Roughly a third of people stopped by law enforcement in Montreal believe the call was related to their appearance or identity, according to new research that supports perceptions of racial and social profiling in policing , and which also shows an overrepresentation of LGBTQ+ people.
The participatory mapping project STOPMTL.ca, aimed at providing a more precise portrait of police arrests in the Quebec metropolis, unveiled its first results on Tuesday. These correspond in their entirety to the data of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), mentions the group of researchers.
But unlike the SPVM analyses, the study highlights for “the first time quantitative data suggesting that the people arrested perceive their arrest as discriminatory”, indicates the project’s principal researcher, Carolyn Côté-Lussier, professor in urban studies at the National Institute for Scientific Research (INRS).
“In 30% of arrests, the person believes that their identity or their appearance is one of the reasons for which they were arrested. It’s quite remarkable, ”she said in an interview.
The results are in line with the concerns about social and racial profiling expressed by several community organizations since the 1980s and suggested by an independent analysis of SPVM data in 2019, argues Ms. Côté-Lussier, also a researcher at the International Center for Comparative Criminology.
The survey, which identified hundreds of cases in 2021, however notes that a good part of the respondents (41%) perceived their arrest as being justified.
“When the project was launched, there was a fear that it would only attract those who had a negative experience, those who wanted to denounce the actions of the police,” says Ms. Côté-Lussier.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that 43% of participants believe that their interaction with the police was unjustified, which calls for improved practices, according to the research group.
“When individuals have an interaction with a member of the police, even if it leads to a charge, an arrest or a fine, they can be satisfied with that interaction as long as they think it was a good report; the person was respected, we explained the process, why they had been arrested, ”says the professor.
“When we don’t think that the actions of the police member are justified, it can lead to a loss of confidence in the police institution, and also in the confidence we had in the state and our feeling of inclusion in society,” she continued.
The researchers are planning another mobilization of data collection next fall or in 2024 in order to measure the impact of the SPVM’s new police arrest policy. The majority of experiences reported in the STOPMTL.ca project took place between 2016 and 2021, in many cases before the implementation of the policy in 2020.
Unsurprisingly, the arrests would have taken place in a greater proportion in the boroughs of Côte-des-Neiges (13%) and Ville-Marie (12%), according to the survey. A result comparable to the SPVM figures, although the police record a much higher proportion in the downtown area.
Overrepresentation of LGBTQ+ people
The research results also agree with data from the Montreal police force regarding an overrepresentation of black people in arrests. They accounted for about a quarter of the reported experiences while they form nearly 10% of the population according to the 2016 census.
However, unlike the SPVM analyses, the INRS research — also carried out with the collaboration of McGill, Concordia and College London universities — includes data on members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The survey shows an overrepresentation of this group. Nearly one in five people who said they were stopped identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual, while Statistics Canada estimated that LGBTQ+ people made up 4% of the Canadian population in 2018.
This trend is far from unique to Montreal. Other studies suggest that “sexual minorities tend to be disproportionately affected by police stopping practices,” reads the STOPMTL.ca report.
The literature tends to show that police arrests against these communities are linked to behaviors considered “incivility” or to sex work, particularly targeting transgender women who are frequently perceived as sex workers by the police. .
Deepen the search
The group of researchers recognizes that their survey has certain limitations, in particular due to a relatively small sample of 516 respondents. It must be said that participation in the STOPMTL.ca project was on a voluntary basis, people being invited to share their experience by filling out a form via a website.
In a next wave of data collection, the research team would like, for example, to better reach members of Arab and indigenous communities who would also be disproportionately challenged, specifies Ms. Côté-Lussier.
Nevertheless, some additional analyzes suggest that the first data are representative, says the professor. Other aspects of the study will also be explored, such as the location of arrests over the coming months.
Ms. Côté-Lussier believes that other cities around Montreal could take inspiration from the STOPMTL.ca initiative to document police stops on their territory. She thinks that the conclusions can also serve as a tool for the Quebec government, which is currently working on better supervision of police interactions, including random interceptions in connection with section 636 of the Highway Safety Code.
Moreover, the preliminary report from STOPMTL.ca points out that approximately 40% of the arrests reported occurred when people said they were in a vehicle as the driver or passenger.
A second report on the validity of the project data is expected later this year.