In another ugly example of police profiling, officers have been stopping and investigating certain people simply because they happen to be celebrities.

“We saw it with the arrest of Michael Jackson,” said publicist and civil libertarian Rhonda Fakename of Jersey City.

“We saw it with accusations against Robert Blake and O.J. Simpson, the conviction of Christian Brando, the recent arrest of country singer Glen Campbell for assaulting a police officer and Matthew McConaughey’s arrest a few years ago while dancing naked and playing bongo drums. Now patrol cars are cruising around the Hollywood Hills and Manhattan’s Upper West Side just looking for any celebrity to step out of line so they can pull them in and roust them.”

She added that she has seen this practice among New Jersey state troopers. “Just the other day, two cars burned past me on the Turnpike, but the cop only pulled over the second one because it was being driven by Jeff Foxworthy.”

Arrest numbers back up Fakename’s observations. In 47,000 Turnpike stops last year, fully half of those arrested had a sitcom credit or at least a decent head-shot. This is grossly disproportionate to the number of famous people responsible for serious crimes as well as to the number of sitcom actors living in New Jersey.

Police sources, however, denied that they are targeting celebrities.

“We deny that we are targeting celebrities,” said trooper Sgt. Hilary Falsequote.

“We don’t prejudge. I’ve dealt with many horrible celebrities who have no respect for the badge. But I don’t automatically condemn someone just because they happen to be Estelle Getty.”

Critics say the profiling is not only unconstitutional but completely unjustified. In the 10 years before the profiling started, only half of 1 percent of all those convicted in the United States had any sort of film or record deal.

“Celebrities are, by and large, a peaceful people,” said Dr. Marvin Thisisfaketoo of the Harvard school of sociology. “Moreover, people have no reason to fear they will be targeted by a celebrity. In most cases, the victim of a celebrity is likely to be another celebrity.”

Nonetheless, because of so many high-profile cases and a few bad apples among the rich and famous, prejudice against celebrities runs deep. Some even defended the practice of profiling.

“It just happens to be that celebrities commit most of the crime in this country,” said Alf Sofake, despite the statistics. Sofake is president of the controversial Send Actors Going, a group of real estate agents who were accused last year of refusing to sell houses to famous people. This redlining practice is illegal but nonetheless cannot be tested in court until lawyers find a famous person who actually wants to live near Sofake.

“Perhaps that says something about the culture in which they grew up,” he said. “Someone needs to tell celebrities to stay in school and finish their education.”

Other people had been burned by bad experience with a celebrity.

“I knew Michael Jackson was accused 10 years ago of molesting a 13-year-old boy and that now he’s being accused of it molesting a 12-year-old,” said Sara Anotherfakename from Boston. “But I still sent my kids to stay with him. He’s a celebrity, after all. I figured they tend to be responsible. Well, I’ve learned my lesson. When Sally Field called and asked if she could take me camping, I hung up.”

As for the celebrities themselves? This harassment has left many of them feeling defensive and vulnerable, even while making them resent the unwarranted prejudice against them.

Said one TV actor, who asked not to be identified for fear of police retaliation, “Whenever I read in the paper that someone has committed some heinous crime, my first thought is, ‘Please, don’t let it be a celebrity.’ ”