Abstract

There is increasing recognition and attention towards the patterns of police encounters with citizens. In this study, we examine the determinants of being stopped and questioned by the police among a heterogenous sample of adolescents and young adults, who were either people who use drugs and a comparison group, in three non-metropolitan areas of British Columbia, Canada. We conducted bivariate and multivariate analyses to identify the unique variation of frequent police encounters based on demographic characteristics and potential confounders. Of 448 young people, 92.0% reported at least one event where police stopped and questioned them in the past five years, and half (49.8%) reported frequent (four or more) police encounters in this time frame. The demographics of race, age, and gender were not significant in the analyses, whereas weekly illicit drug use, homelessness, and high visibility in the community were significantly related to frequent police encounters. Findings suggest that, controlling for demographic variables, young people who have precarious housing, use drugs, and have higher community visibility are at higher risk of police contact. Our findings also show when street involvement and drug use are controlled for, race does not determine police encounters.

摘要

人们越来越多地认识到和关注警察与公民的接触模式。在这项研究中，我们研究了在加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省的三个非大都市地区的青少年和年轻人的异质样本中被警察阻止和询问的决定因素，这些人要么是吸毒者，要么是对照组。我们进行了双变量和多变量分析，以根据人口统计特征和潜在的混杂因素来识别警察频繁遭遇的独特变化。在 448 名年轻人中，92.0% 的人报告在过去五年中至少发生过一次警察拦下并询问他们的事件，一半 (49.8%) 的人报告在此时间范围内经常（四次或更多）警察遭遇。种族、年龄和性别的人口统计数据在分析中并不显着，而每周的非法药物使用、无家可归和在社区中的高能见度与频繁的警察遭遇显着相关。研究结果表明，控制人口统计变量后，住房不稳定、吸毒和社区知名度较高的年轻人与警察接触的风险较高。我们的研究结果还表明，当街头参与和吸毒得到控制时，种族并不能决定警察的遭遇。