles of Personal Defense", has four levels.
 
White               Unaware, unprepared, daydreaming
Yellow              Relaxed but alert
Orange             Specific alert and decision making process
Red (or BLACK) The fight is ON!
 
Condition YELLOW is observant.  Watching and profiling.
 
Condition ORANGE is evaluating and assessing what you have observed and determining that something is not quite right.  Your attention is drawn to a possible problem and you are engaged in determining your likely action or solution.
 
Condition RED (or BLACK) is acting on the mental trigger, the so-called "line in the sand" that you decided upon in condition orange, e.g., "If those two gang-bangers come across the parking lot in my direction, I will move behind my vehicle and get my pistol out."
 
This all dovetails nicely into the OODA loop as proposed by Col. John Boyd.
 
O         Observe
O         Orient
D         Decide
A         ACT!
 
You observe a person and profile them as dangerous, neutral or beneficial.  You orient to the observed (in this case) threat and determine possible courses of action on your part such as, leave as quickly as possible, call loudly for help, take up a better position or get a weapon ready for an attack.  You decide what threshold must be crossed for your plan to be actuated.  Proximity equals urgency so a "line" farther rather than nearer has already been established in your mind.  The mental "trigger" (the aggressor's coming too near, circling your position, trash-talking at you, pre-attack grooming, reaching into their waist band or behind their back) has been reached and exceeded and you have initiated your pre-planned response.
 
The action you have just taken requires that the aggressor restart at the beginning of his OODA loop.  You have just taken the initiative!
 
 A simple table will show the interconnectedness of Profiling, Color Code and the OODA loop.
 
PROFILING COLOR CODE OODA