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WASHINGTON Keeping police-community relations on the front burner, Attorney General Eric Holder announced an expanded policy Monday that bars federal agents from profiling based on gender, religion, national origin and gender identity.

Current rules dating from 2003 already bar federal agents from using race by itself to go after suspects. The new policy applies to federal agencies and joint task forces that involve local cops, who normally operate under their own policies.

But there are exemptions for national security and border security, drawing sharp responses from advocates.

Attorney General Eric Holder is trying to have it both ways, criticizing profiling while embracing it at the same time, said Antonio Ginatta of Human Rights Watch. Halfhearted reforms are a sorry legacy.

The revised rules will mean extra work for law enforcement in some cases.

Giving an example, the Justice Department said the feds cannot impose heavy enforcement based on a general assumption of crime in an area where one race is heavily represented.

In another example, a crackdown would be appropriate if law enforcement compiled arrest statistics and wasnt motivated by racial animus.

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Holder announces policy to ban feds from profiling