Predicting Procedural Justice Shown by the

PoliceStephen Mastrofski, Tal Jonathan-Zamir,

Shomron Moyal, & James Willis

Scottish Institute for Police-George Mason University Research Conference

Procedural justice◦ Not what the officer does, but how he/she does it◦ Fairness and consideration in treatment of public

Citizen participation Decision-making neutrality (transparency) Dignity of citizens is preserved Trustworthy motives (citizen & society welfare)

Highly beneficial consequences of PJ◦ Police legitimacy◦ Citizen compliance & cooperation◦ Greater law abidingness

Background

Research question

What causes police officers to engage in more (or less) procedural justice when dealing with the public?

Few rules, guidelines, or standards◦ Compared to arrest, citation, force, crime

documentation Low visibility

◦ Not closely monitored or documented Few consequences for low or high

performance Formal organizational control mechanisms?

◦ “State of nature”

Contemporary organizational context for procedural justice

The higher the citizen’s social status, the more PJ police will show.

The more moral worthiness citizens show in their behavior in police presence, the more PJ police will show.

The more difficult or challenging the situation, the less PJ police will show.

Some police situations evoke scripts that promote PJ, and others inhibit PJ.◦ Traffic encounters will show more PJ◦ Back-up encounters will show less PJ

Officer characteristics will influence the level of PJ.◦ Males will show less PJ than females◦ Minority officers will show more PJ than non-minorities

Propositions

Everdene Newbury

Community Suburban Urban/Suburban

Minority ethnicity ~40% ~30%

Violent crime Above average Below average

Number sworn ~100 ~300

Observation period Jun-Dec 2011 Sep 2012-Apr 2013

Officers observed 12 23

Officer sex (male/female) 9/3 16/7

Officer race (white/minority)

8/4 12/11

Observation sessions 35 36

Citizens observed 319 284

Department PJ policies/standards

Minimal Minimal

Research sites and subjects

Observers accompanied officers on full work shifts

Systematically recorded police-citizen interactions◦ Features of situation (time, location, etc.)◦ Features of participants (age, sex, race, etc.)◦ Actions of participants (verbal & physical)

Data format◦ Narrative accounts◦ Structured questions/responses

Systematic social observation

Participation◦ Officer asked citizen for input?◦ How attentively did officer listen?

Neutrality◦ Officer explained why police involved?◦ Officer explained action taken?

Dignity and respect◦ How many explicit signs of disrespect/respect did

officer show? Trustworthy motives

◦ Various behaviors showing care and concern for citizen/society welfare?

Measuring elements of PJ

Jonathan-Zamir et al. 2013. “Measuring Procedural Justice in Police-Citizen Encounters.” Justice Quarterly 10.1080/07418825.2013.845677

Distribution of Procedural justice index

The higher the citizen’s social status, the more PJ police will show.

◦ Not supported No social status variables showed significant effects

Citizen’s social status

The more moral worthiness citizens show in their behavior in police presence, the more PJ police will show.

◦ Citizen role supported Suspects, witnesses/3rd parties get less PJ than

victims Citizens asking for police involvement get more PJ

◦ Citizen demeanor not supported No effect for citizen respect/disrespect

Moral worthiness: citizen behavior

The more difficult or challenging the situation, the less PJ police will show.

◦ Supported: Number of citizens at scene Number of prior encounters on shift

◦ Not supported (no effect): Police expect difficulties/risk Citizen in conflict with other citizen Police used high-stakes intervention (arrest, search, etc.) Citizen with communications difficulties

Difficulty of the work situation

Some police situations have scripts that promote PJ and others inhibit PJ.◦ Supported:

Traffic situations increase PJ Back-up situations decrease PJ

Officer characteristics will influence the level of PJ.◦ Not supported for officer sex or ethnicity (no

effect) Low number of officers precludes powerful test

Work scripts evoked

Levels of PJ observed in the field vary considerably As with coercive discretion, how the citizen

behaves/presents at scene influences officer’s behavior◦ Not social status

Some aspects of the work showed impact◦ Psychological energy for PJ is depleted

Irony of audience size◦ The more citizens present to observe police, the less PJ is

shown. Most powerful effect is the officer’s role based on

custom and habits Patterns may be very different if departments begin to

focus formal discretion control on PJ.

Conclusion