Police-initiated stops

Following similar criticisms in the United States and Britain, the benefits and harms of police-initiated stops, including street checks, have been debated over the past five years in Canada (Griffiths et al., 2018; Montgomery et al., 2019; Tulloch, 2018; Vancouver Police Department, 2018; Wortley, 2019). In response, provincial policymakers have engaged researchers and police departments to evaluate the use of street checks, and have relied on study results and outcomes of community consultations to devise new policies and guidelines (Alberta Justice and Solicitor General, 2020; Government of British Columbia, 2019a; Laroche, 2021; Tulloch, 2018). The purpose of this major paper is not to support or criticize police practices, but to assess the value of considering street checks as part of a continuum of police-initiated stops. Relying on the concept of a range of officer-generated interactions, this major paper evaluates methods of data collection and analysis that might provide a more comprehensive understanding of these police practices. Relying on one year of street check and on-view general occurrences conducted by the Prince George RCMP, several consistencies between the data sets were noted, including demographics, police-contact histories of stopped individuals, and the geographic and temporal aspects of the stops. The likenesses in the results indicate similar practices by police, and supports further examination of the data sets and the concept of a continuum of police-initiated stops. The combination of data sets and a more comprehensive approach to officer-generated engagements may provide a greater understanding of the practices for consideration by policymakers.