Teachable Moments: Possibilities for Police Reform Through Arts-Led Police Community Engagement in England and Wales?

This paper examines the effects of a procedural justice policing intervention on citizens’ feelings of obligation to obey police. It examines whether the efficacy of procedural justice on citizens’ obligation to obey police may be contingent on citizens’ level of trust in police during a police–citizen encounter. This research draws on survey data from the Queensland Community Engagement Trial (QCET). QCET was a randomized controlled field trial implemented by the Queensland Police Service. The trial exposed citizens to either a procedural justice experience (experimental condition) or standard police practice (control condition) during a random roadside stop. Survey responses were received from 1107 drivers in the experimental condition and 1655 drivers in the control condition. Compared to the control condition, the procedural justice condition yielded higher levels of trust in the police officer conducting the roadside stop. No differences in obligation to obey police were observed between the two conditions. Importantly, citizens’ level of trust in the officer moderated the effect of the intervention on obligation to obey police. Specifically, the procedural justice condition had a negative effect on obligation to obey for those reporting low trust in police. For those high in trust, the procedural justice intervention had a slight but insignificant positive effect on obligation to obey. The findings suggest that procedural justice effects can vary between individuals; specifically, the findings reveal that procedural justice interventions can sometimes be counter-productive, depending on the level of trust a citizen exhibits toward police during an encounter. Police agencies should therefore be aware of potential counter-productive effects when implementing procedural justice in the field.

This is an exploratory research 1 study that aims to better understand the relationship between East Jerusalem Palestinian residents' perceived police intolerance, legitimacy, and trust, to consequently determine the extent to which procedural justice can influence this relationship positively. Participants were surveyed on a range of topics including their daily contact with police, their perception of law enforcement behavior, their degree of trust in police use of procedural justice and how they believe police treat their ethnic group. We argue that how Jerusalem Palestinians perceive police bias is associated with their level of trust in police. Greater preconceived bias is associated with lower trust in police. In addition, we argue that perceiving police as procedurally just is positively related to trust. Importantly, this study finds a significant interaction effect between perceptions of police bias and procedural justice on Palestinians' trust in the police. Specifically, for those who view police as biased against Palestinians, procedural justice has a very weak but positive effect on trust. For those who hold the view that police are unbiased, perceiving police as generally procedurally just has a stronger positive effect on trust. This interaction effect suggests that perceived bias may shape how East Jerusalem Palestinians interpret police treatment of Palestinians. In the Old City in particular the level of Palestinian trust in the Israeli police has been extremely low.

PurposeSince 9/11, Muslims have experienced discrimination and scrutiny from authorities. For many, this experience has damaged their trust in law enforcement and left them with the impression that they are viewed as suspect. This study seeks to better understand the relationship between Muslims' perceived police bias and trust, and how procedural justice may shape this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected survey data from 398 Muslims in Sydney, Australia, as part of a larger study on immigrants' views of police. Participants were surveyed on a range of topics including contact with police, global assessments of police procedural justice and how they believe police treat their cultural group.FindingsOverall, the authors find that the extent to which people perceive police bias is associated with their level of trust in police. Greater preconceived bias is associated with lower trust in police. The authors also find that perceiving police as procedurally just is positively related to trust. Importantly, this study finds a significant interaction effect between perceptions of police bias and procedural justice on Muslims' trust in police. Specifically, for those who hold the view that police are unbiased, perceiving police as generally procedural just has a strong positive effect on trust. For those who view police as biased against Muslims, procedural justice has a weak but positive effect on trust. This interaction effect suggests that perceived bias may shape how Muslims interpret police treatment of Muslims.Originality/valueThis study is the first to explore how perceived police bias and perceptions of procedural justice predict and interact to shape Muslims' trust in police, advancing existing procedural justice policing scholarship.

This study aims to examine residents’ attitude toward the police, with an empirical assessment of survey data collected from both urban and rural areas of Taiwan, a Chinese society that has successfully transformed from authoritarianism to democracy. Prior studies using samples from different Chinese societies tend to find that the assessment of the police is unidimensional. Using procedural justice as the guiding theoretical framework, the present study examines whether urban and rural residents express different levels of trust in police on procedural- and outcome-based measures. Findings revealed that urban residents had a lower level of trust in police on the outcome-based performance than their rural counterparts, while no difference was found in procedural-based dimension. In addition, Taiwanese attitudes toward the police were substantially influenced by media coverage of police misconducts and political ideology. This article concluded with discussions of plausible explanations and policy implications.

PurposeThere remain several underaddressed issues in the procedural justice literature. The authors draw from a rich body of psychological research on how the sociopolitical orientation to group inequality influences individual views on government and apply this to perceptions of procedural justice.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a laboratory-style experimental design to examine the extent to which social dominance orientation (SDO) shapes how people view the language of law enforcement. Four treatments are tested: procedural justice, rapport, deference, and direct.FindingsThe authors find that, overall, exclusively emphasizing rapport – as opposed to procedural justice, deference, or directness – is not beneficial to fostering positive perceptions of police. Additionally, a higher SDO score is associated with lower perceptions of officer respect in the video and regardless of condition. Finally, while higher SDO score is correlated with greater trust in police (both a specific officer and the police in general), it is also associated with a lower sense of obligation to obey both the officer in the video and the police as an institution. Further, procedural justice or direct communication styles can attenuate the negative impact of SDO on views of police better than rapport or deference communication styles. Thus, the picture that emerges from this research is more nuanced than a straightforward relationship between SDO and support for police.Originality/valueThis study used an experimental design to examine for the first time the role that a sociopolitical orientation may play in procedural justice theory. While research finds strong links between procedural justice and increased cooperation with police, obligation to obey, and trust in police, few studies have delved into the individual-level factors that research has yet to delve into whether sociopolitical orientation may play a role in informing police actions and communication training.

This study is devoted to the investigation of factors affecting the level of trust in the Russian police. The main research issue of the article is to understand why some citizens trust law enforcement agencies, while others do not. To achieve this goal, data obtained during the 7th wave of the World Values Survey were used. The method of analyzing quantitative data was ordinal logistic regression. It is shown that the crime rate in the area of residence and the perception of security have received only partial empirical confirmation. The positive influence of the perception of corruption on trust in the police was found. The article also portrays how a more favorable attitude towards law enforcement agencies is associated with higher corruption. The author comes to the conclusion that citizens with higher levels of trust generally have more positive attitudes towards law enforcement agencies. It has been established that the level of trust of post-materialists in the police is lower than that of materialists. Statistical analysis has shown that an increase in the number of citizens with post-materialistic values leads to a decrease in the level of trust in law enforcement agencies. The author found that men have a lower level of trust in the police compared to women. The significance of the study lies in the fact that it can provide useful and practical recommendations for improving the work of the police and increasing the level of public confidence in it.

In Western countries, there is conclusive research on public trust in the police and the factors that affect it; however, the situation in developing countries like Ethiopia is largely unknown and unexplored. The current study utilized cross-sectional data from representative 616 households from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The study results found lower trust in the local police, less effective in reducing crime, and residents’ unfavorable perceptions of police procedural fairness, accompanied by poor relationships with the community. Moreover, perceptions of police effectiveness, procedural justice, and police-community relations were significant predictors of citizens’ trust in the police. The results of the study provide evidence for the applicability of the underlying assumptions of the performance model, procedural justice and community policing in the context of Ethiopia. As a result, to enhance trust in the police and improve relations with citizens, police should effectively control crime and communicate it, exert authority procedurally, exercise fair and respectful policing, and undertake activities that positively strengthen their relationship with the community. This study has theoretical and practical implications and provides insights for enhancing public trust in the police.

This paper reports findings from the world's first randomised experimental field trial of procedural justice policing. We tested whether or not procedural justice could be used by police agencies during short, routine traffic stops to increase public trust and confidence in police. Using survey data from 2762 Australian drivers who had been exposed to either a procedural justice script (experimental condition) or a standard police procedure (control condition), it was found that trust and confidence in police was higher in the experimental condition. This was even the case after respondents' demographic background and general perceptions of police were taken into account. Similar effects were not found for drivers' obligation to obey police, nor their willingness to cooperate with police. Importantly, however, trust in police did predict both obligation to obey police and the willingness to cooperate with police. The findings have important implications for procedural justice research and policing practice.

The international literature contains very few empirical tests of Tyler’s (2011) claim that in Europe, as in the United States, procedural justice plays a larger part than police performance in accounting for citizens’ trust in the police. With regard to procedural justice, there has also been little research on the distinct effects of responsiveness and fair treatment. This study is a step towards filling in these gaps. We used quantitative data collected in Belgium to examine to what extent citizens’ trust in the police is determined by being a victim of crime, perceptions of disorder, feelings of insecurity, perceptions of the way the police treat people and perceptions of police responsiveness. The results indicate the relevance of procedural justice for explaining police trustworthiness in European countries. In Belgium, perceived responsiveness seems to be the cornerstone of a strong trust relationship.

Applying Procedural Justice Theory to Law Enforcement's Response to Persons With Mental Illness

Objective Explore whether exposure to positive BWC videos – particularly, acts of heroism – affects public perceptions of police while accounting for existing trust in police. Method An online vignette-style experiment was conducted in which participants’ (N = 407; age = 41.94 [s = 12.74]; 51% women, 80% White) existing trust in police was measured before random assignment to either view a short series of positive BWC videos or not. All participants then read a vignette describing a traffic stop. Participants reported their perceptions of procedural and distributive justice as well as perceptions of police more generally. Results Participants with higher existing trust in police reported more positive evaluations across all outcomes measured. Exposure to positive BWC videos only increased reported willingness to cooperate with police. However, trust in police and exposure to BWC videos produced an interaction effect: when participants’ existing trust in police was low, viewing positive BWC videos improved evaluations of officer respect and procedural justice as well as willingness to cooperate with police. Participants with low trust in police who viewed the positive videos became more similar to participants with high existing trust in police. Conclusion The findings indicate that exposure to positive BWC videos can moderate the negative effect of low trust in police. In an applied sense, the results suggest that police-community relations may be enhanced by circulating videos that depict acts of police heroism when such events have occurred and are captured on film.

“The legitimacy of legal authorities—particularly the police—is central to the state’s ability to function in a normatively justifiable and effective manner.” In other words, legitimacy is seen as a central concept in procedural justice theory and is described as a multidimensional phenomenon consisting of different elements (i.e., rules, appropriate beliefs, relevant actions, etc.). The crucial fact is that the presence of these elements in society is necessary because only in these conditions people believe in the legitimacy of power of any kind of authority, particularly that of the police as the most evident facet of the criminal justice system. This chapter presents the main findings from a cross-national survey of law students relating to legitimacy of policing and criminal justice in seven Central and Eastern European countries which was conducted in 2013. The results imply significance of legitimacy and trust in police and criminal justice, and in addition, similar findings on the effect of procedural justice, police effectiveness, and authority on legitimacy were found. These results resemble those from studies conducted in Western Europe and USA. The results imply that legitimacy and trust in the police are related to democratization of the countries where attitudes towards the most visible state institution—the police—were studied. Nevertheless, the majority of results imply a negative attitude of the respondents towards the police. Significant differences among the studied countries exist while some factors that correlate with legitimacy are the same. Nevertheless, despite different developments on police reforms in the studied countries, all police forces should strive to improve their effectiveness, procedural justice, authority, and distributive justice. It is important to do so, because the respondents were students of law who will be future legal professionals, as well as in the fields of law enforcement and criminal justice.

The study assessed the level of trust in police among urban citizens in Bangladesh and examined the associated factors. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted through mobile phones to collect data from 1,680 respondents using a structured questionnaire. A 9-item scale was developed and validated to measure citizens’ trust in police using procedural- and outcome-based trust models. The urban citizens had a relatively low level of trust in the police. Factors like trust in neighbourhoods, satisfaction with governmental law and order operation, believing positive media reports on police, and personal safety awareness were significantly positively associated with trust in police. In contrast, increasing crime in the residential areas, believing negative media reports on police, and senior citizens were significantly associated with low levels of trust in police. Bangladesh police should adopt pro-people practices with effective implementation of law and order to increase their trust.

Following a series of high-profile incidents of violence against women by serving London Metropolitan Police Officers, questions of standards and the public’s confidence in policing are in the spotlight. Over a fifteen-month period between July 2022 and September 2023 using monthly surveys of representative English samples, this study confirms that women, in general, are more trusting in the police than men. This, however, does not hold true in London. Out of nine regions in England, London is the only region where women’s overall trust in the police is lower than men. Lower levels of trust in the police among women in London hold when controls for age, income, political environment and crime levels are considered. In line with existing literature that considers women being more sensitive to cues about trustworthiness, the concerning incidents of sexual violence by police officers against women are likely to further erode trust in police in the capital, which already ranks last among England’s nine regions in citizen trust of the police. Statement on ethics approval Approval was granted for this study to be carried out by the College of Business, Arts and Social Science Research Ethics Committee, Brunel University London. Approval reference: 35290-LR-Jan/2022-37313-1.

Young people’s consumption of illicit substances at mass events (e.g., music festivals; school-leaver events) is a major health concern to authorities world-wide. Police are required to enforce laws on illicit substances at such mass events, but critics claim that heavy-handed police enforcement can alienate patrons and reduce their willingness to seek help from police in the event of an adverse reaction or overdose. In recent years, police in Australia have been urged to shift their approach from a ‘law enforcement’ approach to a ‘harm reduction’ approach at these types of events, particularly when dealing with young people. Harm reduction policing approaches focus on supply, demand and harm-minimisation associated with illicit drugs, with recent literature proposing that police discretionary decision-making and interpersonal interactions with users aimed at building trust and respect can contribute toward secondary harm reduction (Stevens, 2013). Despite the call for harm reduction policing approaches at these events, police still use crackdown tactics in Australia. These policing tactics have been linked to excessive consumption of drugs to avoid detection (e.g., Dunn & Degenhardt, 2009; Hickey et al., 2012). To foster young patrons’ help-seeking in illicit substance emergencies at mass events, it is important to better understand how they perceive police at mass events and policing responses that target illicit substances. Research demonstrates that public perceptions of procedural justice policing—fair treatment and fair decision-making—influences a range of attitudes and behaviours in citizens, including: satisfaction with police, compliance with police directives, trust in police, and willingness to cooperate with police (e.g., Hinds & Murphy, 2007; Sunshine & Tyler, 2003). This prior research also shows that relational concerns regarding procedural justice tend to be more important for shaping attitudes and behaviours toward police than instrumental concerns, such as perceived risk of sanction or perceptions that police are effective. Adopting a procedural justice framework, my research explores for the first time how policing approaches at mass events influences young peoples’ trust in police, their willingness to cooperate with police, and their help-seeking behaviours in the event of adverse reactions to illicit substances. A mixed methods approach is adopted across three studies. Study 1 includes observations of two mass events in Queensland (a two-week high-school graduation celebration known as ‘Schoolies’, and a music event known as ‘Stereosonic’) and interviews with 19 Queensland Police Service officers. Study 2 uses the interviews with police officers, while Study 3 includes a survey of 440 youth who attended the Schoolies event during the same years as the observations and interviews. Study 1 found that the policing approach in the first week of Schoolies more closely aligned with a harm minimisation approach than the second week of Schoolies or the Stereosonic music festival. It was also found to demonstrate more characteristics of procedural justice policing compared to Stereosonic (the other mass event studied). Study 2 revealed that police had varied understandings of procedural justice and noted several barriers in its practice but indicated that the principles underlying its framework were important for policing youth at these events. Study 3 indicated that youth’s self-reported help-seeking was driven more by instrumental concerns such as a perceived risk of sanction for wrongdoing than relational factors such as procedural justice. However, perceptions of procedural justice and trust in police dominated young peoples’ willingness to cooperate with police, with procedural justice being very important to fostering trust. Further, young people were more likely to say they would seek help from police at mass events for a friend than themselves, and also when they perceived policing tactics to be less law enforcement focused. This thesis fills several gaps in the literature. It is the first to explore the theoretical link between young people’s perceptions of procedural justice, trust, and willingness to seek help for an adverse consequence associated with illicit substance use. It is also the first to compare policing tactics employed at Schoolies to another youth mass event, and the influence policing tactics at these events have on youth trust in police and willingness to cooperate and seek help. This thesis raises important implications for the widespread applicability of the procedural justice framework, and for how police should best approach policing mass events in the future.