IN-PERSON London. Section A

Abstract

A police stop is an intervention by a police officer that leads to the identification of an individual, without the incident leading to a sanction (fine, charge or arrest). Police stops are used as a crime prevention or investigative policing strategy. However, evidence suggests that police stop practices tend to be discriminatory and can have detrimental effects on individuals and communities living in urban environments. Yet, current research on the social and spatial distribution of police stops is limited by unavailable, partial, and biased data. This study assesses the validity of a Volunteered Geographic Information System (VGIS) to measure publicly contributed police stop experiences in a large urban area. Between July 14th 2021 and December 21st 2021, a total of 517 unique police stop experiences occurring in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, were contributed to the stopmtl.ca website. Data validity was established based on criteria of representativeness, thematic accuracy and logical consistency. The spatial distribution of reported police stop experiences was comparable with police-recorded stops, denoted in part by a positive bivariate correlation at the borough-level. There was some indication of a comparable social distribution, although gender and racioethnic differences were observed. Furthermore, police stop experiences were spatially correlated with the probability of police-recorded stops, the probability of property and violent crime, and with indices of material and social deprivation. The findings make an important methodological contribution by demonstrating the capacity to generate valid quantitative data using a VGIS crowdsourcing approach to measure police stop experiences in a large urban area.