Immigrant and Racial Minority Perceptions of the Canadian Criminal ...

Int. Migration & Integration (2009) 10:447–473 DOI 10.1007/s12134-009-0108-x

Unequal Before the Law: Immigrant and Racial Minority Perceptions of the Canadian Criminal Justice System Scot Wortley & Akwasi Owusu-Bempah

Published online: 23 October 2009 # Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2009

Abstract This paper examines attitudes towards the criminal justice system among a large, diverse sample of residents from Toronto, Canada. The results indicate that while most residents positively evaluate the performance of the police and criminal courts, black and Chinese Canadians have less favorable views than whites. Compared to whites, racial minority respondents are also much more likely to perceive various forms of discrimination within the justice system. Perceptions of racial bias are particularly widespread among black respondents. Interestingly, these racial differences cannot be explained by immigration patterns. Indeed, regardless of race, attitudes towards the justice system are most positive among recent immigrants. However, attitudes become less favorable with time spent in Canada and are most negative among Canadian-born racial minorities. The paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and policy implications of these findings. Résumé Cet article porte sur les attitudes face au système de justice pénale parmi un vaste et divers échantillon de résidents de Toronto, au Canada. Les résultats indiquent que si la majorité des résidents évaluent de façon positive la performance de la police et des tribunaux criminels, les Canadiens noirs et chinois ont un avis moins favorable que celui des Blancs. De plus, les répondants membres d’une minorité raciale étaient beaucoup plus portés que les Blancs à percevoir diverses formes de discrimination au sein du système de justice. Les perceptions de préjugé racial sont particulièrement répandues chez les Noirs. Fait intéressant, ces différences raciales ne s’expliquent pas par des modèles d’immigration. En fait, indépendam-

S. Wortley (*) : A. Owusu-Bempah Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto, 14 Queens Park Crescent West, Toronto, ON M5S-3K1, Canada e-mail: [email protected]

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S. Wortley, A. Owusu-Bempah

ment de la race, les immigrants nouvellement arrivés démontrent les attitudes les plus positives face au système de justice. Toutefois, les attitudes deviennent moins positives avec le temps et sont les plus négatives chez les membres de minorités raciales nés au Canada. Une discussion des retombées de ces résultats sur la théorie et les politiques vient conclure l’article. Keywords Immigration . Race . Attitudes . Police . Courts . Discrimination Mots clés immigration . race . attitudes . police . tribunaux . discrimination

Introduction How people perceive the criminal justice system is an important social issue. Public perceptions and attitudes, for example, can be used to evaluate the performance of the police, courts, and corrections and help determine whether these institutions treat all citizens in a fair and equitable manner. Research also suggests that people who have trust and confidence in the justice system are more likely to cooperate with police investigations and serve as witnesses in court. Finally, a growing number of studies suggest that the perceived fairness or legitimacy of the justice system is a strong predictor of criminal behavior. Those who perceive the justice system as fair are less likely to break the law than those who do not (see Tyler 1990, 2005; Wortley and Tanner 2008). The perceptions of immigrants and racial minorities towards the justice system are of particular concern. Indeed, there is a long history of distrust and poor relations between specific minority groups and the police in the USA, Australia, Canada, and many Western European countries. Indeed, at times strained relations between racial minorities and the police have served as the catalyst for large scale civil unrest— including recent riots in France, Australia, Great Britain, and the USA (see Collins 2007; Bowling and Phillips 2002). It is not surprising, therefore, that representatives from Western criminal justice systems have become increasingly concerned with building strong relationships with newcomers and the members of various racial/ ethnic minority groups (see Stenning 2003). It is somewhat surprising, however, that relatively little research has attempted to document the attitudes of immigrants and minorities towards the police and other criminal justice institutions and whether efforts to improve these attitudes have been successful or not. In this paper, we start by briefly reviewing the published research literature on immigrant/minority attitudes towards the justice system before presenting the results of a recent study that explicitly examined the justice-related perceptions of a diverse sample of residents from Toronto, Canada. The theoretical and policy implications of these findings are discussed in the conclusion. American Research The vast majority of studies on immigrant and minority attitudes towards the justice system had emerged from the USA. Much of the American research on citizen perceptions of the criminal justice system has focused on attitudes and feelings

Unequal Before the Law: Immigrant and Racial Minority Perceptions

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towards the police. The police are the criminal justice system’s most visible representatives and police officers represent citizens’ most constant and frequent contact with the justice system (Jesilow et al. 1995). Research on citizen attitudes towards the police proliferated in America during the 1960s and 1970s. This was a period of immense social unrest, where racial tensions were high and clashes between the police and citizens, often poor and black, were commonplace. The rioting and disturbances that pitted the police against black citizens led to publications such as Zeitz (1965) “Survey of Negro Attitudes towards the Law” and the establishment of Commissions such as The President’s Commission of Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice (1967), which stimulated many more studies on attitudes towards the police. These studies have typically examined differences between blacks and whites and, more recently, Hispanics, concerning attitudes, opinions, and evaluations of the police. They have consistently found that racial minorities rate the police more negatively than do whites. A number of researchers have also focused on public trust and confidence in the police. This type of research emphasizes the importance of voluntary cooperation from citizens with the police in their efforts to combat crime and apprehend criminals (Tyler 2005: 322). Studies on public confidence and trust in the police repeatedly find a gap between the levels of trust and confidence among racial minorities and white citizens, with African Americans being particularly distrustful of the police (Garofolo 1977; Huang and Vaughn 1996). As Tyler notes, concerns about public trust and confidence in the police are bound up in more general concerns about racial profiling, excessive use of force and the disproportionate impact of drug laws on minority communities (Tyler 2005: 324). Many have hypothesized that police abuse of authority and discriminatory treatment is responsible for the low levels of trust and confidence displayed by blacks and other minority groups in the USA. Overall, American studies that have looked at the general public’s attitudes towards the police consistently find that, although citizens from all racial backgrounds have mostly favorable attitudes towards the police, the attitudes of black citizens are less favorable than those held by whites (Zeitz 1965; Bayley and Mendelsohn 1969; Smith et al. 1999; Cheurprakobkit 2000). Other studies have also found that both Hispanics (Carter 1983) and Cubans (Sullivan et al. 1987) tend to hold less favorable attitudes towards the police than white people. These findings correspond with the group-position thesis, which holds that less favorable attitudes towards the police result because racial minorities view the police as a symbol of majority domination and as contributing to their continued subjugation. Furthermore, negative perceptions may result from the personal and vicarious experiences minority group members have with the police. One of the first studies to examine minority perceptions of criminal injustice was conducted by Hagan and Albonetti (1982). These researchers used data from a large national survey of Americans to examine differences, particularly those related to race and class, in citizen perceptions of criminal injustice. Using the Perceived Criminal Injustice scale, Hagan and Albonetti found that black Americans were considerably more likely than whites to believe that the criminal justice system discriminates against people from racial minority groups (Hagan and Albonetti 1982: 343). Furthermore, while being a member of the “surplus population” or lower class

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did increase perceptions of criminal injustice, race was a more salient predictor of perceptions than social class. Interestingly, Hagan and Albonetti also found a raceclass effect for perceptions of injustice. Their results demonstrated that negative perceptions actually increased with class for black respondents; higher class blacks perceived more injustice than did those in the working class and “surplus population.” The opposite relationship existed for white respondents. Later studies (Davis 1990; Dunham and Alpert 1988) have confirmed Hagan and Albonetti’s finding that race is a more significant predictor of perceptions of discrimination than social class. More recently, Weitzer and Tuch (2004) conducted a study for the United States Department of Justice. Like Hagan and Albonetti (1982) before them, these researchers used data from a large national survey that included black, white, and Hispanic respondents. The researchers examined a number of micro- and macrolevel factors in order to better understand why race structures attitudes towards the police. Again, the findings of this study indicate racial differences in perceptions of criminal injustice. A majority of blacks and Hispanics believed that the police in their city treated both blacks and Hispanics worse than they treated whites. By contrast, most white participants did not share this view (Weitzer and Tuch 2004: 17). The importance of race in structuring perceptions of criminal injustice has been replicated in many other studies conducted in both the USA (see Decker 1981; Brunson and Miller 2006) and Great Britain (Skogan 1990; Jefferson and Walker 1993; Sharp and Atherton 2007). There also exists a wealth of literature in the USA on the attitudes of newcomers towards the justice system. Interestingly, these studies on immigrant perceptions have produced mixed results. For example, some studies (see Martell 2002; Sproule 1992; Schmidt 2002) have found that immigrants hold more negative views of the criminal justice system than native-born Americans, often citing language barriers, cultural differences, and experiences with racial discrimination. However, other researchers (see Davis et al. 1998) have found that immigrants actually have more positive attitudes than native-born Americans and often cite the fairness of the American system as one of their reasons for migrating. Other American research has focused on the experiences and perceptions of criminal injustice held by domestically abused immigrant women (Bui 2005; Erez 2002). Immigrant women face police forces and judicial systems that are ill-equipped to deal with their plights. Due largely to lack of public legal education provided to newcomers, these women often have trouble accessing and understanding the difficult and complex legal systems that they turn to for help. Immigrant women also feel that their experiences with the justice system only serve to intensify and compound the abuse they experience at the hands of their partners (see Erez and Ammar 2003). European Research Research on minority and immigrant perceptions is not limited to the USA. Great Britain, for example, has a long history of research on minority and immigrant contacts with, and attitudes towards the British criminal justice system (Bowling and Phillips 2002). Jefferson and Walker (1993), for example, investigated the attitudes of blacks, Asians, and whites towards the police in Leeds. Their analysis shows that


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Asians had more positive attitudes and fewer negative experiences with the police than either blacks or whites. In a more recent study, Chakraborti and Garland (2003) explored rural ethnic minority attitudes towards the criminal justice system in Great Britain. The overriding impression held by respondents was that all criminal justice institutions, the police in particular, treat minority ethnic communities unfairly. Similar research has also been conducted in continental Europe. Albrecht (1997), for example, examined the attitudes of German, Turkish, and Italian male youth towards the police in Germany. The study revealed that German youth are more likely to complain about police behavior and more likely to believe that their neighborhoods were intensively controlled by police than either Turkish or Italian youth. However, a significant proportion number of Turkish respondents report that Turkish youth are discriminated against by the police because of their Turkish descent (Albrecht 1997: 70). Writing on the situation in the Netherlands, Bijleveld et al. (2007) found that minority and Dutch respondents to a survey on attitudes towards the police held relatively similar views. Where differences were apparent, minorities held more positive views of the police. For example, Antillean, Indonesian, and Surinamese respondents felt more positively about the police than native Dutch respondents (Bijleveld et al. 2007: 295). In concluding, Bijleveld and colleagues remark that there was no proof that on the whole, migrant groups in the Netherlands perceive the criminal justice system to be less legitimate than the ethnic Dutch population (Bijleveld et al. 2007: 297). Canadian Studies Compared to the situation in the USA and Europe, relatively few Canadian studies have examined immigrant and minority perceptions of the criminal justice system. Most of these studies have focused exclusively on attitudes towards police. A recent example is provided by Chu and Song (2008) who examined attitudes towards the police among a non-random sample of 293 Chinese immigrants drawn from various community service organizations in Toronto. The authors found that, in general, Chinese immigrants have relatively positive attitudes towards the police. However, those respondents who had previous contact with the police rated the police less favorably than those who had not had such contact. Those who did not speak English also expressed more negative views about the police and felt that more bilingual police officers were required. Although insightful, Chu and Song’s (2008) study has several limitations. First of all, their small, non-random sample makes it difficult to generalize the results of this study to the wider Chinese community. Secondly, because it focuses on Chinese immigrants in isolation, it is impossible to determine whether the attitudes of Chinese immigrants are significantly different than the attitudes of other Canadian residents. Another recent example is provided by O’Connor (2008) who explored Canadian attitudes towards the police using data from the 1999 General Social Survey. The final sample for this analysis consisted of more than 25,000 individuals from all provinces and territories. Consistent with American research, O’Conner found that, controlling for other relevant variables, visible minorities evaluated police performance more negatively than whites. Younger people, males, crime victims, and those that live in high crime neighborhoods were also more likely to express dissatisfaction with police

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performance. Unfortunately, O’Conner does not control for immigration status. His results, therefore, provide no insight into the attitudes and perceptions of newcomers to Canada. O’Conner also combines all racial minority groups into a single “visible minority” category. He is therefore unable to determine whether some racial minority groups are more positive towards the police than others. This is an important point since other Canadian research has demonstrated considerable racial variation with respect to attitudes towards the police and criminal courts. In 1994, for example, the Commission on Systemic Racism in the Ontario Criminal Justice System conducted a survey of over 1,200 Toronto adults (18 years of age or older) who identified themselves as either black, Chinese, or white (see Wortley 1996; Wortley et al. 1997). Over 400 respondents were randomly selected from each racial group. The survey results indicated that three out of every four black Torontonians (76%) believe that the police treat members of their racial group worse than white people. Furthermore, 60% of the black respondents also felt that members of their racial group are treated worse by the criminal courts. By contrast, less than half of the Chinese respondents to this survey (48%) felt that the police treat Chinese people worse than whites, and less than a third (31%) felt that Chinese people would be treated more harshly than whites by the criminal courts. Furthermore, compared to both whites and blacks, Chinese respondents were actually less likely to perceive discrimination based on age, gender, or social class position. Ultimately, a series of multivariate statistical analyses revealed that, after controlling for other demographic variables, Chinese respondents were no more likely to perceive discrimination in the Canadian criminal justice system than whites. Black respondents, on the other hand, were much more likely to perceive discrimination in the justice system than either whites or Asians. Interestingly, this study also found that immigration status was not a significant predictor of criminal injustice. Respondents who were born in Canada perceived the same level of discrimination as those born in other counties. This study is important because: (1) it compared the perceptions of more than one racial minority group and (2) it documented attitudes towards the criminal courts as well as attitudes towards the police. However, there are limitations. For example, this study did not distinguish the views of recent immigrants from immigrants who had lived in Canada for a long period of time. In addition, this study only examined perceptions of discrimination within the criminal justice system. Unfortunately, it did not look at how different racial minority and immigrant groups rated the performance of different criminal justice institutions. Finally, this study, conducted in 1994, might now be considered quite old. Have perceptions of the police and criminal courts changed over the past two decades? Study Objectives In order to address gaps in the Canadian criminal justice literature, the following analysis will explore seven primary research questions: 1. Do immigrants evaluate the performance of the police and criminal courts differently than native-born Canadians? 2. Do immigrants perceive more or less bias in the justice system than native-born Canadians?


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3. Do immigrant perceptions of the justice system vary by time spent in Canada? 4. Controlling for immigration status, do racial minorities evaluate the performance of the police and courts differently than whites? 5. Controlling for immigration status, do racial minorities perceive more bias in the criminal justice system than whites? 6. Do personal and vicarious experiences with the justice system (i.e., number of times stopped by the police, proportion of friends and family who have been racially profiled, violent victimization, etc.) help explain immigrant and minority perceptions of the police and criminal courts. 7. Have perceptions of racial bias in the justice system changed over the past 14 years?

Methodology The data used in this research was gathered by the Hitachi Research Center at the University of Toronto, Mississauga. The survey, conducted in 2007, is a replication of a 1994 survey that was conducted by York University’s Institute for Social Research on behalf of the Commission on Systemic Racism in the Ontario Criminal Justice system (see Wortley 1996; Wortley et al. 1997).1 A two-stage probability selection technique was used to select respondents and to produce a representative sample of black, Chinese, and white adults of both sexes (18 years of age or older) living in Metropolitan Toronto. The initial stage of the sampling procedure involved the random selection of residential telephone numbers within Metropolitan Toronto. This was achieved through the use of a random digit dialing (RDD) procedure, which gives all households, listed and unlisted, an equal and known probability of being selected (Tremblay 1982). The second stage of the sampling procedure involved selecting the adult member of the household who was approaching his/her next birthday. The birthday selection technique is commonly used by survey researchers because it gives each adult within the household an equal probability of being selected. Finally, a screening question was asked to ensure that respondents self-identified as either black, Chinese, or white. Only respondents from these three racial backgrounds were allowed to participate in the survey (consistent with the methodology used in 1994). Telephone interviews were conducted between October 2006 and January 2007, at the Hitachi Research Center’s centralized telephone facilities. A response rate of 78% was achieved. The interviews were conducted in either English or Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese dialects) and took on average 35 min to complete. The final sample consisted of 1,522 respondents who identified themselves as black (N=513), Chinese (N=504), and white (N=505). This sample is representative of black, Chinese, and white adults living in telephone households in Toronto, Ontario. Table 1 provides a description of the final sample in terms of demographic characteristics. The Table shows that black respondents are somewhat younger than 1

Both the 1994 and 2007 surveys used the exact same sampling procedure and produced similar samples (though the 2007 sample is slightly larger). Most of the questions asked in 2007 were identical to the questions asked in 1994. However, several new items were added to the 2007 survey.

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Table 1 Sample characteristics, 2007 survey, by racial background Demographic characteristics

Black

Chinese

White

%

%

%

Statistical significance

Sex Male

35.1

44.8

41.2

Female

64.9

55.2

58.8

NS

Age 18–24 years

14.4

10.1

4.6

25–34 years

28.4

20.9

17.7

35–44 years

21.6

27.6

17.9

45–54 years

15.0

22.7

24.4

55–64 years

11.0

8.0

17.1

9.6

10.7

18.5

Employed full-time

49.1

50.9

53.1

Employed part-time

11.9

7.4

9.7

65 years or older

**

Employment status

Unemployed

10.8

3.8

4.2

Student

12.3

12.0

5.2

Retired

21.5

10.0

12.0

Homemaker

2.7

13.2

4.8

Other

3.1

0.8

1.6

Elementary or less

4.4

10.1

0.4

Some high school

9.1

9.5

6.3

**

Education

Completed high school

26.8

14.9

18.8

Some post-secondary

11.7

12.3

12.9

Completed college

26.4

11.1

14.9

Bachelor’s degree

15.9

28.6

16.9

5.6

13.7

19.8

Prof/graduate degree

**

Household income Less than $39,000

43.1

35.3

20.6

$40,000–$69,999

24.0

25.2

22.0

$70,000 or more

15.6

20.4

43.2

Not reported

17.3

19.0

14.3

**

Place of birth Canada

19.4

9.3

73.1

Other

80.6

90.7

24.9

**

Marital status Married/common law

37.7

68.9

55.1

Widowed

2.0

1.6

9.3

Divorced

18.8

4.6

11.9

Single

41.5

24.9

23.7

Sample size

513

NS group differences are not statistically significant *p0.01, significant difference *p>0.05, significant difference

513

504

505

1,522


457

somewhat more likely to think the courts are doing a good job determining the guilt or innocence of accused persons. We now turn our attention to the question of whether immigrants evaluate the police and criminal courts differently than respondents who were born in Canada. We are particularly interested in determining whether length of time in Canada impacts attitudes towards the justice system. Interestingly, the results indicate that there is a curvilinear relationship between years in Canada and police evaluations (see Table 3). In general, immigrants who have been in the Canada for less than 5 years—or have lived in Canada for more than 20 years— evaluate the police more highly than those who have resided in the country for between 5 and 20 years. The results also suggest that, in general, respondents born in Canada have the highest evaluations of police performance. For example, 48% of our Canadian-born respondents feel that the police are doing a good job keeping their community safe, as do 42% the immigrants who have lived in Canada for 5 years or less. By contrast, only 30% of respondents who have lived in Canada between 16 and 20 years feel that police are doing a good job with respect to community safety. Table 3 Percent of respondents who feel that the police and criminal courts are doing a “good job” performing various functions, by immigration status (length of time in Canada) Police or court activity

Police do a good job enforcing the law Police are doing a good job being approachable and easy to talk to Police are doing a good job providing information on how to prevent crime Police are doing a good job keeping my neighborhood safe The courts are doing a good job providing justice quickly The courts are doing a good job helping the victims of crime The courts are doing a good job determining the guilt or innocence of accused persons Sample size

Immigration status—length of time in Canada


1– 5 years

6– 10 years

11– 15 years

16– 20 years

35.6

35.1

28.8

28.7

43.9

45.4

***

42.8

31.2

30.2

38.8

38.9

48.9

***

28.3

26.6

26.6

22.5

33.6

32.5

***

41.7

35.1

35.3

30.2

44.2

42.8

***

12.8

10.4

5.0

8.5

6.9

5.7

***

19.4

17.5

15.1

14.0

10.3

6.8

***

17.2

18.2

15.1

12.4

15.9

19.6

***

180

***p>0.001, significant difference **p>0.01, significant difference *p>0.05, significant difference

154

139

129

20 or Born in more years Canada

378

542

1,522

458


In general, recent immigrants (those who have lived in the country for less than 5 years) also appear to evaluate the criminal courts more highly than native-born Canadians or those who have lived in the country for a long period of time. For example, one in five recent immigrants (19%) feel that the courts are doing a good job helping the victims of crime, compared to only 7% of Canadian-born respondents and 10% of respondents who have lived in Canada for more than 20 years (see Table 3). Perceptions of Discrimination In addition to documenting how respondents evaluated the performance of the police and criminal courts, the survey also asked respondents about their perceptions of bias or discrimination within these criminal justice institutions. The results suggest that black respondents are more likely to perceive both police and court bias than respondents from other racial backgrounds (see Tables 4 and 5). For example, 80% of black respondents believe that the police treat black people worse than white people, compared to 59% of white and 50% of Chinese respondents. It is also important to note, however, that Black respondents are also more likely to perceive that the police and criminal courts treat poor people worse than wealthy people, men worse than women and younger people worse than older people. For example, three out of four black respondents (74%) feel that the police treat poor people worse than wealthy people, compared to 62% of whites and only 40% of Chinese respondents. Interestingly, white respondents are significantly more likely to perceive social class bias, gender bias, age bias, and anti-black bias than Chinese respondents. However, compared to both black and white respondents, Chinese respondents are more likely to perceive both police and court discrimination against people who do not speak English. Furthermore, while Chinese respondents are the group most likely to perceive anti-Chinese bias in policing (see Table 4), a higher proportion of black respondents (41%) than Chinese respondents (26%) believe that a Chinese offender would be subjected to discrimination within the criminal courts (see Table 6).

Table 4 Percent of respondents who perceive police bias, by racial group Police or court activity

Black

Chinese

White


Police treat black people worse than white people

79.9

49.8

58.6

Police treat Chinese people worse than white people

44.8

51.0

24.6

***

Police treat poor people worse than wealthy people

73.5

39.9

61.8

***

Police treat young people worse than older people

73.1

46.8

65.3

***

***

Police treat men worse than women

64.5

33.3

41.0

***

Police treat people who do not speak English worse than people who do speak English

49.7

60.3

47.7

***

Sample size ***p>0.001, significant difference **p>0.01, significant difference *p>0.05, significant difference

513

504

505

1,522


459

Table 5 Percent of respondents who perceive bias in criminal sentencing, by racial group Police or court activity

Black Chinese White Statistical significance

Courts sentence black people more harshly than white people

57.9

36.7

39.2

***

Courts sentence Chinese people more harshly than white people

41.1

26.0

16.4

***

Courts sentence poor people more harshly than wealthy people

74.3

46.6

63.2

***

Courts sentence young people more harshly than older people

64.9

37.9

53.5

***

Courts sentence men more harshly than women

63.9

34.3

46.5

***

Courts sentence people who do not speak English more harshly than people who do speak English

45.0

33.1

30.1

***

Sample size

513

504

505

1,522


With respect to immigration status, the data suggest that recent immigrants are actually less likely to perceive bias in the criminal justice system than native-born Canadians (see Tables 5 and 7). Indeed, perceptions of discrimination increase with time spent in the country. For example, 66% of Canadian-born respondents feel that the Table 6 Percent of respondents who perceive police bias, by immigration status (length of time in Canada) Police or court activity

Immigration status—length of time in Canada 1– 5 years

6– 10 years

11– 15 years

16– 20 years

Police treat black people worse than white people

37.2

52.6

69.8

Police treat Chinese people worse than white people

42.8

40.9

Police treat poor people worse than wealthy people

35.6

Police treat young people worse than older people

Statistical significance 20 or more years

Born in Canada

63.6

64.6

66.2

***

46.0

49.6

40.7

34.9

***

46.8

51.1

67.4

61.1

67.3

***

48.9

51.3

65.5

59.7

58.7

70.8

***

Police treat men worse than women

44.4

44.8

48.9

47.3

43.4

48.7

NS

Police treat people who do not speak English worse than people who do speak English.

48.9

53.9

58.3

58.1

49.2

53.0

NS

Sample size

180

154

NS difference not statistically significant ***p>0.001, significant difference **p>0.01, significant difference *p>0.05, significant difference

139

129

378

542

1,522

460


Table 7 Percent of respondents who perceive bias in criminal sentencing, by immigration status (length of time in Canada) Police or court activity


6– 10 years

11– 15 years

16– 20 years

Courts sentence black people more harshly than white people

32.2

41.6

45.3

Courts sentence Chinese people more harshly than white people

25.0

29.2

Courts sentence poor people more harshly than wealthy people

46.1

Courts sentence young people more harshly than older people


Born in Canada

47.3

46.3

47.8

***

32.4

31.1

30.2

24.4

*

56.5

59.0

65.1

62.4

67.0

***

40.0

47.4

55.4

55.8

50.8

56.8

***

Courts sentence men more harshly than women

38.3

46.8

48.2

51.2

45.2

53.7

***

Courts sentence people who do not speak English more harshly than people who do speak English

35.6

34.4

37.4

37.2

38.1

34.9

NS

Sample size

180

154

139

129

378

542

1,522

NS difference not statistically significant ***p>0.001, significant difference **p>0.01, significant difference *p>0.05, significant difference

police treat black people worse than white people, compared to only 37% of immigrants who have been in the country for 5 years or less. Similarly, 67% of Canadian-born respondents believe that the police treat poor people worse than wealthy people, compared to only 36% of recent immigrants. It is also important to note that, regardless of racial background or immigration status, respondents appear to perceive more bias in policing than in the criminal courts. For example, while 80% of black respondents feel that the police treat black people worse than white people, only 58% feel that the courts sentence black offenders more harshly than white offenders. In order to better summarize our results, we combined responses to individual questions into four distinct scales: (1) The Police Evaluation Scale (alpha=0.75); (2) The Court Evaluation Scale (alpha=0.71); (3) The Police Bias Scale (alpha=0.83); and the Court Bias Scale (alpha=0.79). The questions and coding decisions used to develop these scales are fully described in the Appendix A. The higher respondents score on the Police Evaluation and Court Evaluation Scales, the higher their opinion of the performance of these two criminal justice institutions. Similarly, the higher respondents score on the Police Bias and Court Bias Scales, the greater their perception of discrimination within these organizations. The results of a basic ANOVA analysis (see Table 8) suggest that, overall, whites score significantly higher on the Police Evaluation Scale (mean score=8.917) than


461

Table 8 Mean scores on criminal justice evaluation and perceived bias scales, by racial background Police or court activity

Black

Chinese

White


Police Evaluation Scale

7.341

7.054

8.917

***

Court Evaluation Scale

3.318

3.869

3.408

**

Police Bias Scale

39.031

25.480

26.190

***

Court Bias Scale

7.632

5.119

5.749

Sample size

513

504

505

*** 1,522


either black respondents (mean=7.341) or Chinese respondents (mean=7.054). By contrast, black respondents score significantly higher on the Court Evaluation Scale (mean=3.869) than whites (3.408) or Asians (mean score=3.318). With respect to perceived discrimination, black respondents score significantly higher than whites or Asians on both the Police Bias and Court Bias Scales. The ANOVA results also confirm the basic curvilinear relationship between immigration status and attitudes towards the police. Recent immigrants and respondents who were born in Canada tend to evaluate police performance more highly than immigrants who have been in Canada between 6 and 20 years (see Table 9). For example, the average score on the Police Evaluation Scale was 8.223 for Canadian-born respondents and 7.906 for immigrants who have been in the country for 5 years or less. By contrast, respondents who have been in Canada between 11 and 15 years received an average score of only 6.950. Interesting, recent migrants have the most positive views about the Canadian criminal courts, while Canadian-born respondents have among the most negative.

Table 9 Mean scores on criminal justice evaluation and perceived bias scales, by immigration status (length of time in Canada) Police or court activity


6– 10 years

11– 15 years

16– 20 years


Born in Canada

Police Evaluation Scale

7.906

7.175

6.950

6.907

7.889

8.223

***

Court Evaluation Scale

4.111

3.987

3.496

3.535

3.079

3.529

***

Police Bias Scale

22.561

28.474

33.554

35.403

30.100

31.432

***

Court Bias Scale

5.011

5.779

6.381

6.721

6.721

6.270

***

Sample size

180

154


139

129

378

542

1,522

462


The data also suggest that recent immigrants are actually less likely to perceive bias in the Canadian criminal justice system than native-born Canadians or immigrants who have been in the country for a long period of time (see Table 9). This finding challenges the basic assumption that racial minority perceptions of discrimination in the Canadian criminal justice system are based largely on negative experiences in their country of origin. In fact, further analysis reveals that perceptions of both police and court discrimination are most prevalent among black and Chinese respondents who were born in Canada (see Fig. 1).

Multivariate Analyses The results of the above bivariate analyses reveal that both race and immigration status are related to attitudes towards criminal justice institutions. However, we must consider the possibility that these observed bivariate relationships will be rendered insignificant once we have statistically controlled for other theoretically relevant variables. Thus, in the next stage of our investigation, we conducted a series of OLS regressions on our four attitudinal scales. The control variables included in these regressions (fully described in Appendix A) include: (1) Length of time in Canada; (2) Sex; (3) Age; (4) Education; (5) Employment status; (6) Subjective social class; (7) Self-reported Marijuana use; (8) Ever arrested; (9) Ever a victim of serious violence; (10) Number of times stopped by the police in the past two years; and (11) Vicarious police contact. In addition two dummy variables depicting black and Chinese racial background were added to the regression equations. White racial background is the default comparison group that, consistent with standard statistical practices, is left out of the analysis. The results of the multivariate analyses (see Table 10) reveal that black and Chinese respondents still evaluate police performance more negatively than whites—even after controlling for other relevant background factors. Time in Black Chinese

50 45

44

43 41

40

38

35 30

30 25

27 24

28

25 23

20 15 10 5 0 1-5 yrs

6-10 yrs

11-15 yrs

16-20 yrs

Born in Canada

Fig. 1 Mean score on the Police Bias Scale, by race and length of time in Canada


463

Table 10 OLS regression models on police evaluations, court evaluations, perceptions of police bias and perceptions of court bias Independent variables

Police evaluation

Court evaluation

Police bias

Court bias 1.390***

Black racial background

−0.857***

−0.169

9.891***

Chinese racial background

−2.115***

0.044

3.844***

0.134

Length of time in Canada

−0.060

−0.062

1.538***

0.227***

Sex (1=male)

0.234

Age

0.200***

0.088 −0.216***

−0.085 −1.565***

0.240 −0.155*

Education

−0.014

−0.067*

1.011***

0.029

Employed

−0.257

−0.144

1.440

0.128

Unemployed

−0.187

0.361

−0.762

0.072

0.122

−1.654

−0.262

Subjective social class

0.395***

Marijuana user (1=yes)

−0.482*

−0.027

5.520***

Ever arrested (1=yes)

−0.931***

−0.111

2.236*

0.025

Victim of serious violence

−0.473***

−0.399***

1.804

−0.233

Number of times stopped by police

−0.493***

−0.221**

1.883***

0.256

Vicarious police contact

−0.849***

−0.387***

7.883***

1.083**

18.423***

Constant

8.335***

4.966***

R2

0.179

0.045

0.244

0.419

5.058*** 0.130

Sample size=1,522 ***p>0.001, significant difference **p>0.01, significant difference *p>0.05, significant difference

the country, however, is unrelated to police evaluation scores. Other results suggest that older people and those in the upper-class evaluate police performance more highly than younger people or those who consider themselves to be poor. On the other hand, police evaluation scores are lower among those who have been the victim of a violent crime, those that have used marijuana in the past 12 months and those that have been arrested at some point in their life. Furthermore, both personal and vicarious contacts with the police are negatively related to police evaluations. In general, respondents who have been stopped by the police in the past year and those who report that their friends or family have been the victim of racial profiling have lower ratings of the police than respondents who have not had these types of experience. The results of the regression analyses also suggest that both racial background and immigration status (length of time in country) are not significantly related to court evaluations. However, older people and those with high levels of education tend to evaluate the courts more negatively than younger people and those with lower levels of educational attainment. Consistent with previous research, those who have been the victim of a violent crime also score significantly lower on the court evaluation scale than respondents who have not been victimized. However, it is interesting to note that both those who have used marijuana in the past year and those who have been arrested do not evaluate the courts differently. Finally, respondents who have had personal or vicarious

464


contact with the police over the past two years rate the courts more negatively than those who have not had such contact. This result suggests that the impacts of negative encounters with the police are not restricted to attitudes towards the police. Indeed, the frequency and nature of police contact appears to have a negative impact on perceptions of the entire criminal justice system. The results of the regression analysis suggest that—controlling for other significant background factors—both black and Chinese respondents are much more likely to perceive police bias than whites. Perceptions of police discrimination, however, are particularly strong among African Canadians. The results further suggest that perceptions of police bias increase significantly with the length of time a person lives in the country. It is important to stress, therefore, that anxieties about police discrimination are not isolated among newcomers. Indeed, as discussed above, they appear to be highest among racial minorities who are born in Canada. The results further suggest that younger people and those with high levels of education are more likely to perceive police bias than older people and those with lower levels of educational achievement. Perceptions of police bias are also high among marijuana users and those that have been arrested by the police at some time in their life. Finally, respondents who have been stopped by the police in the past 2 years and those who report vicarious police contact through family and friends are also more likely to perceive police discrimination. Similar findings emerge with respect to perceived court bias (see Table 10). Once again the multivariate analysis suggests that black respondents are more likely to perceive court discrimination than whites. However, Chinese respondents are apparently not more likely to perceive court bias than their white counterparts. Length of time in the country, however, is a significant predictor of the perception of court discrimination. Newcomers are less likely to perceive court bias than nativeborn Canadians or immigrants who have resided in the country for 20 years or more. Other results suggest that younger people are more likely to perceive court bias than older people. Similarly, those who have had vicarious contact with the police perceive more court bias than those who have not had such experiences. Interestingly, neither being arrested nor using marijuana is a significant predictor of perceived court bias.

Changes in Perceptions of Racial Bias As documented by Stenning (2003), over the past two decades, police services in Canada and other immigrant receiving countries have devoted a great deal of time, energy and resources to strategies designed to reduce discrimination and improve police relations with various immigrant, racial minority communities. However, as Stenning notes, there is very little evidence that such anti-racism programs have been properly evaluated. Nonetheless, one would assume that, if such efforts are effective, perceptions of racial bias in policing and the courts should have decreased significantly over the past 10 to 15 years. The current study allows us to test this research hypothesis—at least in the Canadian context. As discussed above, the 2007 survey discussed in this paper is actually a partial replication of a study conducted in 1994 on behalf of the Commission on Systemic


465

Racism in the Ontario Criminal Justice System. Both studies used identical sampling strategies and—with some exceptions—asked the same questions. In this section we compare the results of 1994 and 2007 responses to four questions about racial bias in the policing and the criminal court. Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5 strongly suggest that perceptions of racial discrimination within Canadian policing and criminal courts have not declined over the past 14 years. In fact, there is evidence to suggest that perceptions of discrimination have actually increased. For example, in 1994, 76% of black Toronto respondents felt that the police treat black people worse that white people. By 2007 this figure had increased to 81%. Similarly, in 1994, 46% of Chinese respondents felt that the police treat Chinese people worse than white people. By 2007 this figure rose to 50%. The results are similar with respect to court discrimination (see Figs. 4 and 5). For example, in 1994, only 48% of black respondents felt that a black person would receive a harsher sentence than a white person charged with the same crime. By 2007 this figure had risen to 58%.

Discussion In our opinion, the analyses of survey data described above produced several important findings: &

&

&

&

In general, respondents from all racial backgrounds have favorable evaluations of the police. However, black and Chinese respondents rate the performance of the police more negatively than whites. In general, both black and Chinese respondents perceive more discrimination or bias in policing than white people. Perceptions of police discrimination are particularly high among African Canadians. Regardless of race, people tend to evaluate the performance of the police more highly than the performance of the criminal courts. Furthermore, after controlling for other relevant variables, racial background is not a significant predictor of court evaluation measures. However, black people are much more likely to perceive that the criminal courts are discriminatory than the either whites or Asians. Chinese people, on the other hand, are no more likely to perceive court discrimination than white people. 1994 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

2007 76

59 51

White

56

81

51

Chinese

Black

Fig. 2 Percent of respondents who believe that the police treat black people worse than white people

466

S. Wortley, A. Owusu-Bempah 1994

2007

60 50

51

46

50

44

40 30

26

27

20 10 0 White

Chinese

Black

Fig. 3 Percent of respondents who believe that the police treat Chinese people worse than white people

& &

&

Overall, after controlling for race and other relevant variables, immigration status is unrelated to opinions about the performance of the police and criminal courts. However, Canadian-born respondents, as well as immigrants who have lived in Canada for a long period of time, are more likely to perceive both police and court discrimination than newcomers (recent migrants). This finding directly challenges the assumption that perceptions of bias in the Canadian criminal justice system are caused by immigrant experiences in their country of origin. Overall, black and Chinese respondents who were born in Canada perceive more bias in the Canadian criminal justice system than black or Chinese respondents born in other countries.

How can we explain the above differences in attitudes towards the criminal justice system? In the past, many police leaders have tried to explain racial minorities negative perceptions of the justice system on their experiences in their countries of origin. This argument, according to the data, is incorrect. Indeed, recent immigrants seem to have among the best opinions of Canadian criminal justice institutions. We must consider the possibility that trust or faith in the Canadian criminal justice system is one of the reasons some individuals decide to migrate to Canada in the first place. Unfortunately, this faith seems to be relatively short-lived—at least among some racial minority groups. The results of our survey suggest that the longer immigrants reside in Canada the worse their opinion of the police and the courts. 1994

2007

70 58

60 48

50 38

40 30

28

36 29

20 10 0 White

Chinese

Black

Fig. 4 Percent of respondents who believe that a black person would receive a harsher sentence than a white person convicted of the same crime

Unequal Before the Law: Immigrant and Racial Minority Perceptions 1994

467

2007 38

40 35 30 30 25 25 18

20 15 15

12

10 5 0 White

Chinese

Black

Fig. 5 Percent of respondents who believe that a Chinese person would receive a harsher sentence than a white person convicted of the same crime

Negative attitudes and perceptions of discrimination, in fact, are most prevalent among racial minorities who have were born and raised in Canada. This is a disturbing finding that deserves serious policy attention. Another possible explanation is that citizens’ attitudes towards the police and the justice system are formed by the mass media. As various investigators (Graber 1980; Ericson et al. 1987; Roberts and Doob 1990; Dowler and Zawilski 2007; Surette 2007) have noted, the majority of public knowledge about crime and criminal justice matters is derived from the media. Several studies have also found that media coverage of incidents of police misconduct lowers public confidence in the police (Tuch and Weitzer 1997; Dowler and Zawilski 2007). For example, one study demonstrated increases in negative perceptions of the police during and immediately following news coverage of major incidents of brutality or corruption (Weitzer and Tuch 2006). Research also indicates that such coverage does not have long-lasting effects. Citizen’s views of the police tend to return to normal levels once media coverage has subsided (Tuch and Weitzer 1997; Wortley et al. 1997). Others have argued that individual perceptions of the police and other criminal justice institutions largely reflect personal experiences. Consistent with this argument, our findings suggest that people who are frequently stopped and questioned by the police are more likely to have negative perceptions of the police than those who are not stopped. Thus, to the extent that black people and other racial minorities are more likely to be stopped and questioned by the police than white people, it is not surprising that they develop more negative attitudes towards the police and justice system. In Brunson and Miller’s interviews with young black males they discovered that: [y]oung men’s negative views about the police stemmed largely from proactive policing strategies such as frequent pedestrian and vehicle stops. While they acknowledge that these activities sometimes yielded arrests or seizures, they none the less felt that such police practices amounted to routine harassment. (2006: 623) Other research has shown that negative or unpleasant experiences with the police have a much stronger effect on shaping perceptions of the justice system than do positive ones. In fact, while negative experiences with the police have a strong

468


impact on the development of negative perceptions, positive interactions with the police typically have little or no effect on one’s overall attitudes towards the police or the rest of the justice system (Skogan 2006; Rosenbaum et al. 2005; Weitzer and Tuch 2006). This finding underscores the importance of eliminating unnecessary harassment or racial profiling practices from the day-to-day operations of policing. Finally, while a negative, first hand encounters with the police may result in negative perceptions, direct contact is not necessary for evaluating the police (Weitzer and Tuch 2006: 19). Socialization is another mechanism through which positive or negative perceptions of the police and the criminal justice system may be transmitted. Weitzer and Tuch (2006: 19), for example, document that black families often tend to educate their children differently about the police than white families. While white children are often taught to trust the police without question, for example, black children are taught to act cautiously around police in order to avoid police violence or false arrest. The lessons black parents teach their children about the police may help them to avoid negative and potentially deadly encounters, but they also “cannot help but pass the attitudes, resentment and injuries on to the next generation.” (Harris 2002:113) “Vicarious learning” is another example of socialization (Weitzer and Tuch 2006). Simply knowing about another person’s negative experiences with the police or the justice system, especially if that person is a friend or family member, can be internalized. Consistent with this argument, the current study found that people who reported that they had family members or friends who had been “racially profiled” by the police were more likely to express negative attitudes towards the Canadian criminal justice system. Whatever the cause, negative attitudes towards the criminal justice system— including the perception that the justice system is discriminatory—is a serious problem. Previous research, for example, suggests that those who hold negative attitudes towards the police are less likely to cooperate with police investigations or give testimony in court (Brown and Benedict 2002). There is also an emerging body of research which suggests that people who perceive bias or unfairness in the criminal justice system are more likely to justify their participation in illegal activities. In other words, negative perceptions of the justice system may eventually lead to criminal behavior (see Tyler 1990; Sherman 1993; Tyler 2005; Wortley and Tanner 2008). If people sincerely believe that the criminal justice system is not acting in a fair or legitimate fashion, why should people obey the law? What, therefore, are our policy options? How can we reduce or eliminate negative perceptions of the justice system? How can we reduce or eliminate perceptions of bias or unfairness? The Canadian criminal justice system, it appears, is taking these issues seriously. For example, numerous strategies—including community policing initiatives, cultural sensitivity training, formal anti-racism regulations, and campaigns to recruit officers from racial minority communities—have been implemented by police forces across the country. However, to date, these programs have not been evaluated in a scientific manner by external researchers (see Stenning 2003). Without high quality, objective research, how do we know if these programs are working or not? How do we know if these strategies are effective or if they are simply “window-dressing” designed to convince the public that issues of racism and anti-immigrant bias are being addressed? In our opinion, the study described above is a good example of the type of


469

research that is required. To begin with, it helped illustrate the often complex relationship between race, immigration status and criminal justice attitudes. Secondly, it also illustrated that perceptions of racial bias in the justice system have not diminished over the past decade and a half—despite intense anti-racism programming. However, this study also has its limitations. For example, because it is based in Toronto, we cannot determine the extent to which similar attitudes exist among racial minorities and immigrants in other regions of Canada—let alone other nations. Clearly, more international research—comparing the experiences and attitudes of immigrants in various countries—is much needed. Furthermore, this study only examined the views of three major racial groups: blacks, Chinese people, and whites. Future research needs to document the attitudes and perceptions of other major ethnoracial groups including South Asians, West Asians, and people of Aboriginal background. For example, an important question is whether the attitudes of South and West Asians towards the criminal justice system have changed since 9/11. Clearly, the above study has only touched the surface of a topic that, in our opinion, will take on even greater significance over the next 20 years.

Appendix A Description of dependent and independent variables used in the OLS regression analysis Dependent Variables Police Evaluation Scale Respondents were asked if the thought the police were doing a good job, an average job or a poor job at performing four specific policing functions: (1) enforcing the law; (2) being approachable and easy to talk to; (3) providing the public with information on how to prevent crime; and (4) keeping your community safe. Each of these variables was coded in the following manner: 0= poor; 1=don’t know; 2=average; 3=good. Responses to these four items were collapsed into a single police evaluation scale ranging for 0 to 12 (mean=7.9). Court Evaluation Scale Respondents were asked if they thought the criminal courts were doing a good job, an average job or a poor job at performing three specific policing functions: (1) providing justice quickly; (2) helping the victims of crime; and (3) determining the guilt or innocence of accused persons. Each of these variables was coded in the following manner: 0=poor; 1=don’t know; 2=average; 3=good. Responses to these three items were collapsed into a single court evaluation scale ranging for 0 to 9 (mean=3.5). Police Bias Scale Respondents were asked six questions about possible police bias. They were asked how the police treated: (1) poor people vs. wealthy people; (2) young people vs. older people; (3) women vs. men; (4) people who speak English vs. people who do not speak English; (5) black people vs. white people; and (6) Chinese people vs. white people. If respondents reported that a particular group was treated the same, they were given a score of 0; if they reported that they “don’t know”, they were assigned a

470


score of 1; if they felt that they were treated “better” or “worse”, they were given a score of 2; and if they felt they were treated “much better” or “much worse”, they were given a score of 3. Finally, a third set of questions tapped the perceived frequency with which such bias occurs. Responses to this item were coded from ‘1’ if they “did not know” to ‘4’, if they felt that discrimination occurs often. The variables measuring magnitude and frequency of differential testament were subsequently multiplied and combined in order to create a single index of police bias ranging from 0 to 69. The higher the score on this index, the greater the level of perceived police bias (mean score=29.03). Court Bias Scale Respondents were also asked six questions about possible bias in judicial sentencing. They were asked how criminal court judges would treat: (1) poor people vs. wealthy people; (2) young people vs. older people; (3) women vs. men; (4) people who speak English vs. people who do not speak English; (5) black people vs. white people; and (6) Chinese people vs. white people. If respondents reported that a particular group was treated the same, they were given a score of 0; if they reported that they “don’t know”, they were assigned a score of 1; if they felt that they were treated “better” or “worse”, they were given a score of 2; and if they felt they were treated “much better” or “much worse”, they were given a score of 3. Responses to these six items were combined to create a single index of perceived court bias ranging from 0 to 18 (mean=6.2). The higher the score on this scale the higher the perceived bias in criminal courts sentencing.

Independent Variables Race Respondents were asked to state what racial group they self identify with. Two dummy variables were used to denote race. Black (1=black; 0=other) and Chinese (1=Chinese; 0=other). White is the default category left out of the analysis: 33% of the final sample are black; 33% are Chinese, and 33% are white. Age Age is an interval variable. Age is measured in years ranging from 18 to 89 years. Mean age=45.1 years; median age=44 years; standard deviation=16 years. Gender Gender is dummy coded (1=male; 0=female). Less than half of the sample (40%) is male. Education Respondents were asked their level of educational attainment. Education is coded: 1=elementary or less; 2=some high school; 3=completed high school; 4= some post-secondary; 5=completed college; 6=bachelor’s degree; 7=professional or graduate degree. One-fourth of the sample (27%) has a university degree. Employment Respondents were asked whether or not they were currently employed. Employment status was dummy coded: (1=employed full-time; 0=other). Approximately 51% of the sample is employed full-time. Unemployed We also included a dummy variable to denote unemployment (1= unemployed; 0=other). Approximately 6% of the sample is unemployed.


471

Subjective Social Class Respondents were asked about what social class they felt they belong to. Subjective social class was coded: 0=lower class; 1=middle class; 2=uppermiddle class; and 3=upper-class or wealthy. Two-thirds of the sample (65%) stated that they are middle class. Number of Times Stopped by the Police Respondents were asked how many times in the past 2 years they had been stopped and questioned by the police. Recent contact with the police (past 2 years) was coded: 0=no stops; 1=one stop; 2=two stops; and 3=three or more stops. Approximately one-third of the sample (32%) had been stopped by the police at least once in the past 2 years. Marijuana Use We asked the respondents whether they had used marijuana in the past 2 years. Marijuana use is dummy coded: 0=has not used marijuana in past 2 years; 1=has used marijuana in past 2 years. 18% of the sample has used marijuana in the past 2 years. Criminal Record Respondents were asked if they had ever been arrested by the police at some point in their life. Criminal record was dummy coded: 1=has a criminal record; 0=no criminal record. Approximately 3% of the sample has a criminal record. Length of Time in Canada Time in Canada is an interval level variable. Respondents were first asked if they were born in Canada or not. Respondents who were born outside of the Canada were then asked what year they moved to Canada. Respondents who had resided in Canada for less than a year were given a score of “0.” On this variable, people born in Canada were given the same score as their age. Length in Canada ranged from 0 to 89 years (mean=18.2 years). Vicarious Police Contact Respondents were asked any family members had been the victim of racial profiling by the police in the past 2 years. This variable was dummy coded: 1=family/friends have been profiled in the past 2 years; 0=family and friends have not been profiled. Forty-two percent of the respondents reported that they had a family member or friend who had been profiled by the police in the past 2 years. Acknowledgements The research presented in this paper was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

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Scot Wortley has been a Professor at the Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto since 1996. In 2001, he was appointed the Justice and Law Domain Leader at the Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement (CERIS). In 2007, he was appointed by Metropolis to the position of National Priority Leader for research on Justice, Policing and Security. His current research interests include immigration and crime, discrimination within the criminal justice system, public perceptions of the police, courts and corrections, criminal offending, gang membership and victimization in both Canada and the Caribbean and the effectiveness of crime prevention strategies. Akwasi Owusu-Bempah is a doctoral student at the Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto and a Research Coordinator with Prevention and Intervention Toronto (P.I.T.). He currently holds a BA (Carleton University) and an MA (University of Toronto) in criminology. He has also held positions as a Jr. Research Analyst and a Policing Standards Development Officer within the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. Akwasi’s research interests are varied but focus mainly on the intersection of race, ethnicity and the criminal justice system. His previous research has examined racially based policing in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., public perceptions of criminal (in)justice in Western nations, youth gang involvement, immigration and crime, and drug impaired driving.