By Canadian Press

Montrealers can access the first interactive map to self-report police stops

Jul 14, 2021 | 10:31 AM

MONTREAL — An interactive map introduced today allows Montrealers to self-report police interactions the day they happen or from as far back as 20 years ago. 

The STOPMTL.ca site will collect information anonymously on the nature of police stops, including the place and time of the incident and the age, gender and ethnic origin of the person.

The project, which seeks to gather reliable statistics on Montreal police interactions with the public was created by a multidisciplinary research team involving professors from Quebec and the United Kingdom.

Carolyn Côté-Tessier, the project’s lead researcher and professor of urban studies at Quebec’s Institut national de la recherche scientifique, says the fact Montreal police record only between five and 20 per cent of their interactions contributes to a false representation of the reality.

Community organizations around the city have been calling for a more accurate picture of police stops from the perspective of citizens in order to improve the treatment of people from minority communities.

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Montreal police recognized the existence of “systemic biases” leading to racial profiling following a 2019 independent study that found Blacks, Indigenous people and Arabs were four to five times more likely to be stopped by police than white citizens.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 14, 2021.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press