policedatR: a comprehensive R package for stop and search data in England and Wales

Area of Science:

• Criminology
• Data Science
• Public Policy

Background:

• Research on police stop and search in England and Wales faces significant data access challenges.
• Inconsistent geographic coverage and technical complexity hinder empirical analysis.
• Existing data limitations restrict comprehensive understanding of stop and search practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce policedatR, an R package designed to streamline access to UK stop and search data.
• To overcome barriers in data acquisition, geographic coverage, and analytical complexity.
• To facilitate rigorous research and enhance democratic accountability in policing.

Main Methods:

• Developed policedatR, an R package utilizing the data.police.uk API.
• Automated data acquisition across multiple geographic scales.
• Enriched datasets with population estimates and geographic identifiers; included functions for analysis, such as calculating ethnic disproportionality.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated policedatR's utility in analyzing temporal trends, geographic variations, and ethnic disparities.
• Showcased analyses at national and local levels.
• Provided an example of harmonizing stop and search data with the English Indices of Deprivation.

Conclusions:

• policedatR transforms complex API data retrieval into a straightforward analytical workflow.
• The package facilitates rigorous empirical research on stop and search.
• policedatR supports democratic accountability by making policing data more accessible and analyzable.