Legitimacy Issue 2: How to Train

Step 1: Definition and Description of Procedural Justice

Procedural justice can be delineated as the application of fairness in the dispute resolution processes and allocation of resources (Tyler, Tom & Juen, 2002). It is palpably factual that one of the major facets of procedural justice is associated with discussions with regard to the execution and administration of legal proceedings and justice. In United States, procedural justice is allied with the Due Process where law enforcement is expected to respect all legal rights that are entitled to each citizen (Tyler, Tom & Juen, 2002). Thus, in order to derive the importance of procedural justice particularly in policing, it is noteworthy that effective policing is highly dependent to citizen cooperation and collaboration with the law enforcers (Hawdon, 2008). This means that in order to enhance this cooperation between the citizens and police officers, it is factual that citizens ought to take law enforcers as part of the community. This is based on the fact that public support by police officers which is one of the aspects of police legitimacy is based on citizens’ cooperation and collaboration with police officers. Therefore, it can be asserted that one of the major importances of procedural justice is based on creating trust and confidence of the public to the police thereby enhancing cooperation and legitimacy. Through cooperation and comprehension of police legitimacy, it becomes easier to offer public support by the law enforcers. However, according to Hawdon (2008), integrating police officers in the contemporary community has been difficult though is exhibits to vary in different states. The complexity is promoted by lack of trust and attitudes towards these law enforcers. Relations of the public and police officers are determined by the level of social capital in the area together with the concept of police legitimacy. Therefore, low levels of social capital and lack of trust affect cooperation between the citizens and the police officers thereby affecting procedural justice in the area of concern.

Step 2:“Good” Scenario of Using a Procedural Justice Approach

In deriving a scenario that exhibits proper utilization of procedural justice approach, it is worthwhile to define the issue of police legitimacy which is the major determinant of public support to the police and execution of procedural justice. Therefore, legitimacy as defined by Sunshine and Tyler (2003) is the perception of an institution that initiates the feeling that the institution is entitled to be obeyed and deferred to.  Precisely, it represents the approval of an institution by the people of need to behave in compliance with the expression of external authority. Therefore, a good example of the scenario that exhibits a good execution of procedural justice includes the situation when a person of color reports a crime in the area such as Chicago where rates of crimes. One of the probable crimes in such a case is a domestic offense where one spouse violates the rights of the other partner. Thus, operating under the procedural justice guidelines, the police officer on duty is obliged to visit the place of incident and attend to the issue while complying with the applicable decrees. This means that the officer needs to consider the rights of both victims and handle the case without violating those rights. If the situation demands for the arrest of the offender, the officer ought to adhere to the code of practice entitled to police officers such as using the Miranda Warning prior to making an arrest. Consequently, citing from the factors that determine utilization of procedural justice, it is factual that this scenario complies with all of these aspects. To start with, there is recognition of police legitimacy when the victim of domestic offense decides to seek help from the police officer. Additionally, there is expression of public support which is exhibited by the act of the affected citizen calling the officer as a way of supporting law enforcement to the offenders. The other expression is cooperation where both the officer and the victim cooperate to make sure that law is enforced to the offender.  Lastly, proper execution of procedural justice is reflected by the act of the police officer in ignoring the fact that the crime scene is in an area with high crime rate and dominated with the people of color. Additionally, in making the arrest, the officer adheres strictly to the code of practice which means that the officer values the rights of the offender regardless of the social status or race. This will promote public trust and effective execution of procedural justice policy.

Step 3:“Bad” Scenario of Using a Procedural Justice Approach

Citing from the same scenario, the police officer might fail to adhere to the procedural justice principles in different ways. One of the ways that the police might fail to adhere to these principles includes receiving the call from the victim of the domestic offense but fails to turn up in the crime scene. Additionally, the officer might decide to make a late arrival in incident place after attending to other matters. However, if the officer goes to the place, he or she might decide to use violence while arresting the offender instead of using other ways of solving the dispute. This can be achieved by failure to adhere to the police code of practice for a crime. Therefore, in this situation, the scenario lacks cooperation, public support or even comprehension of police legitimacy. In this case, lack of police legitimacy recognition can be exhibited when the victims of the offense decide to take matters at their own hands which might lead to other severe offenses such as murder. Lastly, this scenario the major aspect of procedural justice which is recognition of legal rights entitled to every citizen.

Step 4:“Good” Scenario of Using a Procedural Justice Approach

Still adhering to domestic offenses as one of the police-citizen encounters, the police adhering to procedural justice guidelines might arrive at the incident place and decide to hear from both sides of the victims. In this scenario, both of the victims of the offense might appear to be hurt as one party tried to self-defended his or herself from the attack of the other party. This means that the officer might not be able to distinguish the precise offender. Therefore, this demands effective communication and questioning prior to making a conclusion. Thus, in order to adhere to procedural justice guidelines, the officer should consider the rights of both parties by following the case from both sides. This means that the officer should not start with exerting violence to the suspected party. Precisely, the officer should judge the situation not by the look of the case but the truth of the situation. It is factual that not every scenario of domestic violence calls for detention of the offender. In some cases, the offender might be warned on the consequences of committing the offense again. Thus, the officer should consider the applicable law enforcement strategy to solve the dispute in this case. For this situation, procedural justice will be address first by recognizing the rights of each of the victims of the offense and secondly through cooperation and public support together with reflection of police legitimacy. This approach will be important citing from the fact that it will enhance public trust in police officers thereby promoting public support and cooperation. Additionally, recognition of police legitimacy will be enhanced which will lower the rates of crimes as people will avoid taking matters on their own hands.       

Step 5:“Bad” Scenario of Using a Procedural Justice Approach

Citing from the scenario in step 4, it is factual that the officer might fail to adhere to procedural justice guidelines through different ways. One of the ways that exhibit failure to adhere to these principles includes use of violence in making an arrest. Additionally, the officer might fail to consult both sides of the case and jump into conclusions just by the look of the situation. For instance, if the domestic violence case involves violation of husband’s rights by the wife might result to a misunderstanding if the officer does not consider hearing from both sides. This might be caused by the contemporary controversy based on the issue of feminism and rights of women in different places including domestically. Assuming that the husband is always on the wrong side, the officer might fail to consider consultation and enforce the law on the wrong offender. Additionally, the officer might be scared away by the issue of feminist rights obliging him or her to take inappropriate action such as ignoring the issue. On the other hand, if the officer finds out that the offender is the male partner who has had numerous warning regarding the offense earlier, he or she might decide to use violence to arrest the offender. In addition, citing from the area of incident occurrence, the police office is tempted to use violence due to the perception that in this high crime rate area, offenders are always naughty and reluctant to arrest. According to Rosenbaum et al (2005), past experience with police officers might be one of the reasons that the public might have no trust for the law enforcers. As a result, some of the members of the public might be reluctant to take an arrest due to lack of police trust or lack of police legitimacy recognition. Therefore, referencing the provisions and aspects of procedural justice approach, this scenario ends up lacking public support to police, cooperation, and recognition of police legitimacy. One of the potential consequences of this approach is deterioration of trust in police officers, lack of public support, insufficient security services offered by the police and high rate of crimes.

 

References   

 

Hawdon, J. (2008). Legitimacy, trust, social capital and policing styles: a theoretical statement. Sage publications

Rosenbaum, D. P., Schuck, A. M., Costello, S. K., Hawkins, D. F, & Ring, M. K., (2005). Attitudes towards the police: the effects of direct and vicarious experience. Sage publications. Vol. 8 No. 3,

 Sunshine, J., & Tyler, T. R., (2003). The Role of Procedural Justice and Legitimacy in Shaping Public Support for Policing. Law & Society Review, Vol. 37, No. 3

 

Tyler, T., Tom, R.,&  Juen, Huo.(2002).Trust in the Law: Encouraging Public Cooperation with the Police and Courts. New York: Russel Sage Foundation.