Procedural Justice and Legitimacy in Policing

This brief focuses on the “doing” of procedural justice: what the police can do to implement the principles of procedural justice, and how their actions can improve citizen perceptions of police legitimacy. Drawing on research from Australia (Mazerolle et al), the UK (Stanko, Bradford, Jackson etc al), the US (Tyler, Reisig, Weisburd), Israel (Jonathon-Zamir et al), Trinidad & Tobago (Kochel et al) and Ghana (Tankebe), the authors examine the practical ways that the police can approach engagement with citizens across a range of different types of interventions to embrace the principles of procedural justice, including:

·         problem-oriented policing

·         patrol

·         restorative justice

·         reassurance policing

·         and community policing.

Through these examples, the authors also examine some of the barriers for implementing procedurally just ways of interacting with citizens, and offer practical suggestions for reform. This work will be of interest for researchers in criminology and criminal justice focused on policing as well as policymakers.