Making Race Visible: Youth Perceptions of the Police, Crime Reporting, and the Politics of Data Access in Canada

This study examines how race shapes youth perceptions of the police and their willingness to report violent victimization in Canada, where a long-standing political reluctance to collect and disseminate race-based policing and victimization data has limited evidence of racial disparities. Through a Quantitative Critical Race Theory (“Quantcrit”) lens, this study situates these data restrictions as part of broader racial governance that shapes what can be known about youth–police relations. Drawing on a national Canadian dataset exploring victimization (General Social Survey – Cycle 28) and qualitative interviews with racially diverse youth in Toronto, Canada, results demonstrate Black and Indigenous youth report lower confidence in the police than White youth. Qualitative narratives further contextualize these findings, illustrating how experiences perceived as racially biased erode trust and lead some youth to avoid police contact altogether, exacerbating these youths’ vulnerability to victimization. The study demonstrates the importance of improving race-based data collection to accurately identify and address disparities in policing and crime reporting in Canada.