Procedural Justice and Legitimacy SPIAA 2014, Tampa, Florida

Enhancing Police legitimacy

Procedural Justice and LegitimacySPIAA 2014, Tampa, Florida

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RoadmapPublics role in policingGaining complianceLegitimacyWhat is and what it may get youProcedural justiceElementsResearch on procedural justice

2The public and the policeThe focus is on how the public impacts on the effectiveness of the police in their efforts to combat crime and maintain social order.3Publics Role in PolicingMobilizationInformationPreventionCompliance-A-Obey the law generally and B-Obey police during a police citizen encounter.

Most of these above are largely voluntary in nature. 42 ways to gain ComplianceThreat basedI comply because the police are good at job/effective and will catch me if I do notnot most effectivehave to be every where all the time. Voluntary compliance.I comply not due to fear but because I feel I ought to do soCan concentrate resources on problem areas/people.5

Can support/compliance be created?The value of voluntary cooperation and support from the public raises the question of how such cooperation and support can be created and maintained.

6French and Raven (1959)Coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, and referentLegitimate power is the persons perceptions whether a superior has the right to prescribe and control their behavior.

7Police LegitimacyThe ability to create and maintain a climate of public opinion in which community residents generally view the police as legitimate authorities.8

Sources of legitimacyInstrumental and Normative sources of legitimacy9Instrumental source of legitimacyInstrumental perspective of legitimacy suggests that police develop and maintain legitimacy through their effectiveness in controlling crime and disorder in the community.At the individual level- compliance via creation of a credible risk that people will be caught and punished for wrongdoingAt the community level- public cooperation in fighting crime is motivated by evidence that the police are performing effectively in their efforts to control crime and urban disorder10Normative source of legitimacyNormative-the legitimacy of police is linked to public judgments about the fairness of the processes through which the police make decisions and exercise authority.At the community level the police are viewed as fair.At the individual level- I was treated fairly in my interaction. 11The value of police legitimacy?When people feel that an authority is legitimate, they authorize that authority to determine what their behavior will be within a given set of situations.12How do the police shape public views of their legitimacy?One idea is that legitimacy of authorities and institutions is rooted in public views about the appropriateness of the manner in which the police exercise their authority. Evaluation based on use of fair procedures when engaging in police activities.These are distinct from judgments based upon effectiveness /outcomes.HOW THEY ARE TREATED13A legitimacy-based strategy of policingA legitimacy-based strategy of policing increases cooperation with the law by drawing on peoples feelings of responsibility and obligation.Building legitimacy is the goal.14Cost effectiveIf this works it is cheaper and more efficient than maintaining a credible system of deterrence or police performance upon crime.Could also be the next area to be mined once instrumental models of crime control have been put in place.15Its about the process!In dealing with authority people value just, decent treatment, transparency, and fair decision making over instrumental concerns and outcomes. Fair treatment promotes feelings of procedural justice and promotes motive based trust.These in turn increase the legitimacy of the authority concerned. 16The Legitimacy gets youDecision acceptance.Readiness to comply with instructions/orders.Compliance with the law.17Theory of procedural justiceIf PJ works, it suggests that cooperation and compliance will be secured by PROCESS based styles of policing which will encourage the public to see cooperating with the police and obeying the law as the right things to do. 18Procedural fairnessLegitimacyDecision acceptanceCooperationCompliance with law19Many factors Clearly there are many factors involved in compliance with the law/police other than legitimacy of authority.Risk of detectionPersonal moralityPsychological factorsNot saying these do not matter or impact but only saying that perhaps legitimacy does too.20PoliceEffectivenessProcedural JusticeLEGITIMACYPerceived risk of sanctionPersonal MoralityCompliance with lawCompliance model21What is procedural justice?Coined by Thibaut and Walker (1975) to refer to people's perceptions of the treatment they receive during the processes involved in decision-making.The subjective experience of the process. 22What is procedural justice?Participation.Explain their situation and viewsFeel input solicited and considered.Shut your Neutrality.Unbiased and based on objective things not personal views.Treated with dignity and respect by legal authorities.Treated with politeness, took them seriously.Social status and self worthHey BuddyTrust the motives of decision maker.Sincere and benevolent concern23Legit? Phili Stop 9/27/13http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4exZ-jXgWEParticipation.Neutrality.Treated with dignity and respect by legal authorities.Trust the motives of decision maker.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njb6X-nmW2M 24 Sheriff Susan Rahrhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQyNtyA34BoSheriff Susan E. Rahr, King County (WA) Sheriff's Officehttp://www.nij.gov/multimedia/presenter/presenter-tyler/data/resources/presenter-tyler-transcript.htmAn NIJResearch for the Real World SeminarTom Tyler, Ph.D.25L.E.E.DSpecific things to do not do -Dont be a jerkListenExplainShows you listened-creates the nextEquityDignity26Lack of procedural justiceIf the police can behave however they please, and ignore the rules, so can I.27The role of procedural justice and legitimacy in shaping public support for policingSunshine and Tyler 2003

28Two major questionsDoes legitimacy influence public support of the police?What determines legitimacy?29Findings-Police legitimacyPublic evaluations of police legitimacy impact peoples compliance with law, their willingness to cooperate with and assist the police, and whether the public will empower the police.

Legitimacy was the dominant predictor of orientation toward the police. 30Findings-what determines legitimacyProcedural justice --the primary antecedent of legitimacy.31Not simply instrumental effectivenessPeople appear not to just judge police on instrumental terms.This suggests not just focusing on instrumental effectiveness but also on the value of focusing on an understanding of the determinants of legitimacy.32ETHNIC GROUP DIFFERENCESRegardless of ethnicity, people cooperate with the police when they view the police as legitimateLooks to be important to members of three major ethnic groupsWhites, African Americans, Hispanics.33Profiling and Police legitimacyTyler and Wakslak (2004)34Subjective experience of being ProfiledNot the objective experience-perception.What impacts the attributions people make?Experience fairness and orGenerally fair police dealings with the communityAre they are less likely to infer profiling occurs?35General findingsProcedural fairness significantly affected the inferences people made about their interactions with the police.Quality of decision makingQuality of treatmentInferences about trustworthiness.People less likely to infer they were profiled when they are treated with politeness and respect36The process mattersThe actions of individual police can, therefore, have a direct and fundamental impact by either enhancing or lowering people's judgments of police legitimacy37Mazerolle, Antrobus, Bennett and Tyler (2013)Goal:

To test the influence of an experimental manipulation on both specific and generalized views of police legitimacy and how these views influence peoples satisfaction and willingness to cooperate with police.38Police Citizen encountersGlobal attitudes toward police formed often before contactVicarous experience perspectiveLearn from stories of friends, family and media

39Method ideaCompare and contrast two distinct types of police citizen encounters and how they differentially influence citizens perceptions of police during the encounter as well as their more general orientation to police.Randomized field trialTraffic stops40AssumptionsVariations in respondents preexisting views of the police will be distributed equally among the experimental and control group.Experimental condition (PJ) will shape not only citizen views about the police during the encounter but also their general views of the police.These specific and general view of police will shape views of police legitimacy.41Methodology?Random allocation of 60 planed road blocks (RBT) to standard (control) or experimental (script operationalizing procedural justice). 300-400 cars per operationSealed survey for those pulled over.42ControlRandom pull overBAC used20 seconds

43ExperimentalIncorporate PJ elementsParticipation, dignity and respect, neutrality, trustworthy motives into a scriptStill had to take the BAC but could voice concernsThank them for time.

10 officers were standard or experimental per RBT operation

44FindingsKey finding of the analysis shows that perceptions of procedural justice in the specific context not only influence specific attitudes about police, but also more general beliefs about the police: Citizens who perceived the RBT traffic encounter to be procedurally just had more positive specific as well as generalized views of police.It shows that specific views of police, derived from a very short encounter with police, can shape generalized views of police.45FindingsOverall, the findings show that the more procedurally just the police strive to make even a short encounter, the more likely citizens are to perceive the police as legitimate.46FindingsSatisfaction was directly related to perceptions of procedural justice, whereas cooperation was only indirectly related through legitimacy. This finding suggests that, at least in the Australian context, performance-based, instrumental factors influence citizen satisfaction with police. However, satisfaction with the way police do their job was not found to impact the willingness to cooperate, suggesting that the legitimacy of the police is the guiding factor for willingness to cooperate. 47Questions?48

FBI Research49

5051FBI Killed in the Line of Duty51 incidents, which occurred between 1975 and 1985 in which 50 offenders murdered 54 law enforcement officers in the USA.FBI interviewed the 50 offenders in order to construct a typology of their personalities. Second, officers who knew the victim officer and some of the offenders were interviewed to discover what exactly happened during the incident.52FBI Killed in the Line of DutyThe authors conclude that those who murder law enforcement officers suffer from a personality disorder, AND that victim officers often made some kind of error when dealing with their murderer, and that murdered officers share common personality traits.53Victim officer personalityThe victim officers were often described as easygoing, laid back, hard working, friendly, liked by the community, and reluctant to follow all the rules (especially in potentially dangerous situations).Conclusion: friendly, likeable officers nice guys finish last.54CONCERNS-SampleSample was consciously selected and not randomly drawn.Those offenders who were still incarcerated, who had exhausted all legal appeals, and who volunteered to participate were eligible for inclusion in the sample.Offenders who murdered law enforcement officers in ambush attacks were excluded from the sample.This sampling frame eliminated offenders who were killed by the police or committed suicide, died in prison, were acquitted, were never brought to justice, were committed to mental institutions, and who had appeals pending.32.2%55OfficersDid not start out to examine victim officers.The FBI did not appear to use a methodologically sound data collection instrument. (open ended questions).Some offenders were asked about the officers personality, it is not clear how many were asked, or how these offenders could be suitable judges of the personalities of slain officers they had killed years before56Officers-2It seems unlikely that coworkers of a slain officers would speak ill of an officer.Conclusions about victim officers are of very limited use, for even if the findings about victim officers are valid there is no comparison group to show that these victim officers are any different than other officers who are not killed in the line of duty.57