Stephen 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

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”

 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

EverdeneNewbury CommunitySuburbanUrban/Suburban Minority ethnicity~40%~30% Violent crimeAbove averageBelow average Number sworn~100~300 Observation periodJun-Dec 2011Sep 2012-Apr 2013 Officers observed1223 Officer sex (male/female)9/316/7 Officer race (white/minority)8/412/11 Observation sessions3536 Citizens observed Department PJ policies/standards Minimal

 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

 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? Jonathan-Zamir et al “Measuring Procedural Justice in Police- Citizen Encounters.” Justice Quarterly /

 The higher the citizen’s social status, the more PJ police will show. ◦ Not supported  No social status variables showed significant effects

 The more moral worthiness citizens show in their behavior in police presence, the more PJ police will show. ◦ Citizen role supported  Suspects, witnesses/3 rd parties get less PJ than victims  Citizens asking for police involvement get more PJ ◦ Citizen demeanor not supported  No effect for citizen respect/disrespect

 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

 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

 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.