Police discretion to charge young people who use drugs prior to cannabis legalization in British Columbia, Canada: a brief report of quantitative findings

Greer, Alissa; Sorge, Justin; Selfridge, Marion; Benoit, Cecilia; Jansson, Mikael; Macdonald, Scott

doi:10.1080/09687637.2020.1745757

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…There is a large body of research that shows PWUD are acutely vulnerable to policing power including intimidation, physical violence, verbal abuse, and extortion ( Beletsky et al, 2014 ; Cooper et al, 2004 ; Greer et al, 2018 , 2020 ; Houborg et al, 2014 ; Leslie et al, 2018 ; Miller et al, 2008 ; Pan et al, 2013 ; Rhodes, 2002 ; Rhodes et al, 2008 ; Richardson et al, 2015 ; Sarang et al, 2010 ; Werb et al, 2011 ). Police actions, including excessive use of force and abuse of power, can be naturalized and legitimized through mechanisms that pervade the lives of PWUD, including criminalization and social marginalization from police ( Bourgois & Schonberg, 2009 ).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Young people who use drugs (PWUD) are a structurally vulnerable group due to social marginalization, criminalization, and stigma. In Canada, young PWUD often experience disproportionate targeting and interactions with police ( Card et al, 2021 ; Greer et al, 2020 , 2021 ; Ti et al, 2013 ). Studies show that they are targeted more than adults who use drugs ( Greer et al, 2018 ) and they report regular experiences of police targeting, harassment, and discrimination, particularly among those who are Indigenous ( Card et al, 2021 ; Pan et al, 2013 ).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Young People Who Use Drugs Views Toward the Power and Authority of Police Officers

Greer

Selfridge

Watson

et al. 2021

Contemporary Drug Problems

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Many young people who use drugs are structurally vulnerable to policing powers given the ongoing criminalization of drug possession. Police authority limits and the expression of that authority may play a significant role in police encounters among young people who use drugs. This qualitative study explores the views of young people who use drugs toward police power and authority in their recent encounters with police officers. Interviews were conducted with 38 young people who recently used illegal drugs in British Columbia, Canada. We found five interrelated themes related to perceptions of police authority: (1) skepticism and distrust toward authority; (2) paternalism and authority over drug use; (3) officer use of force; (4) police as power-hungry; and (5) officers above the law. Participants described police authority as limitless, unpredictable, untethered, easily abused, and lacking accountability. Participants feared holding police officers accountable to power abuses in a criminal justice system that they saw as stacked against them. Moving forward, institutional reforms may consider and account for the expression, limits, and use of police authority among young people who use drugs and other structurally vulnerable communities.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Young People Who Use Drugs Views Toward the Power and Authority of Police Officers

Greer

Selfridge

Watson

et al. 2021

Contemporary Drug Problems

Self Cite

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“…Police authority is infrequently invoked, as a proportion of all police-citizen contacts. Officers consider their authority as a resource in "handling" situations, and often they can handle situations without resorting to the use of formal authority (Dymond 2019;Greer et al 2020;Mastrofski et al 2016). As demonstrated in Table 4 below, it was encouraging that a significant majority of respondents, (n=73; 98.65%) indicated that they never wrongfully arrested anybody.…”

Section: Country-of-birth Stereotype and Wrongful Arrestmentioning

confidence: 96%

‘Black like Me’: A Critical Analysis of Arrest Practices Based on Skin Color in the Gauteng Province, South Africa

Zikalala

Mofokeng

Motlalekgosi

2021

Int. J. Criminol. Sociol.

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Objective: This article looks at the everyday life and realities of current practices employed by the South African Police Service (SAPS) officials, by shedding light on the experiences and practices on profiling search and effecting arrest based on race and skin color in the Gauteng Province. Particularly, this article examines the experiences of the SAPS officials to measure police perception of the skin color of foreign nationals, and to establish if wrongful arrests were linked to skin color stereotyping. Methods: The theoretical approach employed the social identity theory (SIT) was used to interpret the results. A survey questionnaire consisting of the New Immigration Survey (NIS) Skin Color Scale with 10 shades of skin color mapped to a pictorial guide, as well as a self-report measure on wrongful arrests, was administered to 80 SAPS officials, who performed visible policing duties. The research sample consisted of two SAPS groups from two different contexts, namely township and urban contexts. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to conduct Pearson's correlation and comparative analyses. Results: The results showed that the SAPS officials stereotyped foreign nationals as dark-skinned. The skin color stereotype was, however, not correlated to wrongful arrests. The study concluded that although respondents perceived that South Africans were distinguishable from foreign nationals based on skin color or tone, identification processes were not influenced by this stereotype belief.

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Police officer perceptions towards drug liberalization policies in the context of an overdose crisis in British Columbia, Canada

Greer,

Butler,

Zakimi

et al. 2023

Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy

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Police discretion to charge young people who use drugs prior to cannabis legalization in British Columbia, Canada: a brief report of quantitative findings

Cited by 3 publications

References 13 publications

Young People Who Use Drugs Views Toward the Power and Authority of Police Officers

Young People Who Use Drugs Views Toward the Power and Authority of Police Officers

‘Black like Me’: A Critical Analysis of Arrest Practices Based on Skin Color in the Gauteng Province, South Africa

Police officer perceptions towards drug liberalization policies in the context of an overdose crisis in British Columbia, Canada

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