NCJ Number
76507
Date Published
1980
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This study examines how race, social class, and other extralegal variables affect police-initiated contact among Canadian native people.
Abstract
A continuing debate persists concerning whether the police differentially contact and unequally treat disadvantaged racial and economic minorities. This study focuses on proactive police contact among comparable samples of whites and natives in Canada. The sample for this study consisted of 264 whites and 338 natives in three different types of communities in the province of Manitoba. Interviews with the study participants were conducted by interviewers of the same race. The study's principal finding is that the total effect of all the extralegal factors considered is comparatively minor. However, of all the extralegal factors considered, differential police-initiated contact was most strongly related to race. That the findings suggest that native minorities are somewhat more likely to have contact initiated by the police for racial reasons gives some support to labelling and conflict or harassment hypotheses. Although some unequal treatment on extralegal grounds exists, police-initiated contact does not appear to be significantly related to the extralegal variables considered. Tabular data, notes, and 48 references are included.