New Perspectives in Policing
National Institute of Justice
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5
Rightful Policing Tracey L Meares with Peter Neyroud
Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety This is one in a series of papers that will be published as a result of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Harvardrsquos Executive Sessions are a convening of individuals of independent standing who take joint responsibility for rethinking and improving societ yrsquos responses to an issue Members are selected based on their experiences their reputation for thoughtfulness and their potential for helping to disseminate the work of the Session
In the early 1980s an Executive Session on Policing helped resolve many law enforcement issues of the day It produced a number of papers and concepts that revolutionized policing Thir ty years later law enforcement has changed and NIJ and the Harvard Kennedy School are again collaborating to help resolve law enforcement issues of the day
Learn more about the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety at
ww wNIJgov key words ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
w wwhkshar vardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
Introduction
During the summer of 2009 the nation and the
world t rai ned t heir at tent ion on Ca mbr idge
Massachusetts a small northeastern cit y of about
100000 people abut t ing Boston a nd home to
Harvard University That summer a Cambridge
p ol ic e of f ic er a r re s t e d r enow ne d Ha r v a rd
Universit y A f r ica n A mer ica n St ud ies schola r
Henr y Louis Gates Jr who was attempt ing to
enter his home following a long trip abroad The
media were flooded w it h stories and accounts
of ldquoracial profilingrdquo the nature of t he problem
and the necessity for a national response Even
President Obama famously commented on the
incident1
To u n der s t a nd t h e c o n t r o v er s y fo l lo w i n g
Professor Gatesrsquos a r rest it is usef u l to have a
fact ua l contex t Sergea nt James Crowley t he
officer who arrested Professor Gates radioed that
he would go to the Gates residence after receiving
a dispatch at 1246 pm on July 16 2009 that a
possible breaking and entering was in progress
Crowley arrived to find Gates in his home and
from there the stories diverge Crowleyrsquos version
of t he event s is t hat Gates w a s yel l i ng a nd
Cite this paper as Meares Tracey L with Peter Neyroud Rightful Policing New Perspectives in Policing Bulletin Washington DC US Department of Justice National Institute of Justice 2015 NCJ 248411
2 | New Perspec tives in Policing
behav ing in a ldquotumultuousrdquo manner as Crowley
at tempted to ascer ta i n enoug h facts to ensure
t hat a crime was not occurring Gatesrsquos v iew on
the ot her hand is t hat Crowley disrespected him
by failing to respond when Gates asked Crowley
for his name and badge number Gates was also
upset t hat Crowle y suspec ted h i m mdash a sl ig ht
elderly ma n w it h a cane mdash to be a burg lar It is
important to emphasize t hat Sergeant Crowley
arrived at Gatesrsquos home in response to a 911 call as
opposed to an exercise of his ow n discretion This
point is critical because t he t y pical conception
of rac ia l prof i l i ng foc uses on it s lega l it y a nd
t he legalit y of police act ion is primarily framed
around placing constraints on when police decide
to engage people as opposed to how police engage
people Even though his experience fit somewhat
uneasily into the t y pical legal framework of racial
prof i l i ng P rofessor Gates ha s descr ibed h is
experience in exactly those terms
How t hen are we to understand t he disjuncture
bet ween Sergeant Crowleyrsquos insistence mdash as well
as t he conclusion of many mdash that he conducted
himself law f ully and Professor Gatesrsquos insistence
t h at he w a s u n fa i rl y t reate d a nd t herefore
racia l ly profi led
To find an answer it is necessar y to see how t wo
dominant ways of evaluat ing police leave litt le
room for considering how ordinar y people tend
to a ssess t hei r t reat ment by state aut hor it ies
E x per t s whet her t he y a re pol ic e of f icia ls or
scholars of policing tend to assess police action
eit her w it h respec t to it s law f u l ness or w it h
respec t to it s ef fec t iveness at reduc i ng c r i me
and i ncreasing public sa fet y Police fidelit y to
law especially constitutional law has long been
used as a criterion to distinguish good from bad
policing In add it ion to t he Fou r t h Fif t h a nd
Sixt h Amendments ot her bodies of law mdash such
as police agency administrative regulations civ il
lawsu its or t he ver y law t hat aut hor izes police
to act in t he first place substantive criminal law
mdash prov ide standards by which legal authorit ies
measu re and assess whet her or not policing is
carried out properly2
Effect iveness at cr ime fig ht ing has become t he
other primar y police evaluation met ric Promoted
initially by scholars this yardstick is newer t han
law fulness because for decades many including
police believed t hat law enforcement had litt le
impact on crime rates3 Dav id Bayley in his 1994
book Police for the Future summed up t his v iew
nicely
The police do not prevent crime That is
one of t he best kept secrets of moder n
life Experts k now it The police k now it
but t he public does not k now it Yet the
police pretend t hat t hey are societ yrsquos best
defense aga inst cr i me a nd cont inua l ly
a r g u e t h a t i f t h e y a r e g i v e n m o r e
resources especially personnel they w ill
be able to protect communities against
crime This is my th4
T h is is no longer t r ue Pol ic e exec ut ives a re
expected mdash and expect t hemselves mdash to reduce
Rightful Policing | 3
c r i me r at e s i n t he i r j u r i s d i c t ion s Pol ic i n g
schola rs devote t hemselves to f i nd i ng causa l
connect ions bet ween va rious pol ice pract ices
a nd c r i me st at ist ics t y pic a l l y by rely i ng on a
t heoret ica l model t hat assumes of fenders are
r at ion a l ac tor s w ho a re p er suaded t o desi st
f rom cr imina l behav ior when t he prospect of
for ma l pu nish ment out weig hs t he benef its of
that behav ior In arresting Professor Gates that
day Sergeant Crowley pursued t hese t wo aims
of policing simultaneously He was an assiduous
crime fighter and he acted in a way t hat was legal
Does t hat mean that Sergeant Crowleyrsquos conduct
was unambig uously right f ul
No it does not It does not because t here is a t hird
way in addition to law f ulness and effectiveness
t o e v a l u a t e p o l ic i n g mdash ldquor i g h t f u l p ol ic i n g rdquo
R ig ht f u l pol icing at tempts to accou nt for what
people say that they care about when they assess
i nd iv idua l of f icer behav ior a s wel l a s agenc y
conduct generally It differs from law ful policing
a nd ef fe c t i ve p ol ic i ng i n at lea st t w o w a y s
First r ig ht f ul policing does not depend on t he
law fulness of police conduct Rather it depends
primarily on t he procedural justice or fairness of
t hat conduct Second r ig ht f u l policing does not
depend on an assessment of police as ever more
effect ive crime fighters (although it turns out that
rightful policing of ten leads to more compliance
w ith t he law and t herefore lower crime rates) This
t hird way may well help us move toward police
governance that is substantively as opposed to
rhetorically democrat ic Finally rightful policing
is bet ter for cops on t he st reet Its precepts not
on ly encou rage t he people w hom pol ice dea l
w ith on a daily basis to comply w ith the law and
police directives they also encourage behav iors
in encounters that tend to keep police safe
Two Views More Law Or Less Crime
Before this paper delves into greater detail about
ldquoright ful policingrdquo it is useful to understand what
right f u l pol ici ng is not R ig ht f u l policing is not
confined simply to constitutional policing nor is
it subsumed ent irely by policing aimed at crime
reduction Rather it is about how to achieve both
by promot ing fairness and engendering trust in
police among t he public
Th is discussion began w it h a w idely publicized
ex a mple of what ma ny i nclud i ng t he per son
who was arrested Professor Henr y Louis Gates
bel ie ved to be r acia l prof i l i ng by pol ice New
York Cit y li ke Cambr idge has been embroi led
in its ow n racial profi ling cont roversy for more
t han a decade In New York t he cont roversy is
centered not on one hig h-profi le incident but
rat her on hu nd reds of t housa nds of stops a nd
f r isk s of na meless pr i ma r i ly you ng A f r ica n
American men The criticism of ldquostop and friskrdquo
leveled aga i n st t he pol ice i n Ne w York is not
limited to t hat cit y or t his countr y Philadelphia
for e x a mple h a s b e en i nv ol ve d i n a si m i l a r
cont roversy and London police have come under
fi re for implement ing what critics believe to be a
too-aggressive ldquostop and searchrdquo strateg y In each
of these cities there have been vocal complaints
about what critics claim is t he overbroad exercise
of s t ate p ow er i n t he for m of s e a rc he s a nd
sei zu res These cr it icisms usua l ly a re asser ted
in lega l ter ms and f ra med a rou nd precept s of
constitutional law The criticsrsquo preferred remedies
4 | New Perspectives in Policing
in turn are usually described using t he same set of
tools mdash t he architecture of law and rights
T h i n k i ng about pol ice law f u l ness i n ter ms of a
tradeoff bet ween the risk of arbit rar y or oppressive
enforcement a nd a n i nd iv idua lrsquos r ig ht to pr ivac y
a nd autonomy is a dom i na nt approach i n t he
literat ure5 Those who measure good policing w it h
reference to its law f ulness do not usually focus on
police effectiveness at reducing crime Rat her t he
law fulness met ric almost always casts police power
as a necessar y ev il as opposed to a welcome utilit y
or a potentially crit ical mechanism for empowering
communities to pursue t heir ow n democratica lly
chosen goals and projects According to t he ldquomore
law fulnessrdquo view police adherence to strict dictates
that constrain their discretion generally results in
less policing and more libert y for indiv iduals The
h ig her level of cr i me t hat m ig ht resu lt f rom less
pol ic i ng is si mply a pr ice c it i z ens pay for more
freedom in societ y6
Police executives who are committed to lowering
cr i me rates i n t hei r com mu n it ies do not ag ree
t hat less polici ng is an idea l t hey shou ld seek to
ach ieve In pu rsuit of accountabi lit y one of t he
fou r c or ner s tone s of t he ne w profes s iona l i sm
advocated by Stone a nd Trav i s7 mdash t he pr i ma r y
c omponent s of w h ich i nclude reduc i ng cr i me
a nd m a k i n g c om mu n it i e s s a f er c o n t r o l l i n g
cost s a nd conduc t i ng t hem selves w it h respec t
toward t he public whom they ser ve8 mdash police have
become much more concerned w it h effect iveness
consider i ng com m it ment to cr i me reduc t ion a
prime aspect of accountabilit y9 The quest ion is no
longer whether or not police can make a difference
Pol ic e exec ut ives i n stead ask ldquoHow much of a
difference i n cr i me rates ca n police ma kerdquo The
new literature on t he relationship bet ween crime
rates and policing is voluminous Criminological
research over the last couple of decades has show n
t hat deploy i ng pol ic e forces i n geog raph ic a l ly
fo c u s e d w a y s mdash ldquo hot s p ot p ol ic i n g rdquo mdash c a n
significantly reduce crime w ithout displacing it to
ot her a reas10 Ot her scholars have demonst rated
t hat st rategies such as problem-oriented policing
and communit y policing can be usef ul to address
crime andor t he fear of crime11 The advances in
statistical approaches are strik ing and useful but a
weak ness of the scholarship on police effectiveness
is t hat law fulness is largely irrelevant to it
Those who promote success at cr ime fight ing as
the best way to assess police effect iveness too of ten
fa i l to u nderst a nd t hat pol ice fa i lu re to ad here
to law is a proper lens t h roug h wh ich to v ie w
public perception of overbroad policing mdash in the
form of too-preva lent stop a nd f r isk w idespread
publ ic su r vei l la nce or ot her ever yday pol ic ies
a nd pract ices Com ments by bot h for mer Mayor
Bloomberg and former Police Commissioner Ray
Kelly in reaction to the federal court order strik ing
dow n New York Cit yrsquos prominent stop question and
frisk practice illustrate this attitude on the part of
pol ice agenc ies a nd publ ic of f icia ls Fol low i ng
Dist r ict Judge Sh i ra Sheind linrsquos order decla ring
t he pract ice in v iolat ion of bot h t he Fou r t h and
Fou r teent h A mend ment s as it operated at t he
t ime t he order was issued Bloomberg a nd Kel ly
cla i med t hat t he judge had imper iled t he cit y rsquos
safet y by limiting liberal use of the practice12 On
t he other hand t hose who promote law f ulness as
t he best met r ic to assess good polici ng too of ten
Rightful Policing | 5
ignore t he fact that crime and predation among
i nd iv idua ls resu lt i n sig n ificant ly less f reedom
for residents of hig h-cr ime commu nit ies even
though private actors impose that constraint on
f reedom Residents of high-crime com munit ies
of ten see hig her levels of polici ng as a way to
achieve freedom as opposed to its const raint13
Rightful policing is attentive to both law fulness
a nd ef fec t iveness a nd it capt u res i mpor t a nt
d i mensions t hat neit her one of t he prev a lent
modes of evaluation does The notion of rightful
policing also includes a critique of a ldquoget-toughrdquo
approach to law enforcement which uses as its
principa l touchstone inst r u menta l t heor ies of
deterrence Deterrence w ithout t he balance of a
focus on legitimacy can be effective but its effects
often are shor t-lived and expensive to implement
Moreover c om m it ment to some met hods of
achieving deterrence such as stop and frisk can
predictably back fi re in communities that need
crime reduction most There is also strong reason
to believe that many heav y deterrence strategies
a re not pa r t ic u la rly ef fec t ive i n encou rag i ng
offenders to desist from crime
Rightful Policing Itrsquos About Legitimacy
Pol ice ac t ions such as stops a nd f r isks can be
costly even when they are law f ul constitutional
and short People do not automatically approve
of a stop just because an officer is legally entitled
to ma ke one T h i s rea l it y c r y st a l l i z es a ba sic
problem w it h foc u si ng on law f u l ness as t he
s i ng le y a rd s t ic k for r ig ht f u l p ol ic e c onduc t
Indeed research I have conducted w ith Tom Tyler
suggests t hat the public does not recognize law ful
police conduct when t hey see it14
If people do not focus on the law fulness of police
conduct what do t hey care about A lt houg h it
seems counterintuitive decades of research show
that people t y pically care much more about how
law enforcement agents t reat t hem t ha n about
t he outcome of t he contact Even when people
receive a negative outcome in an encounter such
as a speedi ng t icket t hey feel bet ter about t hat
incident t ha n about a n i ncident in which t hey
do not receive a t icket but a re t reated poorly15
I n add it ion to bei ng t reated w it h d ig n it y a nd
respect research demonstrates that people look
for behav ioral signals that allow t hem to assess
w het her a pol ice of f ic errsquos decision to stop or
arrest t hem was made fairly mdash that is accurately
and w it hout bias These t wo factors mdash qua l it y
of t reat ment a nd i nd icat ion s of h ig h-qua l it y
decision-mak ing mdash matter much more to people
than t he outcome of the encounter
Two add it iona l fac tors mat ter as wel l People
report higher levels of satisfaction in encounters
w it h aut hor it ies i f t he y feel t hat t he y have a n
opportunit y to explain t heir situation and t heir
perspective on it mdash ie to tell t heir stor y16 Fina lly
in t heir interactions w it h police people want to
believe t hat aut horities are acting out of a sense
of benevolence toward them They want to believe
that the aut horitiesrsquo mot ives are sincere and well-
intentioned and t hat the aut horities are t r y ing to
respond to peoplersquos concerns17 A ll four of these
factors mdash qualit y of treatment decision-mak ing
fa i r ness voic e a nd ex pec tat ion of benevolent
6 | New Perspectives in Policing
t reat ment mdash ma ke up what psycholog ists ca l l
ldquoprocedural justicerdquo
Procedura l just ice matters a g reat dea l in civ i l
societ y One impor ta nt consequence of peoplersquos
percept ions of procedural fairness according to
t hese ter ms is t hat t hey lead to popu lar beliefs
of leg it i mac y W hen soc ia l ps ycholog ist s use
t he ter m ldquoleg it i mac yrdquo t he y a re refer r i ng to a
ldquoproper t y t hat a r u le or a n aut hor it y has when
others feel obligated to voluntarily defer to that
r ule or aut hor it y A leg it imate aut horit y is one t hat
is regarded by people as entitled to have its rules
and decisions accepted and followed by ot hersrdquo18
Th is concept ion of leg it imac y is not normat ive
W hen ps ycholog i st s d i s c u ss leg it i mac y t he y
a re not ex plor ing in some philosophica l sense
whet her people ought to defer to legal aut horities
rather t hey are seek ing to determine whether in
fact people do defer Their approach is positive
a nd empi r ic a l T hu s when resea rchers have
soug ht to determ i ne why people obey t he law
t he leg it i mac y-based ex pla nat ion is d ist i nc t
f rom a n ex pla nat ion g rou nded i n fea r i ng t he
consequences of fa il ing to do so a nd f rom one
grounded in moralit y W hen people voluntarily
comply w ith rules and laws because they believe
aut hor it ies h av e t he r ig ht to d ic t ate pr op er
behav ior their compliance is leg itimacy-based
R ightf ul policing leverages t hese ideas
A robust body of socia l science ev idence f rom
around t he world shows t hat people are likelier
to obey t he law when t hey believe that authorities
have the right to tell t hem what to do19 Research
shows that people are mot ivated more to comply
w it h t he law by t he bel ief t hat t he y a re bei ng
t reated w it h d ig n it y a nd fair ness t ha n by fear
of pu n i sh ment I n fac t bei ng t reated fa i rly is
a more i mpor ta nt determ i na nt of compl ia nce
t han formal deterrence20 W hen police generate
good feelings in t heir ever yday contacts people
a re mot ivated to help t hem f ight cr i me A ll of
t his encourages desistance from offending law-
abiding and assistance to the police contributing
to lower crime rates
A lthough police are conceived and constituted by
and t hrough law focusing on t he law fulness of
police conduct can obscure onersquos abilit y to ident if y
and remedy policing behavior that t he public may
wel l v iew as problemat ic It is i mpor ta nt to see
t hat alt hough procedural justice can be related to
t he law fulness or legalit y of police conduct t hese
t wo va lences do not proceed in lock step One
way of t hink ing how t hese valences relate to one
anot her is to imagine points on a compass (see
figure) If we array law f ulness from west to east
w it h law f ulness to the east and unlaw fulness to
t he west t hen we wou ld ex pect police to be as
fa r east as possible Now imag i ne procedu ra l
just ice or legitimacy as r unning nort h and south
on the compass W hen police are respectf ul and
procedurally just they are headed nort h W hen
t he y a re not t hat behav ior i s c ategor i zed as
ldquorunning southrdquo Putting t he t wo parts toget her
one sees that t he best place for law enforcement
to be is in the northeast21 That is where one fi nds
rightful policing
Th is image however also reveals the sout heast
and t he northwest A primar y problem w it h street
pol icing i n urba n cit ies such as New York a nd
Chicago and i n many commu nit ies across t he
Rightful Policing | 7
justice in encounters can change public Figure Rightful Policing as the Convergence of Lawfulness and Legitimacy
W
perceptions of policing agencies leading
N to lack of t r ust i l l-w i l l and u lt imately
Legitimacy less law-abiding22 Considering both the
law fulness and the legitimacy of police Rightful conduct allows both the police officer and Policing
the citizen stopped to be right in a way
that is not possible when one operates in Lawfulness E the single dimension of lawfulness The
possibility of both sides being right can
lead to fruit ful conversat ion about the
rightfulness of policing
Putting Legitimacy to Work S
T his arg u ment ra ises t he quest ion for Source Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54 Wm amp mary L rev 1865 police of how t hey can put t hese ideas 1879 (2012)
into practice A focus on the procedural
globe is that too often such policing comprises
behavior I would locate in the southeast police
conduc t t hat is ver y l i kely law f u l but t hat
citizens in many encounters perceive as deeply
illegitimate using t he term as defined here In
t he f ig ure for example if one ask s a law yer
what const it utes racia l prof i l ing t hat person
t y pic a l l y w i l l a ns wer ldquoIt is pol ice behav ior
solely or perhaps partially motivated by racerdquo
however t he rev iew earlier in this essay of t he
events connected to Professor Gatesrsquos arrest in
the summer of 2009 should make clear that many
who believe themselves to have been profiled
care little about the legal determinants of their
encounters with police
T he bot tom l i ne i s c lea r r eg a rd le s s of t he
lawfulness of police behavior lack of procedural
justice of encounters can help policing
a ge nc i e s id e nt i f y b e h a v ior t a c t i c s
and strateg ies that many members of minorit y
communities find problematic and that lead to
disaffection even t hough t hey may be law f ul
and considered in isolat ion appear effective
Second a focus on t he psycholog ica l aspects
of leg it i mac y i n i nd iv idua l enc ou nters may
have i mpor ta nt cr i me cont rol benef its when
incor porated into tact ics a nd st rateg ies Two
case studies illustrate this The first is a strateg y
for v iolence reduction in Chicago Illinois which
has been running since 200223 The second is an
experiment conducted in Queensland Australia
on road traffic enforcement24 I have deliberately
chosen t wo ver y dif ferent examples to show
that legitimacy-based approaches have a wide
application across different aspects of the police
8 | New Perspectives in Policing
mission These t wo initiatives however are not
unique Lorraine Mazerolle and her colleag ues
recent ly completed a meta-analysis of legitimac y
policing inter vent ions and concluded that ldquopolice
can achieve positive changes in citizen attitudes
to pol ice t hroug h adopt i ng procedu ra l just ice
d ia log ue as a component pa r t of a ny t y pe of
police inter ventionrdquo25
W hen t he Chicago init iat ive sta r ted t he cit y rsquos
hom ic ide r at e hovere d ne a r 2 2 p er 10 00 0 0
Crime is often concentrated by geography and
i n C h ic a go t he nei g hb or hood s on t he c it y rsquos
west a nd sout h sides drove t he cit y rsquos hom icide
rate The h ig hest crime a rea on t he west had a
hom ic ide rate of 72 per 10 00 0 0 Usi ng f u nd s
prov ided by a billion-dollar nationw ide federal
initiative to combat g un crime called Project Safe
Neighborhoods (PSN)26 United States Attorney
Patrick Fitzgerald proposed a strateg y modeled
a f t e r P r oje c t E x i l e i n R ic h mo n d V i r g i n i a
target ing ex-offenders i n t he h ig h-cr i me a reas
w it h federa l pena lt ies for g u n possession a nd
ot her g u n of fenses Fi zgera ld bel ieved f rom
crime analysis t hat ex-offenders were primarily
responsible for the gun v iolence in Chicago This
approach is entirely consistent w it h the t y pical
ldquoget-toughrdquo deterrence-based t hin k ing around
crime control mdash a crackdow n on potent ially high-
harm offenders27
In dev ising t he pa r t icu la rs of t he st rateg y t he
programrsquos architects suggested to t he task force
that t he proposed strateg y should be w rapped in
t he t heor y of leg it imac y The resu lta nt st rateg y
wou ld st i l l t a r get t he g roup t he US At tor ney
t houg ht most v ulnerable to g u n offendi ng but
the communication strateg y to t his group would
emphasize aspects that research indicated clearly
most people care about when determining that
law enforcement is fair A lthough offenders would
be broug ht in a nd a ler ted to t he consequences
that would follow should they pick up a g un they
would also receive information about ser v ices to
help t hem turn away from a life of crime
Modeled after Operation Ceasefi re in Boston28
hour-long roundtable-st yle meetings were the
center piece of t he new st rateg y Each of t hese
for ums gathered no more than 20 offenders who
sat around a table w ith representat ives from state
and local law enforcement and the communit y
Instead of simply confronting the offenders w it h
t he pu n it ive con sequences of t hei r behav ior
emph a si s w a s pl ac e d on t he qu a l it y of t he
interact ion mdash less a t ribunal and more a dialogue
bet ween citizens mdash and the potential rewards of
law-abiding which is consistent w ith attempting
to achieve legit imac y-based compliance
Legit imacy-based law enforcement focuses more
on persuasion t ha n punish ment To persuade
aut hor it ies mu st create t he nec essa r y soc ia l
capital t hat engenders trust bet ween governors
and t he governed Simply emphasizing rewards
and punishments does not automatically lead to
t r ust because such a n approach assumes t hat
a l l i ndiv idua ls ca re about is t he bot tom line mdash
an assumption t hat is contrar y to t he t heor y of
procedural justice and much empirical ev idence
The notion that compliance is t y pically created
on l y by t h reat s of c o er c ion bac k e d up w it h
Rightful Policing | 9
punishment is f undamenta l ly inconsistent w it h
trust for such a stance assumes t hat indiv iduals
cannot be counted on to defer to and comply w ith
the law voluntarily
St at i s t ic a l a s s e s s ment s of t he i mp ac t of t he
Ch icago prog ra m a re st r i k i ng Papach r istos
Me a r e s a n d Fa g a n a s s e s s e d t h e i m p a c t o f
Chicagorsquos forums on neighborhood-level crime
rates and g un violence compared w ith the impact
of t hree other components of PSN mdash increased
federal prosecut ions for conv icted felons carr ying
or using g uns the imposition of longer sentences
associated w it h federa l prosecut ions a nd t he
removal of guns from t he street29 Their analysis
demon s t r at e s t hat a lt hou g h a l l t e s t ed P SN
initiatives were associated w it h a decrease in t he
homicide rate the forums had t he largest effect
Compa r i ng t he relat ive ef fec t s of t he for u ms
and federal g un prosecutions shows that a unit
increase in forum participation (or approx imately
45 new offenders) among t hose eligible is roughly
85 t imes more powerful than a unit increase in
federal prosecutions in reducing homicide rates30
Furt her research suggests that the forums make
a difference at an individual level as well Those
who at tended were sig n ifica nt ly more li kely to
stay out of prison t han those who did not all other
things being equal31
I n t he second e x a mple I sh i f t f rom t ac k l i ng
s er iou s i n ner-c it y v iolenc e t o t he re duc t ion
of ro ad deat h s b y t r a f f ic en forc ement T he
Q ueen s l a nd C om mu n it y E nga gement Tr ia l
(QCET)32 used a randomized field trial to test the
appl icat ion of leg it i mac y i n how Queensla nd
police enforced t he drink driv ing laws
P o l ic e of f ic er s ac r o s s A u s t r a l i a ad m i n i s t er
t hou s a n d s of b r e a t h t e s t s t o d r i v er s u n der
leg islat ion t hat empowers t hem to ca r r y out
r a ndo m r o ad s id e b r e at h-t e s t i n g T he t e s t s
tend to be ad min istered at test sites ident i fied
a s hot sp ot s of d r i n k d r i v i n g a nd c ol l i s ion s
causing serious injur y These police actions are
justifiable as bot h legal and evidence-based The
researchers at t he Australian Research Council
Cent re of Excellence in Policing and Securit y in
partnership w it h Queensland police set out to
see whet her t hey could significant ly enhance the
impact of t he test ing reg ime so that t he testing
not only checked for alcohol on the driverrsquos breath
but also increased public confidence in t he police
and support for the enforcement of drink driv ing
legislat ion
I n Q C E T t he t e s t i n g s i t e s w e r e r a ndom l y
allocated either to a cont rol mdash t he standard police
procedure mdash or to a ldquolegitimacy treatmentrdquo In t he
cont rol drivers were stopped given a short legal
wa rn ing a nd required to prov ide a breat h test
The legal minimum process and time were taken
to prov ide a test In contrast in t he ldquolegitimacy
treatmentrdquo t he drivers were taken through a five-
stage procedure t hat emphasized five dimensions
of procedu ra l just ice dec i sion neut ra l it y to
ex plain that t hose drivers stopped had not been
singled out but that t he test was being prov ided
to dr ivers at ra ndom t r ust wor t hy mot ives to
prov ide context about the reasons for the test site
and t he testing campaign cit izen participation
includ ing cri me prevent ion adv ice a nd deta i ls
of loca l Cr i mestopper s nu mber s red ress a nd
feedback or an opportunit y to raise any issues of
10 | New Perspectives in Policing
concern and dignity and respect which included
thanks to the drivers for their cooperation
There was a ver y small difference in the t ime
taken for the two approaches (around a minute
ex t ra for t he leg it i mac y t reat ment) yet t he
dr iversrsquo percept ions of t he process were ver y
different Drivers who experienced the legitimacy
t reat ment ldquore por te d s ig n i f ic a nt l y s t ronger
generalized perceptions of police fairness police
respect [a nd] hig her sat isfact ionrdquo w it h how
police do their job33 The caveat on these interim
findings is t hat researchers could not see from
this trial a w ider increase in t he respondentsrsquo
genera l con f idence i n t he pol ice or a w ider
tendency toward compliance with the law Given
that the encounter even in the longer legitimacy
treatment only lasted 1 minute and 37 seconds
this may not be surprising However the study
sug gest s t hat t he deploy ment of leg it i mac y
approaches in day-to-day police interactions with
citizens can have a significant and measurable
benefit over an approach t hat simply relies on
the letter of the law It also makes the point that
such approaches a re not on ly releva nt i n t he
critically difficult relationships between police
and minorit y communities but should also be
considered as an important part of wider police
operations
Conclusions and Implications for Policing
If legitimacy is as impor tant as I have argued
t hen it ra ises t he quest ions of how t he police
should incorporate this approach and what the
obstacles are to implementation I think we can
make progress on answering these questions by
considering three issues
Training M u c h p o l i c e t r a i n i n g d e s p i t e
improvements over t he last 20 yea rs retains
a st rong bias i n favor of lea r n i ng t he r u les
particularly legislat ion procedure (especially
c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c r i m i n a l p r o c e d u r e) a n d
depar tmental policies Such training does not
apply only at the initial recruitment phase In the
United Kingdom for example the key gateway for
promotion for all first-line managers is to pass a
set of examinations in the law and procedures
for cr ime roads policing genera l dut ies and
ev idence and procedure34 This k ind of reliance
on law and procedure as t he qualificat ion for
recr uits a nd ma nagers is t y pica l across most
jurisdictions As Janet Chan and her colleagues
show procedurallegal training is now frequently
suppor ted by prog ra ms to add ress behav iors
a nd prac t ic a l sk i l ls but a l most ne ver by a n
educational approach that provides officers with
the means and material to understand the social
science ev idence for what works in policing or
how approaches such as legitimac y make t heir
practice more effective35 Indeed Chan and her
colleag ues demonstrate how t he legal valence
of f ront line cu lt ure can u nder mi ne even t he
attempts to inject some ldquosocial contex trdquo Peter
Ne y r oud ha s re c om mende d a muc h more
fundamental shift in the framework of training
for recr u its specia l ists a nd managers so t hat
police training in the United Kingdom would be
governed by a new professional body and start
with a prequalification that emphasizes learning
about ev idence-based practice36 Without such a
Right ful Policing | 11
radical shift it seems likely from studies like that
of Chan and colleagues that police training will
continue to underpin a legalistic way of think ing
about problems and t heir solutions There are
promising signs of change however Chicago
Pol ic e Super i ntendent Ga r r y Mc Ca r t hy ha s
instituted a day-long training in police legitimacy
and racial reconciliation for the entire force To
date more than 8000 officers and leaders have
been trained37 Early assessments of the program
are extremely positive38 In the United Kingdom
extensive practical training on procedural justice
in pa r t icu la r sit uat ions is a lso becomi ng t he
norm39
Strategies and tactics Too often compelled by
the ever-present demand to bring crime statistics
down (especially in big cities) police executives
foc us on st rateg ies a nd tac t ics desig ned to
reduce violence in too-cramped ways If this is
r ig ht t hen pol ice execut ives shou ld consider
problem-solving in more holistic ways that w ill
y ield approaches t hat a re desig ned not on ly
to quel l v iolence but a lso to en ha nce sa fet y
by changing t he att itudes and disposit ions of
those alienated from them in ways that sustain
voluntar y compliance I have in mind here hot
spot policing that is not only deterrence-based but
also legitimacy-based Braga Welsh and Schnell
recently found in a rev iew of broken w indows
pol ici ng st rateg ies a dist inct brea k bet ween
t he ef fec t iveness of ag g ressive deter renc e-
focused broken w indows approaches such as
stop and frisk in New York Cit y and other more
leg it i mac y-based approaches Only t he lat ter
group produced large and statistically significant
impacts on crime40 Moreover commitment to
legit imacy can also help police increase safet y
and by implication quell violence at the incident
level by encouraging officers to engage in tactics
that defuse violent incidents41
Democracy and communit y participation I agree
w it h Loader when he notes t hat ldquoT he pol ice
in shor t are bot h m i nders a nd reminders of
community mdash a producer of significant messages
about t he k i nd of place t hat com mu nit y is or
aspires to berdquo42 Policing makes communit y It is
no accident that an iconic symbol of England itself
is the Bobbyrsquos hat43 In the United States policingrsquos
symbolic valence is not so positive At least one
scholar has located t he genesis of A mer ica n
policing not in the benevolent image of a kindly
communit y protector but in t he more sinister
for m of t he slave pat rol ler44 T he procedu ra l
justice literature rev iewed above makes clear
the ways in which this dark histor y can and likely
does undermine trust in police in the modern era
And yet this same literature provides a roadmap
for a more posit ive relat ionsh ip t hat not only
benefits those who need help from the police but
also potentially supports t heir par t icipation in
democratically led government It is important
for people to feel t hat if t hey call on t he police
(a nd ot her lega l actors a nd inst it ut ions) not
only w ill t heir securit y be protected but t hey
w i l l a lso be t reated w it h respect t hei r r ig hts
w ill be recognized and they w ill be subject to
fair decision-making The fact that most people
i n a com mu nit y ra rely ca ll on t he pol ice for
ser v ices does not change this because police
and other legal actors are in the background in
12 | New Perspec tives in Policing
ever y communit y and shape what people t hink
feel and do People want to feel comfort not fear
when the police are present and to anticipate that
they w ill receive help and professional t reatment
when they need it W hen they do t hey become
invested in the communities in which t hey live
Research on popular legitimacy to which police
contribute suggests t hat when people evaluate
t hei r pol ice a nd cou r t s ystems as procedura l ly
fair t hey identif y more w it h their communities
and engage in them socially by trust ing neighbors
p ol i t ic a l l y b y v o t i n g a nd e c onom ic a l l y b y
shoppi ng a nd goi ng to enter t a i n ment venues
within that communit y45
Police play a critical role in teaching the people
w it h whom t hey interact (and t hose who obser ve
t hose interactions) what it means to be a citizen46
Writing recently in t he Annals Justice and Meares
a rg ue t hat t he cr i mi na l just ice system offers a
cu r ricu lum of lessons on what it mea ns to be
a cit i zen much as public schools do The over t
cu r r icu lu m of policing fou nd most obv iously
in t he tex t of t he Un ited States Const it ut ion is
designed to convey concern for rights Peoplersquos
i nt er e s t s i n a u t o n om y p r i v a c y a n d b o d i l y
integrit y ought not to be subject to the whim of
an indiv idual police officer We are a government
of laws designed to restrain state power against
t he indiv idual Education theorists explain t hat a
hidden curriculum is often taught alongside the
over t cu rr icu lu m t y pica l ly fou nd in tex tbook s
a nd of f ic i a l r ubr ic s I n sc ho ol s t he h idden
curriculum may be found in adultstudent and
studentst udent interact ions in t he enforcement
of school discipli ne policies a nd behav ior codes
in the deeply buried assumptions and narratives
of h i s t or y t e x tbo ok s i n a s c hoolrsquos c hoic e of
mascot in who gets to sit where in the cafeteria or
in t he musical select ions at t he prom The hidden
curriculum of policing similarly is a function of
how people a re t reated i n i nteract ions a nd t he
ways in which groups derive meaning regarding
t heir status in t he eyes of legal aut horit y result ing
f r o m t h at t r e a t m e n t To o of t e n t he h id d e n
curriculum of policing strateg ies sends certain
cit izens clear signals t hat they are members of a
special dangerous and undesirable class mdash t he
m ir ror image of t he posit ive over t cur r icu lum
People do not necessa r i ly lea r n t hese lessons
W hat is learned depends i n pa r t on t he deg ree
and frequency of exposure and on indiv idual and
com mu nit y resilience A s Just ice a nd Meares
note
[T]he hidde n c ur r ic u lum f lour i s he s
i n t hose contex ts where democrac y is
d i s l o c a t e d I n h i g h -p er fo r m i n g
publ ic a nd pr i v at e s c ho ol s t e ac her s
a n d s t u de nt s w or k t o g e t he r t o w a rd
c om mon goa l s t hat honor t he s oc ia l
c o n t r a c t b e t w e e n t he s c h o ol t he
student the family and t he communit y
punishment is appropr iate and mercif ul
a nd of fers forg iveness i nter per sona l
i nter ac t ion s enc ou r age suc c e s s a nd
rea f f i r m belong i ng t r u st i s endem ic
Remove t he confluence of interests t he
accountabilit y of those w ith aut horit y to
those under it the fundamental sense of
legit imacy and t he hidden cur riculum
eats away at the over t47
Rightful Policing | 13
Com m it ment to r ig ht f ul policing can help but
executives cannot be sanguine about its potential
impact The approach requires broadly conceived
a nd c oord i n ate d ef for t s a mon g a v a r ie t y of
c o n t e x t s mdash c r i m e r e d u c t i o n c o m m u n i t y
relations and importantly internal discipline48
mdash to effect real change
Endnotes
1 See Nicholas Gra ham Obama on Skip Gates
Arrest Police Acted ldquoSt upidlyrdquo Hu ffi ngt on
Post Aug 22 2009 httpw w whuffi ngtonpost
c o m 2 0 0 9 0 7 2 2 o b a m a - o n - s k i p - g a t e s -
arres_n_243250ht ml (last v isited Nov 13 2014)
2 Rachel A Harmon The Problem of Policing 110
Mich L Rev 761 (2011)
3 Christopher Stone amp Jerem y Tr avis Toward
a Ne w Professiona l ism in Policing (2 011)
httpw w wnijgovpubs-sum232359htm (last
v isited Nov 13 2014)
4 Dav id H Bay ley Police for the Fu tur e 3
(1994)
5 For one e x a m p l e c r i t ic i z i n g t he p ol ic e -
law f ulness tradeoff consider t he discussion by
Meares and Kahan of the legal struggle regarding
searches for g uns in Chicago public housing See
Tr acey L Me a r es amp Da n M K a h a n Urgen t
T i m es Pol ici ng a n d R igh ts i n I n n er Ci t y
Communities (1999)
6 See id at 18ndash22
7 Stone amp Tr avis supra note 3 at 1 (noting that
accountabilit y is a critical aspect of what t hey call
t he ldquonew professionalismrdquo along w ith legitimac y
innovat ion and nat iona l coherence)
8 See id at 12 (ldquoThe best chiefs speak confident ly
about lsquot he t h ree Crsquos cr ime cost and conduct
Police departments today are accountable for all
t hreerdquo)
9 Id at 12ndash15
10 See A n t hon y Br aga amp Dav id Weisbu r d
Policing Problem Pl aces Cr ime Hot Spots
and Effective Prevention (2010)
11 See National Research Council Fair ness
and Effectiveness in Policing The Evidence
297 (Wesley Skogan amp Kathleen Fr ydl eds 2004)
A nt hony A Braga Bra ndon C Wel sh amp Cor y
Schnel l Can Policing Disorder Reduce Crime
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis J R es
Cr i m e amp D e l i nq (For t hc om i n g ) A n t hon y
A Br aga Probl em-Or ien ted Policing a n d
Crime Prevention (2d ed 2008)
12 See Tra nscr ipt Bloomberg Vows to Appeal
Fed eral Judgersquos Ruling Th at Stop -and-F ri sk
Policy Violated Civil Rights in Press Conference
NY Da i ly Ne ws Aug 12 20 03 ht t pw w w
nyd a i l y ne w scomne w spol it ic s bloomber g-
vow s-appea l-fe der a l-judge-r u l i ng-stop-stop-
and-f r isk-pol ic y-ar t icle-11424630 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014) John Eterno amp Eli Silverman Mike
Bloombergrsquos Fact-Free Defence of Stop-and-Frisk
14 | New Perspectives in Policing
T h e Gua rdi an S e pt 11 2 013 ht t pw w w
t heguardiancomcommentisfree2013sep11
stop-a nd-f r isk-m ichael-bloomberg (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
13 See Tracey L Meares amp Dan M Kahan Law
and (Norms of) Order in Inner Cit y 32 L aw amp Socrsquoy
Rev 805 830ndash32 (1998) (discussing communit y
empowerment through law enforcement)
14 Tr acey L Mear es et al Lawful or Fair
How Cops and L aypeople View Good Policing
(Social Science Research Net work) (2012) http
papersssrncomabst ract=2116645 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
15 See Tom R Tyler amp Jeffrey Fagan Legitimacy
and Cooperation Why Do People Help the Police
Fight Cr ime in Their Communit ies 6 O h io
St J Cr i m L 231 262 (20 08) Tom R Ty ler amp
Cher yl Wakslak Profiling and Police Legitimacy
Procedural Justice Attributions of Motive and
Acceptance of Police Authority 42 Cr iminology
253 255 (2004) Tom R T yler Trust in the Law
Encour aging Public Cooper ation With the
Police and Courts (2002) Ray mond Paternoster
et a l Do Fair Procedures Matter The Effect of
Procedural Justice on Spouse Assault 31 L aw amp
Socrsquoy R ev 163 (1997)
16 See Tom R Tyler Enhancing Police Legitimacy
593 A nnals A m Aca d Pol amp Soc Sci 84 94
(2004)
17 See id
18 National Research Council supra note 11
at 297
19 See generally L egi t i m ac y a n d Cr im ina l
Justice International Perspectiv es (A nt hony
Braga et al eds 2007) (exploring the impact of
percept ions of leg it i mac y i n c r i m i na l just ice
systems across t he globe)
20 Tom R T y ler Wh y People Obey the L aw
(repr i nt 2006)
21 See Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing
the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing
and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54
Wm amp Mary L Rev 1865 1879 (2012) (prov iding
this illust rative fig ure)
22 See eg Tracey L Meares Inaugural Barrock
Lecture on Criminal Law The Legitimacy of Police
Among Young Af rican American Men 92 M a rq L
R ev 651 (2009)
23 See A ndrew V Papachristos Tracey L Meares
amp Jef f re y Faga n Attention Felons Evaluating
P roje ct S afe Ne ighb orh oo d s in Chi c ag o 4 J
Empirical Legal Stud 223 (2007)
24 Lorraine Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice
Rout ine Enc ounters an d Cit izen Perc ept ion s
of Police Main Findings f rom the Queensland
C o m m un i t y E n g ag e m e n t Tr i a l (Q C ET) 8
J E x pe r i m e n ta l C r i m i nol o g y 3 4 3 (2 01 2)
[hereinafter Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice]
L o r r a i ne M a z er o l le e t a l Sh aping C it i z en
Perceptions of Police Legitimacy A Randomized
Field Trial of Procedural Justice 51 Criminology
33 (2013) [herei na f ter Ma zerol le et a l Shaping
Citizen Perceptions]
Right ful Policing | 15
25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra
note 24
2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3
(describing the federal initiative)
27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on
Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip
J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)
(evaluating Project Ex ile)
28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and
C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he
P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)
(describing the inter vention) For an analysis
of the crime control impacts of this and similar
prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L
Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence
Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res
Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)
29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223
30 See id at 258ndash59
31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l
Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t
of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on
R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s
(Social Science Research Network 2013) http
papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited
Nov 13 2014)
32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t
Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey
Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y
Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing
Paper Series No 8 2011)
33 See id at 7
34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice
Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home
Secrsquoy 2011)
3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op
Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of
Toronto Press 2003)
36 See Neyroud supra note 34
37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful
Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them
Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9
2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-
policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)
38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training
Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)
h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _
Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair
F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r
M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice
T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port
(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs
college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y
Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce
C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
Cite this paper as Meares Tracey L with Peter Neyroud Rightful Policing New Perspectives in Policing Bulletin Washington DC US Department of Justice National Institute of Justice 2015 NCJ 248411
2 | New Perspec tives in Policing
behav ing in a ldquotumultuousrdquo manner as Crowley
at tempted to ascer ta i n enoug h facts to ensure
t hat a crime was not occurring Gatesrsquos v iew on
the ot her hand is t hat Crowley disrespected him
by failing to respond when Gates asked Crowley
for his name and badge number Gates was also
upset t hat Crowle y suspec ted h i m mdash a sl ig ht
elderly ma n w it h a cane mdash to be a burg lar It is
important to emphasize t hat Sergeant Crowley
arrived at Gatesrsquos home in response to a 911 call as
opposed to an exercise of his ow n discretion This
point is critical because t he t y pical conception
of rac ia l prof i l i ng foc uses on it s lega l it y a nd
t he legalit y of police act ion is primarily framed
around placing constraints on when police decide
to engage people as opposed to how police engage
people Even though his experience fit somewhat
uneasily into the t y pical legal framework of racial
prof i l i ng P rofessor Gates ha s descr ibed h is
experience in exactly those terms
How t hen are we to understand t he disjuncture
bet ween Sergeant Crowleyrsquos insistence mdash as well
as t he conclusion of many mdash that he conducted
himself law f ully and Professor Gatesrsquos insistence
t h at he w a s u n fa i rl y t reate d a nd t herefore
racia l ly profi led
To find an answer it is necessar y to see how t wo
dominant ways of evaluat ing police leave litt le
room for considering how ordinar y people tend
to a ssess t hei r t reat ment by state aut hor it ies
E x per t s whet her t he y a re pol ic e of f icia ls or
scholars of policing tend to assess police action
eit her w it h respec t to it s law f u l ness or w it h
respec t to it s ef fec t iveness at reduc i ng c r i me
and i ncreasing public sa fet y Police fidelit y to
law especially constitutional law has long been
used as a criterion to distinguish good from bad
policing In add it ion to t he Fou r t h Fif t h a nd
Sixt h Amendments ot her bodies of law mdash such
as police agency administrative regulations civ il
lawsu its or t he ver y law t hat aut hor izes police
to act in t he first place substantive criminal law
mdash prov ide standards by which legal authorit ies
measu re and assess whet her or not policing is
carried out properly2
Effect iveness at cr ime fig ht ing has become t he
other primar y police evaluation met ric Promoted
initially by scholars this yardstick is newer t han
law fulness because for decades many including
police believed t hat law enforcement had litt le
impact on crime rates3 Dav id Bayley in his 1994
book Police for the Future summed up t his v iew
nicely
The police do not prevent crime That is
one of t he best kept secrets of moder n
life Experts k now it The police k now it
but t he public does not k now it Yet the
police pretend t hat t hey are societ yrsquos best
defense aga inst cr i me a nd cont inua l ly
a r g u e t h a t i f t h e y a r e g i v e n m o r e
resources especially personnel they w ill
be able to protect communities against
crime This is my th4
T h is is no longer t r ue Pol ic e exec ut ives a re
expected mdash and expect t hemselves mdash to reduce
Rightful Policing | 3
c r i me r at e s i n t he i r j u r i s d i c t ion s Pol ic i n g
schola rs devote t hemselves to f i nd i ng causa l
connect ions bet ween va rious pol ice pract ices
a nd c r i me st at ist ics t y pic a l l y by rely i ng on a
t heoret ica l model t hat assumes of fenders are
r at ion a l ac tor s w ho a re p er suaded t o desi st
f rom cr imina l behav ior when t he prospect of
for ma l pu nish ment out weig hs t he benef its of
that behav ior In arresting Professor Gates that
day Sergeant Crowley pursued t hese t wo aims
of policing simultaneously He was an assiduous
crime fighter and he acted in a way t hat was legal
Does t hat mean that Sergeant Crowleyrsquos conduct
was unambig uously right f ul
No it does not It does not because t here is a t hird
way in addition to law f ulness and effectiveness
t o e v a l u a t e p o l ic i n g mdash ldquor i g h t f u l p ol ic i n g rdquo
R ig ht f u l pol icing at tempts to accou nt for what
people say that they care about when they assess
i nd iv idua l of f icer behav ior a s wel l a s agenc y
conduct generally It differs from law ful policing
a nd ef fe c t i ve p ol ic i ng i n at lea st t w o w a y s
First r ig ht f ul policing does not depend on t he
law fulness of police conduct Rather it depends
primarily on t he procedural justice or fairness of
t hat conduct Second r ig ht f u l policing does not
depend on an assessment of police as ever more
effect ive crime fighters (although it turns out that
rightful policing of ten leads to more compliance
w ith t he law and t herefore lower crime rates) This
t hird way may well help us move toward police
governance that is substantively as opposed to
rhetorically democrat ic Finally rightful policing
is bet ter for cops on t he st reet Its precepts not
on ly encou rage t he people w hom pol ice dea l
w ith on a daily basis to comply w ith the law and
police directives they also encourage behav iors
in encounters that tend to keep police safe
Two Views More Law Or Less Crime
Before this paper delves into greater detail about
ldquoright ful policingrdquo it is useful to understand what
right f u l pol ici ng is not R ig ht f u l policing is not
confined simply to constitutional policing nor is
it subsumed ent irely by policing aimed at crime
reduction Rather it is about how to achieve both
by promot ing fairness and engendering trust in
police among t he public
Th is discussion began w it h a w idely publicized
ex a mple of what ma ny i nclud i ng t he per son
who was arrested Professor Henr y Louis Gates
bel ie ved to be r acia l prof i l i ng by pol ice New
York Cit y li ke Cambr idge has been embroi led
in its ow n racial profi ling cont roversy for more
t han a decade In New York t he cont roversy is
centered not on one hig h-profi le incident but
rat her on hu nd reds of t housa nds of stops a nd
f r isk s of na meless pr i ma r i ly you ng A f r ica n
American men The criticism of ldquostop and friskrdquo
leveled aga i n st t he pol ice i n Ne w York is not
limited to t hat cit y or t his countr y Philadelphia
for e x a mple h a s b e en i nv ol ve d i n a si m i l a r
cont roversy and London police have come under
fi re for implement ing what critics believe to be a
too-aggressive ldquostop and searchrdquo strateg y In each
of these cities there have been vocal complaints
about what critics claim is t he overbroad exercise
of s t ate p ow er i n t he for m of s e a rc he s a nd
sei zu res These cr it icisms usua l ly a re asser ted
in lega l ter ms and f ra med a rou nd precept s of
constitutional law The criticsrsquo preferred remedies
4 | New Perspectives in Policing
in turn are usually described using t he same set of
tools mdash t he architecture of law and rights
T h i n k i ng about pol ice law f u l ness i n ter ms of a
tradeoff bet ween the risk of arbit rar y or oppressive
enforcement a nd a n i nd iv idua lrsquos r ig ht to pr ivac y
a nd autonomy is a dom i na nt approach i n t he
literat ure5 Those who measure good policing w it h
reference to its law f ulness do not usually focus on
police effectiveness at reducing crime Rat her t he
law fulness met ric almost always casts police power
as a necessar y ev il as opposed to a welcome utilit y
or a potentially crit ical mechanism for empowering
communities to pursue t heir ow n democratica lly
chosen goals and projects According to t he ldquomore
law fulnessrdquo view police adherence to strict dictates
that constrain their discretion generally results in
less policing and more libert y for indiv iduals The
h ig her level of cr i me t hat m ig ht resu lt f rom less
pol ic i ng is si mply a pr ice c it i z ens pay for more
freedom in societ y6
Police executives who are committed to lowering
cr i me rates i n t hei r com mu n it ies do not ag ree
t hat less polici ng is an idea l t hey shou ld seek to
ach ieve In pu rsuit of accountabi lit y one of t he
fou r c or ner s tone s of t he ne w profes s iona l i sm
advocated by Stone a nd Trav i s7 mdash t he pr i ma r y
c omponent s of w h ich i nclude reduc i ng cr i me
a nd m a k i n g c om mu n it i e s s a f er c o n t r o l l i n g
cost s a nd conduc t i ng t hem selves w it h respec t
toward t he public whom they ser ve8 mdash police have
become much more concerned w it h effect iveness
consider i ng com m it ment to cr i me reduc t ion a
prime aspect of accountabilit y9 The quest ion is no
longer whether or not police can make a difference
Pol ic e exec ut ives i n stead ask ldquoHow much of a
difference i n cr i me rates ca n police ma kerdquo The
new literature on t he relationship bet ween crime
rates and policing is voluminous Criminological
research over the last couple of decades has show n
t hat deploy i ng pol ic e forces i n geog raph ic a l ly
fo c u s e d w a y s mdash ldquo hot s p ot p ol ic i n g rdquo mdash c a n
significantly reduce crime w ithout displacing it to
ot her a reas10 Ot her scholars have demonst rated
t hat st rategies such as problem-oriented policing
and communit y policing can be usef ul to address
crime andor t he fear of crime11 The advances in
statistical approaches are strik ing and useful but a
weak ness of the scholarship on police effectiveness
is t hat law fulness is largely irrelevant to it
Those who promote success at cr ime fight ing as
the best way to assess police effect iveness too of ten
fa i l to u nderst a nd t hat pol ice fa i lu re to ad here
to law is a proper lens t h roug h wh ich to v ie w
public perception of overbroad policing mdash in the
form of too-preva lent stop a nd f r isk w idespread
publ ic su r vei l la nce or ot her ever yday pol ic ies
a nd pract ices Com ments by bot h for mer Mayor
Bloomberg and former Police Commissioner Ray
Kelly in reaction to the federal court order strik ing
dow n New York Cit yrsquos prominent stop question and
frisk practice illustrate this attitude on the part of
pol ice agenc ies a nd publ ic of f icia ls Fol low i ng
Dist r ict Judge Sh i ra Sheind linrsquos order decla ring
t he pract ice in v iolat ion of bot h t he Fou r t h and
Fou r teent h A mend ment s as it operated at t he
t ime t he order was issued Bloomberg a nd Kel ly
cla i med t hat t he judge had imper iled t he cit y rsquos
safet y by limiting liberal use of the practice12 On
t he other hand t hose who promote law f ulness as
t he best met r ic to assess good polici ng too of ten
Rightful Policing | 5
ignore t he fact that crime and predation among
i nd iv idua ls resu lt i n sig n ificant ly less f reedom
for residents of hig h-cr ime commu nit ies even
though private actors impose that constraint on
f reedom Residents of high-crime com munit ies
of ten see hig her levels of polici ng as a way to
achieve freedom as opposed to its const raint13
Rightful policing is attentive to both law fulness
a nd ef fec t iveness a nd it capt u res i mpor t a nt
d i mensions t hat neit her one of t he prev a lent
modes of evaluation does The notion of rightful
policing also includes a critique of a ldquoget-toughrdquo
approach to law enforcement which uses as its
principa l touchstone inst r u menta l t heor ies of
deterrence Deterrence w ithout t he balance of a
focus on legitimacy can be effective but its effects
often are shor t-lived and expensive to implement
Moreover c om m it ment to some met hods of
achieving deterrence such as stop and frisk can
predictably back fi re in communities that need
crime reduction most There is also strong reason
to believe that many heav y deterrence strategies
a re not pa r t ic u la rly ef fec t ive i n encou rag i ng
offenders to desist from crime
Rightful Policing Itrsquos About Legitimacy
Pol ice ac t ions such as stops a nd f r isks can be
costly even when they are law f ul constitutional
and short People do not automatically approve
of a stop just because an officer is legally entitled
to ma ke one T h i s rea l it y c r y st a l l i z es a ba sic
problem w it h foc u si ng on law f u l ness as t he
s i ng le y a rd s t ic k for r ig ht f u l p ol ic e c onduc t
Indeed research I have conducted w ith Tom Tyler
suggests t hat the public does not recognize law ful
police conduct when t hey see it14
If people do not focus on the law fulness of police
conduct what do t hey care about A lt houg h it
seems counterintuitive decades of research show
that people t y pically care much more about how
law enforcement agents t reat t hem t ha n about
t he outcome of t he contact Even when people
receive a negative outcome in an encounter such
as a speedi ng t icket t hey feel bet ter about t hat
incident t ha n about a n i ncident in which t hey
do not receive a t icket but a re t reated poorly15
I n add it ion to bei ng t reated w it h d ig n it y a nd
respect research demonstrates that people look
for behav ioral signals that allow t hem to assess
w het her a pol ice of f ic errsquos decision to stop or
arrest t hem was made fairly mdash that is accurately
and w it hout bias These t wo factors mdash qua l it y
of t reat ment a nd i nd icat ion s of h ig h-qua l it y
decision-mak ing mdash matter much more to people
than t he outcome of the encounter
Two add it iona l fac tors mat ter as wel l People
report higher levels of satisfaction in encounters
w it h aut hor it ies i f t he y feel t hat t he y have a n
opportunit y to explain t heir situation and t heir
perspective on it mdash ie to tell t heir stor y16 Fina lly
in t heir interactions w it h police people want to
believe t hat aut horities are acting out of a sense
of benevolence toward them They want to believe
that the aut horitiesrsquo mot ives are sincere and well-
intentioned and t hat the aut horities are t r y ing to
respond to peoplersquos concerns17 A ll four of these
factors mdash qualit y of treatment decision-mak ing
fa i r ness voic e a nd ex pec tat ion of benevolent
6 | New Perspectives in Policing
t reat ment mdash ma ke up what psycholog ists ca l l
ldquoprocedural justicerdquo
Procedura l just ice matters a g reat dea l in civ i l
societ y One impor ta nt consequence of peoplersquos
percept ions of procedural fairness according to
t hese ter ms is t hat t hey lead to popu lar beliefs
of leg it i mac y W hen soc ia l ps ycholog ist s use
t he ter m ldquoleg it i mac yrdquo t he y a re refer r i ng to a
ldquoproper t y t hat a r u le or a n aut hor it y has when
others feel obligated to voluntarily defer to that
r ule or aut hor it y A leg it imate aut horit y is one t hat
is regarded by people as entitled to have its rules
and decisions accepted and followed by ot hersrdquo18
Th is concept ion of leg it imac y is not normat ive
W hen ps ycholog i st s d i s c u ss leg it i mac y t he y
a re not ex plor ing in some philosophica l sense
whet her people ought to defer to legal aut horities
rather t hey are seek ing to determine whether in
fact people do defer Their approach is positive
a nd empi r ic a l T hu s when resea rchers have
soug ht to determ i ne why people obey t he law
t he leg it i mac y-based ex pla nat ion is d ist i nc t
f rom a n ex pla nat ion g rou nded i n fea r i ng t he
consequences of fa il ing to do so a nd f rom one
grounded in moralit y W hen people voluntarily
comply w ith rules and laws because they believe
aut hor it ies h av e t he r ig ht to d ic t ate pr op er
behav ior their compliance is leg itimacy-based
R ightf ul policing leverages t hese ideas
A robust body of socia l science ev idence f rom
around t he world shows t hat people are likelier
to obey t he law when t hey believe that authorities
have the right to tell t hem what to do19 Research
shows that people are mot ivated more to comply
w it h t he law by t he bel ief t hat t he y a re bei ng
t reated w it h d ig n it y a nd fair ness t ha n by fear
of pu n i sh ment I n fac t bei ng t reated fa i rly is
a more i mpor ta nt determ i na nt of compl ia nce
t han formal deterrence20 W hen police generate
good feelings in t heir ever yday contacts people
a re mot ivated to help t hem f ight cr i me A ll of
t his encourages desistance from offending law-
abiding and assistance to the police contributing
to lower crime rates
A lthough police are conceived and constituted by
and t hrough law focusing on t he law fulness of
police conduct can obscure onersquos abilit y to ident if y
and remedy policing behavior that t he public may
wel l v iew as problemat ic It is i mpor ta nt to see
t hat alt hough procedural justice can be related to
t he law fulness or legalit y of police conduct t hese
t wo va lences do not proceed in lock step One
way of t hink ing how t hese valences relate to one
anot her is to imagine points on a compass (see
figure) If we array law f ulness from west to east
w it h law f ulness to the east and unlaw fulness to
t he west t hen we wou ld ex pect police to be as
fa r east as possible Now imag i ne procedu ra l
just ice or legitimacy as r unning nort h and south
on the compass W hen police are respectf ul and
procedurally just they are headed nort h W hen
t he y a re not t hat behav ior i s c ategor i zed as
ldquorunning southrdquo Putting t he t wo parts toget her
one sees that t he best place for law enforcement
to be is in the northeast21 That is where one fi nds
rightful policing
Th is image however also reveals the sout heast
and t he northwest A primar y problem w it h street
pol icing i n urba n cit ies such as New York a nd
Chicago and i n many commu nit ies across t he
Rightful Policing | 7
justice in encounters can change public Figure Rightful Policing as the Convergence of Lawfulness and Legitimacy
W
perceptions of policing agencies leading
N to lack of t r ust i l l-w i l l and u lt imately
Legitimacy less law-abiding22 Considering both the
law fulness and the legitimacy of police Rightful conduct allows both the police officer and Policing
the citizen stopped to be right in a way
that is not possible when one operates in Lawfulness E the single dimension of lawfulness The
possibility of both sides being right can
lead to fruit ful conversat ion about the
rightfulness of policing
Putting Legitimacy to Work S
T his arg u ment ra ises t he quest ion for Source Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54 Wm amp mary L rev 1865 police of how t hey can put t hese ideas 1879 (2012)
into practice A focus on the procedural
globe is that too often such policing comprises
behavior I would locate in the southeast police
conduc t t hat is ver y l i kely law f u l but t hat
citizens in many encounters perceive as deeply
illegitimate using t he term as defined here In
t he f ig ure for example if one ask s a law yer
what const it utes racia l prof i l ing t hat person
t y pic a l l y w i l l a ns wer ldquoIt is pol ice behav ior
solely or perhaps partially motivated by racerdquo
however t he rev iew earlier in this essay of t he
events connected to Professor Gatesrsquos arrest in
the summer of 2009 should make clear that many
who believe themselves to have been profiled
care little about the legal determinants of their
encounters with police
T he bot tom l i ne i s c lea r r eg a rd le s s of t he
lawfulness of police behavior lack of procedural
justice of encounters can help policing
a ge nc i e s id e nt i f y b e h a v ior t a c t i c s
and strateg ies that many members of minorit y
communities find problematic and that lead to
disaffection even t hough t hey may be law f ul
and considered in isolat ion appear effective
Second a focus on t he psycholog ica l aspects
of leg it i mac y i n i nd iv idua l enc ou nters may
have i mpor ta nt cr i me cont rol benef its when
incor porated into tact ics a nd st rateg ies Two
case studies illustrate this The first is a strateg y
for v iolence reduction in Chicago Illinois which
has been running since 200223 The second is an
experiment conducted in Queensland Australia
on road traffic enforcement24 I have deliberately
chosen t wo ver y dif ferent examples to show
that legitimacy-based approaches have a wide
application across different aspects of the police
8 | New Perspectives in Policing
mission These t wo initiatives however are not
unique Lorraine Mazerolle and her colleag ues
recent ly completed a meta-analysis of legitimac y
policing inter vent ions and concluded that ldquopolice
can achieve positive changes in citizen attitudes
to pol ice t hroug h adopt i ng procedu ra l just ice
d ia log ue as a component pa r t of a ny t y pe of
police inter ventionrdquo25
W hen t he Chicago init iat ive sta r ted t he cit y rsquos
hom ic ide r at e hovere d ne a r 2 2 p er 10 00 0 0
Crime is often concentrated by geography and
i n C h ic a go t he nei g hb or hood s on t he c it y rsquos
west a nd sout h sides drove t he cit y rsquos hom icide
rate The h ig hest crime a rea on t he west had a
hom ic ide rate of 72 per 10 00 0 0 Usi ng f u nd s
prov ided by a billion-dollar nationw ide federal
initiative to combat g un crime called Project Safe
Neighborhoods (PSN)26 United States Attorney
Patrick Fitzgerald proposed a strateg y modeled
a f t e r P r oje c t E x i l e i n R ic h mo n d V i r g i n i a
target ing ex-offenders i n t he h ig h-cr i me a reas
w it h federa l pena lt ies for g u n possession a nd
ot her g u n of fenses Fi zgera ld bel ieved f rom
crime analysis t hat ex-offenders were primarily
responsible for the gun v iolence in Chicago This
approach is entirely consistent w it h the t y pical
ldquoget-toughrdquo deterrence-based t hin k ing around
crime control mdash a crackdow n on potent ially high-
harm offenders27
In dev ising t he pa r t icu la rs of t he st rateg y t he
programrsquos architects suggested to t he task force
that t he proposed strateg y should be w rapped in
t he t heor y of leg it imac y The resu lta nt st rateg y
wou ld st i l l t a r get t he g roup t he US At tor ney
t houg ht most v ulnerable to g u n offendi ng but
the communication strateg y to t his group would
emphasize aspects that research indicated clearly
most people care about when determining that
law enforcement is fair A lthough offenders would
be broug ht in a nd a ler ted to t he consequences
that would follow should they pick up a g un they
would also receive information about ser v ices to
help t hem turn away from a life of crime
Modeled after Operation Ceasefi re in Boston28
hour-long roundtable-st yle meetings were the
center piece of t he new st rateg y Each of t hese
for ums gathered no more than 20 offenders who
sat around a table w ith representat ives from state
and local law enforcement and the communit y
Instead of simply confronting the offenders w it h
t he pu n it ive con sequences of t hei r behav ior
emph a si s w a s pl ac e d on t he qu a l it y of t he
interact ion mdash less a t ribunal and more a dialogue
bet ween citizens mdash and the potential rewards of
law-abiding which is consistent w ith attempting
to achieve legit imac y-based compliance
Legit imacy-based law enforcement focuses more
on persuasion t ha n punish ment To persuade
aut hor it ies mu st create t he nec essa r y soc ia l
capital t hat engenders trust bet ween governors
and t he governed Simply emphasizing rewards
and punishments does not automatically lead to
t r ust because such a n approach assumes t hat
a l l i ndiv idua ls ca re about is t he bot tom line mdash
an assumption t hat is contrar y to t he t heor y of
procedural justice and much empirical ev idence
The notion that compliance is t y pically created
on l y by t h reat s of c o er c ion bac k e d up w it h
Rightful Policing | 9
punishment is f undamenta l ly inconsistent w it h
trust for such a stance assumes t hat indiv iduals
cannot be counted on to defer to and comply w ith
the law voluntarily
St at i s t ic a l a s s e s s ment s of t he i mp ac t of t he
Ch icago prog ra m a re st r i k i ng Papach r istos
Me a r e s a n d Fa g a n a s s e s s e d t h e i m p a c t o f
Chicagorsquos forums on neighborhood-level crime
rates and g un violence compared w ith the impact
of t hree other components of PSN mdash increased
federal prosecut ions for conv icted felons carr ying
or using g uns the imposition of longer sentences
associated w it h federa l prosecut ions a nd t he
removal of guns from t he street29 Their analysis
demon s t r at e s t hat a lt hou g h a l l t e s t ed P SN
initiatives were associated w it h a decrease in t he
homicide rate the forums had t he largest effect
Compa r i ng t he relat ive ef fec t s of t he for u ms
and federal g un prosecutions shows that a unit
increase in forum participation (or approx imately
45 new offenders) among t hose eligible is roughly
85 t imes more powerful than a unit increase in
federal prosecutions in reducing homicide rates30
Furt her research suggests that the forums make
a difference at an individual level as well Those
who at tended were sig n ifica nt ly more li kely to
stay out of prison t han those who did not all other
things being equal31
I n t he second e x a mple I sh i f t f rom t ac k l i ng
s er iou s i n ner-c it y v iolenc e t o t he re duc t ion
of ro ad deat h s b y t r a f f ic en forc ement T he
Q ueen s l a nd C om mu n it y E nga gement Tr ia l
(QCET)32 used a randomized field trial to test the
appl icat ion of leg it i mac y i n how Queensla nd
police enforced t he drink driv ing laws
P o l ic e of f ic er s ac r o s s A u s t r a l i a ad m i n i s t er
t hou s a n d s of b r e a t h t e s t s t o d r i v er s u n der
leg islat ion t hat empowers t hem to ca r r y out
r a ndo m r o ad s id e b r e at h-t e s t i n g T he t e s t s
tend to be ad min istered at test sites ident i fied
a s hot sp ot s of d r i n k d r i v i n g a nd c ol l i s ion s
causing serious injur y These police actions are
justifiable as bot h legal and evidence-based The
researchers at t he Australian Research Council
Cent re of Excellence in Policing and Securit y in
partnership w it h Queensland police set out to
see whet her t hey could significant ly enhance the
impact of t he test ing reg ime so that t he testing
not only checked for alcohol on the driverrsquos breath
but also increased public confidence in t he police
and support for the enforcement of drink driv ing
legislat ion
I n Q C E T t he t e s t i n g s i t e s w e r e r a ndom l y
allocated either to a cont rol mdash t he standard police
procedure mdash or to a ldquolegitimacy treatmentrdquo In t he
cont rol drivers were stopped given a short legal
wa rn ing a nd required to prov ide a breat h test
The legal minimum process and time were taken
to prov ide a test In contrast in t he ldquolegitimacy
treatmentrdquo t he drivers were taken through a five-
stage procedure t hat emphasized five dimensions
of procedu ra l just ice dec i sion neut ra l it y to
ex plain that t hose drivers stopped had not been
singled out but that t he test was being prov ided
to dr ivers at ra ndom t r ust wor t hy mot ives to
prov ide context about the reasons for the test site
and t he testing campaign cit izen participation
includ ing cri me prevent ion adv ice a nd deta i ls
of loca l Cr i mestopper s nu mber s red ress a nd
feedback or an opportunit y to raise any issues of
10 | New Perspectives in Policing
concern and dignity and respect which included
thanks to the drivers for their cooperation
There was a ver y small difference in the t ime
taken for the two approaches (around a minute
ex t ra for t he leg it i mac y t reat ment) yet t he
dr iversrsquo percept ions of t he process were ver y
different Drivers who experienced the legitimacy
t reat ment ldquore por te d s ig n i f ic a nt l y s t ronger
generalized perceptions of police fairness police
respect [a nd] hig her sat isfact ionrdquo w it h how
police do their job33 The caveat on these interim
findings is t hat researchers could not see from
this trial a w ider increase in t he respondentsrsquo
genera l con f idence i n t he pol ice or a w ider
tendency toward compliance with the law Given
that the encounter even in the longer legitimacy
treatment only lasted 1 minute and 37 seconds
this may not be surprising However the study
sug gest s t hat t he deploy ment of leg it i mac y
approaches in day-to-day police interactions with
citizens can have a significant and measurable
benefit over an approach t hat simply relies on
the letter of the law It also makes the point that
such approaches a re not on ly releva nt i n t he
critically difficult relationships between police
and minorit y communities but should also be
considered as an important part of wider police
operations
Conclusions and Implications for Policing
If legitimacy is as impor tant as I have argued
t hen it ra ises t he quest ions of how t he police
should incorporate this approach and what the
obstacles are to implementation I think we can
make progress on answering these questions by
considering three issues
Training M u c h p o l i c e t r a i n i n g d e s p i t e
improvements over t he last 20 yea rs retains
a st rong bias i n favor of lea r n i ng t he r u les
particularly legislat ion procedure (especially
c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c r i m i n a l p r o c e d u r e) a n d
depar tmental policies Such training does not
apply only at the initial recruitment phase In the
United Kingdom for example the key gateway for
promotion for all first-line managers is to pass a
set of examinations in the law and procedures
for cr ime roads policing genera l dut ies and
ev idence and procedure34 This k ind of reliance
on law and procedure as t he qualificat ion for
recr uits a nd ma nagers is t y pica l across most
jurisdictions As Janet Chan and her colleagues
show procedurallegal training is now frequently
suppor ted by prog ra ms to add ress behav iors
a nd prac t ic a l sk i l ls but a l most ne ver by a n
educational approach that provides officers with
the means and material to understand the social
science ev idence for what works in policing or
how approaches such as legitimac y make t heir
practice more effective35 Indeed Chan and her
colleag ues demonstrate how t he legal valence
of f ront line cu lt ure can u nder mi ne even t he
attempts to inject some ldquosocial contex trdquo Peter
Ne y r oud ha s re c om mende d a muc h more
fundamental shift in the framework of training
for recr u its specia l ists a nd managers so t hat
police training in the United Kingdom would be
governed by a new professional body and start
with a prequalification that emphasizes learning
about ev idence-based practice36 Without such a
Right ful Policing | 11
radical shift it seems likely from studies like that
of Chan and colleagues that police training will
continue to underpin a legalistic way of think ing
about problems and t heir solutions There are
promising signs of change however Chicago
Pol ic e Super i ntendent Ga r r y Mc Ca r t hy ha s
instituted a day-long training in police legitimacy
and racial reconciliation for the entire force To
date more than 8000 officers and leaders have
been trained37 Early assessments of the program
are extremely positive38 In the United Kingdom
extensive practical training on procedural justice
in pa r t icu la r sit uat ions is a lso becomi ng t he
norm39
Strategies and tactics Too often compelled by
the ever-present demand to bring crime statistics
down (especially in big cities) police executives
foc us on st rateg ies a nd tac t ics desig ned to
reduce violence in too-cramped ways If this is
r ig ht t hen pol ice execut ives shou ld consider
problem-solving in more holistic ways that w ill
y ield approaches t hat a re desig ned not on ly
to quel l v iolence but a lso to en ha nce sa fet y
by changing t he att itudes and disposit ions of
those alienated from them in ways that sustain
voluntar y compliance I have in mind here hot
spot policing that is not only deterrence-based but
also legitimacy-based Braga Welsh and Schnell
recently found in a rev iew of broken w indows
pol ici ng st rateg ies a dist inct brea k bet ween
t he ef fec t iveness of ag g ressive deter renc e-
focused broken w indows approaches such as
stop and frisk in New York Cit y and other more
leg it i mac y-based approaches Only t he lat ter
group produced large and statistically significant
impacts on crime40 Moreover commitment to
legit imacy can also help police increase safet y
and by implication quell violence at the incident
level by encouraging officers to engage in tactics
that defuse violent incidents41
Democracy and communit y participation I agree
w it h Loader when he notes t hat ldquoT he pol ice
in shor t are bot h m i nders a nd reminders of
community mdash a producer of significant messages
about t he k i nd of place t hat com mu nit y is or
aspires to berdquo42 Policing makes communit y It is
no accident that an iconic symbol of England itself
is the Bobbyrsquos hat43 In the United States policingrsquos
symbolic valence is not so positive At least one
scholar has located t he genesis of A mer ica n
policing not in the benevolent image of a kindly
communit y protector but in t he more sinister
for m of t he slave pat rol ler44 T he procedu ra l
justice literature rev iewed above makes clear
the ways in which this dark histor y can and likely
does undermine trust in police in the modern era
And yet this same literature provides a roadmap
for a more posit ive relat ionsh ip t hat not only
benefits those who need help from the police but
also potentially supports t heir par t icipation in
democratically led government It is important
for people to feel t hat if t hey call on t he police
(a nd ot her lega l actors a nd inst it ut ions) not
only w ill t heir securit y be protected but t hey
w i l l a lso be t reated w it h respect t hei r r ig hts
w ill be recognized and they w ill be subject to
fair decision-making The fact that most people
i n a com mu nit y ra rely ca ll on t he pol ice for
ser v ices does not change this because police
and other legal actors are in the background in
12 | New Perspec tives in Policing
ever y communit y and shape what people t hink
feel and do People want to feel comfort not fear
when the police are present and to anticipate that
they w ill receive help and professional t reatment
when they need it W hen they do t hey become
invested in the communities in which t hey live
Research on popular legitimacy to which police
contribute suggests t hat when people evaluate
t hei r pol ice a nd cou r t s ystems as procedura l ly
fair t hey identif y more w it h their communities
and engage in them socially by trust ing neighbors
p ol i t ic a l l y b y v o t i n g a nd e c onom ic a l l y b y
shoppi ng a nd goi ng to enter t a i n ment venues
within that communit y45
Police play a critical role in teaching the people
w it h whom t hey interact (and t hose who obser ve
t hose interactions) what it means to be a citizen46
Writing recently in t he Annals Justice and Meares
a rg ue t hat t he cr i mi na l just ice system offers a
cu r ricu lum of lessons on what it mea ns to be
a cit i zen much as public schools do The over t
cu r r icu lu m of policing fou nd most obv iously
in t he tex t of t he Un ited States Const it ut ion is
designed to convey concern for rights Peoplersquos
i nt er e s t s i n a u t o n om y p r i v a c y a n d b o d i l y
integrit y ought not to be subject to the whim of
an indiv idual police officer We are a government
of laws designed to restrain state power against
t he indiv idual Education theorists explain t hat a
hidden curriculum is often taught alongside the
over t cu rr icu lu m t y pica l ly fou nd in tex tbook s
a nd of f ic i a l r ubr ic s I n sc ho ol s t he h idden
curriculum may be found in adultstudent and
studentst udent interact ions in t he enforcement
of school discipli ne policies a nd behav ior codes
in the deeply buried assumptions and narratives
of h i s t or y t e x tbo ok s i n a s c hoolrsquos c hoic e of
mascot in who gets to sit where in the cafeteria or
in t he musical select ions at t he prom The hidden
curriculum of policing similarly is a function of
how people a re t reated i n i nteract ions a nd t he
ways in which groups derive meaning regarding
t heir status in t he eyes of legal aut horit y result ing
f r o m t h at t r e a t m e n t To o of t e n t he h id d e n
curriculum of policing strateg ies sends certain
cit izens clear signals t hat they are members of a
special dangerous and undesirable class mdash t he
m ir ror image of t he posit ive over t cur r icu lum
People do not necessa r i ly lea r n t hese lessons
W hat is learned depends i n pa r t on t he deg ree
and frequency of exposure and on indiv idual and
com mu nit y resilience A s Just ice a nd Meares
note
[T]he hidde n c ur r ic u lum f lour i s he s
i n t hose contex ts where democrac y is
d i s l o c a t e d I n h i g h -p er fo r m i n g
publ ic a nd pr i v at e s c ho ol s t e ac her s
a n d s t u de nt s w or k t o g e t he r t o w a rd
c om mon goa l s t hat honor t he s oc ia l
c o n t r a c t b e t w e e n t he s c h o ol t he
student the family and t he communit y
punishment is appropr iate and mercif ul
a nd of fers forg iveness i nter per sona l
i nter ac t ion s enc ou r age suc c e s s a nd
rea f f i r m belong i ng t r u st i s endem ic
Remove t he confluence of interests t he
accountabilit y of those w ith aut horit y to
those under it the fundamental sense of
legit imacy and t he hidden cur riculum
eats away at the over t47
Rightful Policing | 13
Com m it ment to r ig ht f ul policing can help but
executives cannot be sanguine about its potential
impact The approach requires broadly conceived
a nd c oord i n ate d ef for t s a mon g a v a r ie t y of
c o n t e x t s mdash c r i m e r e d u c t i o n c o m m u n i t y
relations and importantly internal discipline48
mdash to effect real change
Endnotes
1 See Nicholas Gra ham Obama on Skip Gates
Arrest Police Acted ldquoSt upidlyrdquo Hu ffi ngt on
Post Aug 22 2009 httpw w whuffi ngtonpost
c o m 2 0 0 9 0 7 2 2 o b a m a - o n - s k i p - g a t e s -
arres_n_243250ht ml (last v isited Nov 13 2014)
2 Rachel A Harmon The Problem of Policing 110
Mich L Rev 761 (2011)
3 Christopher Stone amp Jerem y Tr avis Toward
a Ne w Professiona l ism in Policing (2 011)
httpw w wnijgovpubs-sum232359htm (last
v isited Nov 13 2014)
4 Dav id H Bay ley Police for the Fu tur e 3
(1994)
5 For one e x a m p l e c r i t ic i z i n g t he p ol ic e -
law f ulness tradeoff consider t he discussion by
Meares and Kahan of the legal struggle regarding
searches for g uns in Chicago public housing See
Tr acey L Me a r es amp Da n M K a h a n Urgen t
T i m es Pol ici ng a n d R igh ts i n I n n er Ci t y
Communities (1999)
6 See id at 18ndash22
7 Stone amp Tr avis supra note 3 at 1 (noting that
accountabilit y is a critical aspect of what t hey call
t he ldquonew professionalismrdquo along w ith legitimac y
innovat ion and nat iona l coherence)
8 See id at 12 (ldquoThe best chiefs speak confident ly
about lsquot he t h ree Crsquos cr ime cost and conduct
Police departments today are accountable for all
t hreerdquo)
9 Id at 12ndash15
10 See A n t hon y Br aga amp Dav id Weisbu r d
Policing Problem Pl aces Cr ime Hot Spots
and Effective Prevention (2010)
11 See National Research Council Fair ness
and Effectiveness in Policing The Evidence
297 (Wesley Skogan amp Kathleen Fr ydl eds 2004)
A nt hony A Braga Bra ndon C Wel sh amp Cor y
Schnel l Can Policing Disorder Reduce Crime
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis J R es
Cr i m e amp D e l i nq (For t hc om i n g ) A n t hon y
A Br aga Probl em-Or ien ted Policing a n d
Crime Prevention (2d ed 2008)
12 See Tra nscr ipt Bloomberg Vows to Appeal
Fed eral Judgersquos Ruling Th at Stop -and-F ri sk
Policy Violated Civil Rights in Press Conference
NY Da i ly Ne ws Aug 12 20 03 ht t pw w w
nyd a i l y ne w scomne w spol it ic s bloomber g-
vow s-appea l-fe der a l-judge-r u l i ng-stop-stop-
and-f r isk-pol ic y-ar t icle-11424630 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014) John Eterno amp Eli Silverman Mike
Bloombergrsquos Fact-Free Defence of Stop-and-Frisk
14 | New Perspectives in Policing
T h e Gua rdi an S e pt 11 2 013 ht t pw w w
t heguardiancomcommentisfree2013sep11
stop-a nd-f r isk-m ichael-bloomberg (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
13 See Tracey L Meares amp Dan M Kahan Law
and (Norms of) Order in Inner Cit y 32 L aw amp Socrsquoy
Rev 805 830ndash32 (1998) (discussing communit y
empowerment through law enforcement)
14 Tr acey L Mear es et al Lawful or Fair
How Cops and L aypeople View Good Policing
(Social Science Research Net work) (2012) http
papersssrncomabst ract=2116645 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
15 See Tom R Tyler amp Jeffrey Fagan Legitimacy
and Cooperation Why Do People Help the Police
Fight Cr ime in Their Communit ies 6 O h io
St J Cr i m L 231 262 (20 08) Tom R Ty ler amp
Cher yl Wakslak Profiling and Police Legitimacy
Procedural Justice Attributions of Motive and
Acceptance of Police Authority 42 Cr iminology
253 255 (2004) Tom R T yler Trust in the Law
Encour aging Public Cooper ation With the
Police and Courts (2002) Ray mond Paternoster
et a l Do Fair Procedures Matter The Effect of
Procedural Justice on Spouse Assault 31 L aw amp
Socrsquoy R ev 163 (1997)
16 See Tom R Tyler Enhancing Police Legitimacy
593 A nnals A m Aca d Pol amp Soc Sci 84 94
(2004)
17 See id
18 National Research Council supra note 11
at 297
19 See generally L egi t i m ac y a n d Cr im ina l
Justice International Perspectiv es (A nt hony
Braga et al eds 2007) (exploring the impact of
percept ions of leg it i mac y i n c r i m i na l just ice
systems across t he globe)
20 Tom R T y ler Wh y People Obey the L aw
(repr i nt 2006)
21 See Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing
the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing
and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54
Wm amp Mary L Rev 1865 1879 (2012) (prov iding
this illust rative fig ure)
22 See eg Tracey L Meares Inaugural Barrock
Lecture on Criminal Law The Legitimacy of Police
Among Young Af rican American Men 92 M a rq L
R ev 651 (2009)
23 See A ndrew V Papachristos Tracey L Meares
amp Jef f re y Faga n Attention Felons Evaluating
P roje ct S afe Ne ighb orh oo d s in Chi c ag o 4 J
Empirical Legal Stud 223 (2007)
24 Lorraine Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice
Rout ine Enc ounters an d Cit izen Perc ept ion s
of Police Main Findings f rom the Queensland
C o m m un i t y E n g ag e m e n t Tr i a l (Q C ET) 8
J E x pe r i m e n ta l C r i m i nol o g y 3 4 3 (2 01 2)
[hereinafter Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice]
L o r r a i ne M a z er o l le e t a l Sh aping C it i z en
Perceptions of Police Legitimacy A Randomized
Field Trial of Procedural Justice 51 Criminology
33 (2013) [herei na f ter Ma zerol le et a l Shaping
Citizen Perceptions]
Right ful Policing | 15
25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra
note 24
2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3
(describing the federal initiative)
27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on
Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip
J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)
(evaluating Project Ex ile)
28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and
C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he
P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)
(describing the inter vention) For an analysis
of the crime control impacts of this and similar
prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L
Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence
Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res
Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)
29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223
30 See id at 258ndash59
31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l
Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t
of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on
R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s
(Social Science Research Network 2013) http
papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited
Nov 13 2014)
32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t
Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey
Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y
Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing
Paper Series No 8 2011)
33 See id at 7
34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice
Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home
Secrsquoy 2011)
3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op
Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of
Toronto Press 2003)
36 See Neyroud supra note 34
37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful
Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them
Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9
2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-
policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)
38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training
Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)
h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _
Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair
F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r
M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice
T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port
(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs
college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y
Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce
C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
Rightful Policing | 3
c r i me r at e s i n t he i r j u r i s d i c t ion s Pol ic i n g
schola rs devote t hemselves to f i nd i ng causa l
connect ions bet ween va rious pol ice pract ices
a nd c r i me st at ist ics t y pic a l l y by rely i ng on a
t heoret ica l model t hat assumes of fenders are
r at ion a l ac tor s w ho a re p er suaded t o desi st
f rom cr imina l behav ior when t he prospect of
for ma l pu nish ment out weig hs t he benef its of
that behav ior In arresting Professor Gates that
day Sergeant Crowley pursued t hese t wo aims
of policing simultaneously He was an assiduous
crime fighter and he acted in a way t hat was legal
Does t hat mean that Sergeant Crowleyrsquos conduct
was unambig uously right f ul
No it does not It does not because t here is a t hird
way in addition to law f ulness and effectiveness
t o e v a l u a t e p o l ic i n g mdash ldquor i g h t f u l p ol ic i n g rdquo
R ig ht f u l pol icing at tempts to accou nt for what
people say that they care about when they assess
i nd iv idua l of f icer behav ior a s wel l a s agenc y
conduct generally It differs from law ful policing
a nd ef fe c t i ve p ol ic i ng i n at lea st t w o w a y s
First r ig ht f ul policing does not depend on t he
law fulness of police conduct Rather it depends
primarily on t he procedural justice or fairness of
t hat conduct Second r ig ht f u l policing does not
depend on an assessment of police as ever more
effect ive crime fighters (although it turns out that
rightful policing of ten leads to more compliance
w ith t he law and t herefore lower crime rates) This
t hird way may well help us move toward police
governance that is substantively as opposed to
rhetorically democrat ic Finally rightful policing
is bet ter for cops on t he st reet Its precepts not
on ly encou rage t he people w hom pol ice dea l
w ith on a daily basis to comply w ith the law and
police directives they also encourage behav iors
in encounters that tend to keep police safe
Two Views More Law Or Less Crime
Before this paper delves into greater detail about
ldquoright ful policingrdquo it is useful to understand what
right f u l pol ici ng is not R ig ht f u l policing is not
confined simply to constitutional policing nor is
it subsumed ent irely by policing aimed at crime
reduction Rather it is about how to achieve both
by promot ing fairness and engendering trust in
police among t he public
Th is discussion began w it h a w idely publicized
ex a mple of what ma ny i nclud i ng t he per son
who was arrested Professor Henr y Louis Gates
bel ie ved to be r acia l prof i l i ng by pol ice New
York Cit y li ke Cambr idge has been embroi led
in its ow n racial profi ling cont roversy for more
t han a decade In New York t he cont roversy is
centered not on one hig h-profi le incident but
rat her on hu nd reds of t housa nds of stops a nd
f r isk s of na meless pr i ma r i ly you ng A f r ica n
American men The criticism of ldquostop and friskrdquo
leveled aga i n st t he pol ice i n Ne w York is not
limited to t hat cit y or t his countr y Philadelphia
for e x a mple h a s b e en i nv ol ve d i n a si m i l a r
cont roversy and London police have come under
fi re for implement ing what critics believe to be a
too-aggressive ldquostop and searchrdquo strateg y In each
of these cities there have been vocal complaints
about what critics claim is t he overbroad exercise
of s t ate p ow er i n t he for m of s e a rc he s a nd
sei zu res These cr it icisms usua l ly a re asser ted
in lega l ter ms and f ra med a rou nd precept s of
constitutional law The criticsrsquo preferred remedies
4 | New Perspectives in Policing
in turn are usually described using t he same set of
tools mdash t he architecture of law and rights
T h i n k i ng about pol ice law f u l ness i n ter ms of a
tradeoff bet ween the risk of arbit rar y or oppressive
enforcement a nd a n i nd iv idua lrsquos r ig ht to pr ivac y
a nd autonomy is a dom i na nt approach i n t he
literat ure5 Those who measure good policing w it h
reference to its law f ulness do not usually focus on
police effectiveness at reducing crime Rat her t he
law fulness met ric almost always casts police power
as a necessar y ev il as opposed to a welcome utilit y
or a potentially crit ical mechanism for empowering
communities to pursue t heir ow n democratica lly
chosen goals and projects According to t he ldquomore
law fulnessrdquo view police adherence to strict dictates
that constrain their discretion generally results in
less policing and more libert y for indiv iduals The
h ig her level of cr i me t hat m ig ht resu lt f rom less
pol ic i ng is si mply a pr ice c it i z ens pay for more
freedom in societ y6
Police executives who are committed to lowering
cr i me rates i n t hei r com mu n it ies do not ag ree
t hat less polici ng is an idea l t hey shou ld seek to
ach ieve In pu rsuit of accountabi lit y one of t he
fou r c or ner s tone s of t he ne w profes s iona l i sm
advocated by Stone a nd Trav i s7 mdash t he pr i ma r y
c omponent s of w h ich i nclude reduc i ng cr i me
a nd m a k i n g c om mu n it i e s s a f er c o n t r o l l i n g
cost s a nd conduc t i ng t hem selves w it h respec t
toward t he public whom they ser ve8 mdash police have
become much more concerned w it h effect iveness
consider i ng com m it ment to cr i me reduc t ion a
prime aspect of accountabilit y9 The quest ion is no
longer whether or not police can make a difference
Pol ic e exec ut ives i n stead ask ldquoHow much of a
difference i n cr i me rates ca n police ma kerdquo The
new literature on t he relationship bet ween crime
rates and policing is voluminous Criminological
research over the last couple of decades has show n
t hat deploy i ng pol ic e forces i n geog raph ic a l ly
fo c u s e d w a y s mdash ldquo hot s p ot p ol ic i n g rdquo mdash c a n
significantly reduce crime w ithout displacing it to
ot her a reas10 Ot her scholars have demonst rated
t hat st rategies such as problem-oriented policing
and communit y policing can be usef ul to address
crime andor t he fear of crime11 The advances in
statistical approaches are strik ing and useful but a
weak ness of the scholarship on police effectiveness
is t hat law fulness is largely irrelevant to it
Those who promote success at cr ime fight ing as
the best way to assess police effect iveness too of ten
fa i l to u nderst a nd t hat pol ice fa i lu re to ad here
to law is a proper lens t h roug h wh ich to v ie w
public perception of overbroad policing mdash in the
form of too-preva lent stop a nd f r isk w idespread
publ ic su r vei l la nce or ot her ever yday pol ic ies
a nd pract ices Com ments by bot h for mer Mayor
Bloomberg and former Police Commissioner Ray
Kelly in reaction to the federal court order strik ing
dow n New York Cit yrsquos prominent stop question and
frisk practice illustrate this attitude on the part of
pol ice agenc ies a nd publ ic of f icia ls Fol low i ng
Dist r ict Judge Sh i ra Sheind linrsquos order decla ring
t he pract ice in v iolat ion of bot h t he Fou r t h and
Fou r teent h A mend ment s as it operated at t he
t ime t he order was issued Bloomberg a nd Kel ly
cla i med t hat t he judge had imper iled t he cit y rsquos
safet y by limiting liberal use of the practice12 On
t he other hand t hose who promote law f ulness as
t he best met r ic to assess good polici ng too of ten
Rightful Policing | 5
ignore t he fact that crime and predation among
i nd iv idua ls resu lt i n sig n ificant ly less f reedom
for residents of hig h-cr ime commu nit ies even
though private actors impose that constraint on
f reedom Residents of high-crime com munit ies
of ten see hig her levels of polici ng as a way to
achieve freedom as opposed to its const raint13
Rightful policing is attentive to both law fulness
a nd ef fec t iveness a nd it capt u res i mpor t a nt
d i mensions t hat neit her one of t he prev a lent
modes of evaluation does The notion of rightful
policing also includes a critique of a ldquoget-toughrdquo
approach to law enforcement which uses as its
principa l touchstone inst r u menta l t heor ies of
deterrence Deterrence w ithout t he balance of a
focus on legitimacy can be effective but its effects
often are shor t-lived and expensive to implement
Moreover c om m it ment to some met hods of
achieving deterrence such as stop and frisk can
predictably back fi re in communities that need
crime reduction most There is also strong reason
to believe that many heav y deterrence strategies
a re not pa r t ic u la rly ef fec t ive i n encou rag i ng
offenders to desist from crime
Rightful Policing Itrsquos About Legitimacy
Pol ice ac t ions such as stops a nd f r isks can be
costly even when they are law f ul constitutional
and short People do not automatically approve
of a stop just because an officer is legally entitled
to ma ke one T h i s rea l it y c r y st a l l i z es a ba sic
problem w it h foc u si ng on law f u l ness as t he
s i ng le y a rd s t ic k for r ig ht f u l p ol ic e c onduc t
Indeed research I have conducted w ith Tom Tyler
suggests t hat the public does not recognize law ful
police conduct when t hey see it14
If people do not focus on the law fulness of police
conduct what do t hey care about A lt houg h it
seems counterintuitive decades of research show
that people t y pically care much more about how
law enforcement agents t reat t hem t ha n about
t he outcome of t he contact Even when people
receive a negative outcome in an encounter such
as a speedi ng t icket t hey feel bet ter about t hat
incident t ha n about a n i ncident in which t hey
do not receive a t icket but a re t reated poorly15
I n add it ion to bei ng t reated w it h d ig n it y a nd
respect research demonstrates that people look
for behav ioral signals that allow t hem to assess
w het her a pol ice of f ic errsquos decision to stop or
arrest t hem was made fairly mdash that is accurately
and w it hout bias These t wo factors mdash qua l it y
of t reat ment a nd i nd icat ion s of h ig h-qua l it y
decision-mak ing mdash matter much more to people
than t he outcome of the encounter
Two add it iona l fac tors mat ter as wel l People
report higher levels of satisfaction in encounters
w it h aut hor it ies i f t he y feel t hat t he y have a n
opportunit y to explain t heir situation and t heir
perspective on it mdash ie to tell t heir stor y16 Fina lly
in t heir interactions w it h police people want to
believe t hat aut horities are acting out of a sense
of benevolence toward them They want to believe
that the aut horitiesrsquo mot ives are sincere and well-
intentioned and t hat the aut horities are t r y ing to
respond to peoplersquos concerns17 A ll four of these
factors mdash qualit y of treatment decision-mak ing
fa i r ness voic e a nd ex pec tat ion of benevolent
6 | New Perspectives in Policing
t reat ment mdash ma ke up what psycholog ists ca l l
ldquoprocedural justicerdquo
Procedura l just ice matters a g reat dea l in civ i l
societ y One impor ta nt consequence of peoplersquos
percept ions of procedural fairness according to
t hese ter ms is t hat t hey lead to popu lar beliefs
of leg it i mac y W hen soc ia l ps ycholog ist s use
t he ter m ldquoleg it i mac yrdquo t he y a re refer r i ng to a
ldquoproper t y t hat a r u le or a n aut hor it y has when
others feel obligated to voluntarily defer to that
r ule or aut hor it y A leg it imate aut horit y is one t hat
is regarded by people as entitled to have its rules
and decisions accepted and followed by ot hersrdquo18
Th is concept ion of leg it imac y is not normat ive
W hen ps ycholog i st s d i s c u ss leg it i mac y t he y
a re not ex plor ing in some philosophica l sense
whet her people ought to defer to legal aut horities
rather t hey are seek ing to determine whether in
fact people do defer Their approach is positive
a nd empi r ic a l T hu s when resea rchers have
soug ht to determ i ne why people obey t he law
t he leg it i mac y-based ex pla nat ion is d ist i nc t
f rom a n ex pla nat ion g rou nded i n fea r i ng t he
consequences of fa il ing to do so a nd f rom one
grounded in moralit y W hen people voluntarily
comply w ith rules and laws because they believe
aut hor it ies h av e t he r ig ht to d ic t ate pr op er
behav ior their compliance is leg itimacy-based
R ightf ul policing leverages t hese ideas
A robust body of socia l science ev idence f rom
around t he world shows t hat people are likelier
to obey t he law when t hey believe that authorities
have the right to tell t hem what to do19 Research
shows that people are mot ivated more to comply
w it h t he law by t he bel ief t hat t he y a re bei ng
t reated w it h d ig n it y a nd fair ness t ha n by fear
of pu n i sh ment I n fac t bei ng t reated fa i rly is
a more i mpor ta nt determ i na nt of compl ia nce
t han formal deterrence20 W hen police generate
good feelings in t heir ever yday contacts people
a re mot ivated to help t hem f ight cr i me A ll of
t his encourages desistance from offending law-
abiding and assistance to the police contributing
to lower crime rates
A lthough police are conceived and constituted by
and t hrough law focusing on t he law fulness of
police conduct can obscure onersquos abilit y to ident if y
and remedy policing behavior that t he public may
wel l v iew as problemat ic It is i mpor ta nt to see
t hat alt hough procedural justice can be related to
t he law fulness or legalit y of police conduct t hese
t wo va lences do not proceed in lock step One
way of t hink ing how t hese valences relate to one
anot her is to imagine points on a compass (see
figure) If we array law f ulness from west to east
w it h law f ulness to the east and unlaw fulness to
t he west t hen we wou ld ex pect police to be as
fa r east as possible Now imag i ne procedu ra l
just ice or legitimacy as r unning nort h and south
on the compass W hen police are respectf ul and
procedurally just they are headed nort h W hen
t he y a re not t hat behav ior i s c ategor i zed as
ldquorunning southrdquo Putting t he t wo parts toget her
one sees that t he best place for law enforcement
to be is in the northeast21 That is where one fi nds
rightful policing
Th is image however also reveals the sout heast
and t he northwest A primar y problem w it h street
pol icing i n urba n cit ies such as New York a nd
Chicago and i n many commu nit ies across t he
Rightful Policing | 7
justice in encounters can change public Figure Rightful Policing as the Convergence of Lawfulness and Legitimacy
W
perceptions of policing agencies leading
N to lack of t r ust i l l-w i l l and u lt imately
Legitimacy less law-abiding22 Considering both the
law fulness and the legitimacy of police Rightful conduct allows both the police officer and Policing
the citizen stopped to be right in a way
that is not possible when one operates in Lawfulness E the single dimension of lawfulness The
possibility of both sides being right can
lead to fruit ful conversat ion about the
rightfulness of policing
Putting Legitimacy to Work S
T his arg u ment ra ises t he quest ion for Source Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54 Wm amp mary L rev 1865 police of how t hey can put t hese ideas 1879 (2012)
into practice A focus on the procedural
globe is that too often such policing comprises
behavior I would locate in the southeast police
conduc t t hat is ver y l i kely law f u l but t hat
citizens in many encounters perceive as deeply
illegitimate using t he term as defined here In
t he f ig ure for example if one ask s a law yer
what const it utes racia l prof i l ing t hat person
t y pic a l l y w i l l a ns wer ldquoIt is pol ice behav ior
solely or perhaps partially motivated by racerdquo
however t he rev iew earlier in this essay of t he
events connected to Professor Gatesrsquos arrest in
the summer of 2009 should make clear that many
who believe themselves to have been profiled
care little about the legal determinants of their
encounters with police
T he bot tom l i ne i s c lea r r eg a rd le s s of t he
lawfulness of police behavior lack of procedural
justice of encounters can help policing
a ge nc i e s id e nt i f y b e h a v ior t a c t i c s
and strateg ies that many members of minorit y
communities find problematic and that lead to
disaffection even t hough t hey may be law f ul
and considered in isolat ion appear effective
Second a focus on t he psycholog ica l aspects
of leg it i mac y i n i nd iv idua l enc ou nters may
have i mpor ta nt cr i me cont rol benef its when
incor porated into tact ics a nd st rateg ies Two
case studies illustrate this The first is a strateg y
for v iolence reduction in Chicago Illinois which
has been running since 200223 The second is an
experiment conducted in Queensland Australia
on road traffic enforcement24 I have deliberately
chosen t wo ver y dif ferent examples to show
that legitimacy-based approaches have a wide
application across different aspects of the police
8 | New Perspectives in Policing
mission These t wo initiatives however are not
unique Lorraine Mazerolle and her colleag ues
recent ly completed a meta-analysis of legitimac y
policing inter vent ions and concluded that ldquopolice
can achieve positive changes in citizen attitudes
to pol ice t hroug h adopt i ng procedu ra l just ice
d ia log ue as a component pa r t of a ny t y pe of
police inter ventionrdquo25
W hen t he Chicago init iat ive sta r ted t he cit y rsquos
hom ic ide r at e hovere d ne a r 2 2 p er 10 00 0 0
Crime is often concentrated by geography and
i n C h ic a go t he nei g hb or hood s on t he c it y rsquos
west a nd sout h sides drove t he cit y rsquos hom icide
rate The h ig hest crime a rea on t he west had a
hom ic ide rate of 72 per 10 00 0 0 Usi ng f u nd s
prov ided by a billion-dollar nationw ide federal
initiative to combat g un crime called Project Safe
Neighborhoods (PSN)26 United States Attorney
Patrick Fitzgerald proposed a strateg y modeled
a f t e r P r oje c t E x i l e i n R ic h mo n d V i r g i n i a
target ing ex-offenders i n t he h ig h-cr i me a reas
w it h federa l pena lt ies for g u n possession a nd
ot her g u n of fenses Fi zgera ld bel ieved f rom
crime analysis t hat ex-offenders were primarily
responsible for the gun v iolence in Chicago This
approach is entirely consistent w it h the t y pical
ldquoget-toughrdquo deterrence-based t hin k ing around
crime control mdash a crackdow n on potent ially high-
harm offenders27
In dev ising t he pa r t icu la rs of t he st rateg y t he
programrsquos architects suggested to t he task force
that t he proposed strateg y should be w rapped in
t he t heor y of leg it imac y The resu lta nt st rateg y
wou ld st i l l t a r get t he g roup t he US At tor ney
t houg ht most v ulnerable to g u n offendi ng but
the communication strateg y to t his group would
emphasize aspects that research indicated clearly
most people care about when determining that
law enforcement is fair A lthough offenders would
be broug ht in a nd a ler ted to t he consequences
that would follow should they pick up a g un they
would also receive information about ser v ices to
help t hem turn away from a life of crime
Modeled after Operation Ceasefi re in Boston28
hour-long roundtable-st yle meetings were the
center piece of t he new st rateg y Each of t hese
for ums gathered no more than 20 offenders who
sat around a table w ith representat ives from state
and local law enforcement and the communit y
Instead of simply confronting the offenders w it h
t he pu n it ive con sequences of t hei r behav ior
emph a si s w a s pl ac e d on t he qu a l it y of t he
interact ion mdash less a t ribunal and more a dialogue
bet ween citizens mdash and the potential rewards of
law-abiding which is consistent w ith attempting
to achieve legit imac y-based compliance
Legit imacy-based law enforcement focuses more
on persuasion t ha n punish ment To persuade
aut hor it ies mu st create t he nec essa r y soc ia l
capital t hat engenders trust bet ween governors
and t he governed Simply emphasizing rewards
and punishments does not automatically lead to
t r ust because such a n approach assumes t hat
a l l i ndiv idua ls ca re about is t he bot tom line mdash
an assumption t hat is contrar y to t he t heor y of
procedural justice and much empirical ev idence
The notion that compliance is t y pically created
on l y by t h reat s of c o er c ion bac k e d up w it h
Rightful Policing | 9
punishment is f undamenta l ly inconsistent w it h
trust for such a stance assumes t hat indiv iduals
cannot be counted on to defer to and comply w ith
the law voluntarily
St at i s t ic a l a s s e s s ment s of t he i mp ac t of t he
Ch icago prog ra m a re st r i k i ng Papach r istos
Me a r e s a n d Fa g a n a s s e s s e d t h e i m p a c t o f
Chicagorsquos forums on neighborhood-level crime
rates and g un violence compared w ith the impact
of t hree other components of PSN mdash increased
federal prosecut ions for conv icted felons carr ying
or using g uns the imposition of longer sentences
associated w it h federa l prosecut ions a nd t he
removal of guns from t he street29 Their analysis
demon s t r at e s t hat a lt hou g h a l l t e s t ed P SN
initiatives were associated w it h a decrease in t he
homicide rate the forums had t he largest effect
Compa r i ng t he relat ive ef fec t s of t he for u ms
and federal g un prosecutions shows that a unit
increase in forum participation (or approx imately
45 new offenders) among t hose eligible is roughly
85 t imes more powerful than a unit increase in
federal prosecutions in reducing homicide rates30
Furt her research suggests that the forums make
a difference at an individual level as well Those
who at tended were sig n ifica nt ly more li kely to
stay out of prison t han those who did not all other
things being equal31
I n t he second e x a mple I sh i f t f rom t ac k l i ng
s er iou s i n ner-c it y v iolenc e t o t he re duc t ion
of ro ad deat h s b y t r a f f ic en forc ement T he
Q ueen s l a nd C om mu n it y E nga gement Tr ia l
(QCET)32 used a randomized field trial to test the
appl icat ion of leg it i mac y i n how Queensla nd
police enforced t he drink driv ing laws
P o l ic e of f ic er s ac r o s s A u s t r a l i a ad m i n i s t er
t hou s a n d s of b r e a t h t e s t s t o d r i v er s u n der
leg islat ion t hat empowers t hem to ca r r y out
r a ndo m r o ad s id e b r e at h-t e s t i n g T he t e s t s
tend to be ad min istered at test sites ident i fied
a s hot sp ot s of d r i n k d r i v i n g a nd c ol l i s ion s
causing serious injur y These police actions are
justifiable as bot h legal and evidence-based The
researchers at t he Australian Research Council
Cent re of Excellence in Policing and Securit y in
partnership w it h Queensland police set out to
see whet her t hey could significant ly enhance the
impact of t he test ing reg ime so that t he testing
not only checked for alcohol on the driverrsquos breath
but also increased public confidence in t he police
and support for the enforcement of drink driv ing
legislat ion
I n Q C E T t he t e s t i n g s i t e s w e r e r a ndom l y
allocated either to a cont rol mdash t he standard police
procedure mdash or to a ldquolegitimacy treatmentrdquo In t he
cont rol drivers were stopped given a short legal
wa rn ing a nd required to prov ide a breat h test
The legal minimum process and time were taken
to prov ide a test In contrast in t he ldquolegitimacy
treatmentrdquo t he drivers were taken through a five-
stage procedure t hat emphasized five dimensions
of procedu ra l just ice dec i sion neut ra l it y to
ex plain that t hose drivers stopped had not been
singled out but that t he test was being prov ided
to dr ivers at ra ndom t r ust wor t hy mot ives to
prov ide context about the reasons for the test site
and t he testing campaign cit izen participation
includ ing cri me prevent ion adv ice a nd deta i ls
of loca l Cr i mestopper s nu mber s red ress a nd
feedback or an opportunit y to raise any issues of
10 | New Perspectives in Policing
concern and dignity and respect which included
thanks to the drivers for their cooperation
There was a ver y small difference in the t ime
taken for the two approaches (around a minute
ex t ra for t he leg it i mac y t reat ment) yet t he
dr iversrsquo percept ions of t he process were ver y
different Drivers who experienced the legitimacy
t reat ment ldquore por te d s ig n i f ic a nt l y s t ronger
generalized perceptions of police fairness police
respect [a nd] hig her sat isfact ionrdquo w it h how
police do their job33 The caveat on these interim
findings is t hat researchers could not see from
this trial a w ider increase in t he respondentsrsquo
genera l con f idence i n t he pol ice or a w ider
tendency toward compliance with the law Given
that the encounter even in the longer legitimacy
treatment only lasted 1 minute and 37 seconds
this may not be surprising However the study
sug gest s t hat t he deploy ment of leg it i mac y
approaches in day-to-day police interactions with
citizens can have a significant and measurable
benefit over an approach t hat simply relies on
the letter of the law It also makes the point that
such approaches a re not on ly releva nt i n t he
critically difficult relationships between police
and minorit y communities but should also be
considered as an important part of wider police
operations
Conclusions and Implications for Policing
If legitimacy is as impor tant as I have argued
t hen it ra ises t he quest ions of how t he police
should incorporate this approach and what the
obstacles are to implementation I think we can
make progress on answering these questions by
considering three issues
Training M u c h p o l i c e t r a i n i n g d e s p i t e
improvements over t he last 20 yea rs retains
a st rong bias i n favor of lea r n i ng t he r u les
particularly legislat ion procedure (especially
c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c r i m i n a l p r o c e d u r e) a n d
depar tmental policies Such training does not
apply only at the initial recruitment phase In the
United Kingdom for example the key gateway for
promotion for all first-line managers is to pass a
set of examinations in the law and procedures
for cr ime roads policing genera l dut ies and
ev idence and procedure34 This k ind of reliance
on law and procedure as t he qualificat ion for
recr uits a nd ma nagers is t y pica l across most
jurisdictions As Janet Chan and her colleagues
show procedurallegal training is now frequently
suppor ted by prog ra ms to add ress behav iors
a nd prac t ic a l sk i l ls but a l most ne ver by a n
educational approach that provides officers with
the means and material to understand the social
science ev idence for what works in policing or
how approaches such as legitimac y make t heir
practice more effective35 Indeed Chan and her
colleag ues demonstrate how t he legal valence
of f ront line cu lt ure can u nder mi ne even t he
attempts to inject some ldquosocial contex trdquo Peter
Ne y r oud ha s re c om mende d a muc h more
fundamental shift in the framework of training
for recr u its specia l ists a nd managers so t hat
police training in the United Kingdom would be
governed by a new professional body and start
with a prequalification that emphasizes learning
about ev idence-based practice36 Without such a
Right ful Policing | 11
radical shift it seems likely from studies like that
of Chan and colleagues that police training will
continue to underpin a legalistic way of think ing
about problems and t heir solutions There are
promising signs of change however Chicago
Pol ic e Super i ntendent Ga r r y Mc Ca r t hy ha s
instituted a day-long training in police legitimacy
and racial reconciliation for the entire force To
date more than 8000 officers and leaders have
been trained37 Early assessments of the program
are extremely positive38 In the United Kingdom
extensive practical training on procedural justice
in pa r t icu la r sit uat ions is a lso becomi ng t he
norm39
Strategies and tactics Too often compelled by
the ever-present demand to bring crime statistics
down (especially in big cities) police executives
foc us on st rateg ies a nd tac t ics desig ned to
reduce violence in too-cramped ways If this is
r ig ht t hen pol ice execut ives shou ld consider
problem-solving in more holistic ways that w ill
y ield approaches t hat a re desig ned not on ly
to quel l v iolence but a lso to en ha nce sa fet y
by changing t he att itudes and disposit ions of
those alienated from them in ways that sustain
voluntar y compliance I have in mind here hot
spot policing that is not only deterrence-based but
also legitimacy-based Braga Welsh and Schnell
recently found in a rev iew of broken w indows
pol ici ng st rateg ies a dist inct brea k bet ween
t he ef fec t iveness of ag g ressive deter renc e-
focused broken w indows approaches such as
stop and frisk in New York Cit y and other more
leg it i mac y-based approaches Only t he lat ter
group produced large and statistically significant
impacts on crime40 Moreover commitment to
legit imacy can also help police increase safet y
and by implication quell violence at the incident
level by encouraging officers to engage in tactics
that defuse violent incidents41
Democracy and communit y participation I agree
w it h Loader when he notes t hat ldquoT he pol ice
in shor t are bot h m i nders a nd reminders of
community mdash a producer of significant messages
about t he k i nd of place t hat com mu nit y is or
aspires to berdquo42 Policing makes communit y It is
no accident that an iconic symbol of England itself
is the Bobbyrsquos hat43 In the United States policingrsquos
symbolic valence is not so positive At least one
scholar has located t he genesis of A mer ica n
policing not in the benevolent image of a kindly
communit y protector but in t he more sinister
for m of t he slave pat rol ler44 T he procedu ra l
justice literature rev iewed above makes clear
the ways in which this dark histor y can and likely
does undermine trust in police in the modern era
And yet this same literature provides a roadmap
for a more posit ive relat ionsh ip t hat not only
benefits those who need help from the police but
also potentially supports t heir par t icipation in
democratically led government It is important
for people to feel t hat if t hey call on t he police
(a nd ot her lega l actors a nd inst it ut ions) not
only w ill t heir securit y be protected but t hey
w i l l a lso be t reated w it h respect t hei r r ig hts
w ill be recognized and they w ill be subject to
fair decision-making The fact that most people
i n a com mu nit y ra rely ca ll on t he pol ice for
ser v ices does not change this because police
and other legal actors are in the background in
12 | New Perspec tives in Policing
ever y communit y and shape what people t hink
feel and do People want to feel comfort not fear
when the police are present and to anticipate that
they w ill receive help and professional t reatment
when they need it W hen they do t hey become
invested in the communities in which t hey live
Research on popular legitimacy to which police
contribute suggests t hat when people evaluate
t hei r pol ice a nd cou r t s ystems as procedura l ly
fair t hey identif y more w it h their communities
and engage in them socially by trust ing neighbors
p ol i t ic a l l y b y v o t i n g a nd e c onom ic a l l y b y
shoppi ng a nd goi ng to enter t a i n ment venues
within that communit y45
Police play a critical role in teaching the people
w it h whom t hey interact (and t hose who obser ve
t hose interactions) what it means to be a citizen46
Writing recently in t he Annals Justice and Meares
a rg ue t hat t he cr i mi na l just ice system offers a
cu r ricu lum of lessons on what it mea ns to be
a cit i zen much as public schools do The over t
cu r r icu lu m of policing fou nd most obv iously
in t he tex t of t he Un ited States Const it ut ion is
designed to convey concern for rights Peoplersquos
i nt er e s t s i n a u t o n om y p r i v a c y a n d b o d i l y
integrit y ought not to be subject to the whim of
an indiv idual police officer We are a government
of laws designed to restrain state power against
t he indiv idual Education theorists explain t hat a
hidden curriculum is often taught alongside the
over t cu rr icu lu m t y pica l ly fou nd in tex tbook s
a nd of f ic i a l r ubr ic s I n sc ho ol s t he h idden
curriculum may be found in adultstudent and
studentst udent interact ions in t he enforcement
of school discipli ne policies a nd behav ior codes
in the deeply buried assumptions and narratives
of h i s t or y t e x tbo ok s i n a s c hoolrsquos c hoic e of
mascot in who gets to sit where in the cafeteria or
in t he musical select ions at t he prom The hidden
curriculum of policing similarly is a function of
how people a re t reated i n i nteract ions a nd t he
ways in which groups derive meaning regarding
t heir status in t he eyes of legal aut horit y result ing
f r o m t h at t r e a t m e n t To o of t e n t he h id d e n
curriculum of policing strateg ies sends certain
cit izens clear signals t hat they are members of a
special dangerous and undesirable class mdash t he
m ir ror image of t he posit ive over t cur r icu lum
People do not necessa r i ly lea r n t hese lessons
W hat is learned depends i n pa r t on t he deg ree
and frequency of exposure and on indiv idual and
com mu nit y resilience A s Just ice a nd Meares
note
[T]he hidde n c ur r ic u lum f lour i s he s
i n t hose contex ts where democrac y is
d i s l o c a t e d I n h i g h -p er fo r m i n g
publ ic a nd pr i v at e s c ho ol s t e ac her s
a n d s t u de nt s w or k t o g e t he r t o w a rd
c om mon goa l s t hat honor t he s oc ia l
c o n t r a c t b e t w e e n t he s c h o ol t he
student the family and t he communit y
punishment is appropr iate and mercif ul
a nd of fers forg iveness i nter per sona l
i nter ac t ion s enc ou r age suc c e s s a nd
rea f f i r m belong i ng t r u st i s endem ic
Remove t he confluence of interests t he
accountabilit y of those w ith aut horit y to
those under it the fundamental sense of
legit imacy and t he hidden cur riculum
eats away at the over t47
Rightful Policing | 13
Com m it ment to r ig ht f ul policing can help but
executives cannot be sanguine about its potential
impact The approach requires broadly conceived
a nd c oord i n ate d ef for t s a mon g a v a r ie t y of
c o n t e x t s mdash c r i m e r e d u c t i o n c o m m u n i t y
relations and importantly internal discipline48
mdash to effect real change
Endnotes
1 See Nicholas Gra ham Obama on Skip Gates
Arrest Police Acted ldquoSt upidlyrdquo Hu ffi ngt on
Post Aug 22 2009 httpw w whuffi ngtonpost
c o m 2 0 0 9 0 7 2 2 o b a m a - o n - s k i p - g a t e s -
arres_n_243250ht ml (last v isited Nov 13 2014)
2 Rachel A Harmon The Problem of Policing 110
Mich L Rev 761 (2011)
3 Christopher Stone amp Jerem y Tr avis Toward
a Ne w Professiona l ism in Policing (2 011)
httpw w wnijgovpubs-sum232359htm (last
v isited Nov 13 2014)
4 Dav id H Bay ley Police for the Fu tur e 3
(1994)
5 For one e x a m p l e c r i t ic i z i n g t he p ol ic e -
law f ulness tradeoff consider t he discussion by
Meares and Kahan of the legal struggle regarding
searches for g uns in Chicago public housing See
Tr acey L Me a r es amp Da n M K a h a n Urgen t
T i m es Pol ici ng a n d R igh ts i n I n n er Ci t y
Communities (1999)
6 See id at 18ndash22
7 Stone amp Tr avis supra note 3 at 1 (noting that
accountabilit y is a critical aspect of what t hey call
t he ldquonew professionalismrdquo along w ith legitimac y
innovat ion and nat iona l coherence)
8 See id at 12 (ldquoThe best chiefs speak confident ly
about lsquot he t h ree Crsquos cr ime cost and conduct
Police departments today are accountable for all
t hreerdquo)
9 Id at 12ndash15
10 See A n t hon y Br aga amp Dav id Weisbu r d
Policing Problem Pl aces Cr ime Hot Spots
and Effective Prevention (2010)
11 See National Research Council Fair ness
and Effectiveness in Policing The Evidence
297 (Wesley Skogan amp Kathleen Fr ydl eds 2004)
A nt hony A Braga Bra ndon C Wel sh amp Cor y
Schnel l Can Policing Disorder Reduce Crime
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis J R es
Cr i m e amp D e l i nq (For t hc om i n g ) A n t hon y
A Br aga Probl em-Or ien ted Policing a n d
Crime Prevention (2d ed 2008)
12 See Tra nscr ipt Bloomberg Vows to Appeal
Fed eral Judgersquos Ruling Th at Stop -and-F ri sk
Policy Violated Civil Rights in Press Conference
NY Da i ly Ne ws Aug 12 20 03 ht t pw w w
nyd a i l y ne w scomne w spol it ic s bloomber g-
vow s-appea l-fe der a l-judge-r u l i ng-stop-stop-
and-f r isk-pol ic y-ar t icle-11424630 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014) John Eterno amp Eli Silverman Mike
Bloombergrsquos Fact-Free Defence of Stop-and-Frisk
14 | New Perspectives in Policing
T h e Gua rdi an S e pt 11 2 013 ht t pw w w
t heguardiancomcommentisfree2013sep11
stop-a nd-f r isk-m ichael-bloomberg (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
13 See Tracey L Meares amp Dan M Kahan Law
and (Norms of) Order in Inner Cit y 32 L aw amp Socrsquoy
Rev 805 830ndash32 (1998) (discussing communit y
empowerment through law enforcement)
14 Tr acey L Mear es et al Lawful or Fair
How Cops and L aypeople View Good Policing
(Social Science Research Net work) (2012) http
papersssrncomabst ract=2116645 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
15 See Tom R Tyler amp Jeffrey Fagan Legitimacy
and Cooperation Why Do People Help the Police
Fight Cr ime in Their Communit ies 6 O h io
St J Cr i m L 231 262 (20 08) Tom R Ty ler amp
Cher yl Wakslak Profiling and Police Legitimacy
Procedural Justice Attributions of Motive and
Acceptance of Police Authority 42 Cr iminology
253 255 (2004) Tom R T yler Trust in the Law
Encour aging Public Cooper ation With the
Police and Courts (2002) Ray mond Paternoster
et a l Do Fair Procedures Matter The Effect of
Procedural Justice on Spouse Assault 31 L aw amp
Socrsquoy R ev 163 (1997)
16 See Tom R Tyler Enhancing Police Legitimacy
593 A nnals A m Aca d Pol amp Soc Sci 84 94
(2004)
17 See id
18 National Research Council supra note 11
at 297
19 See generally L egi t i m ac y a n d Cr im ina l
Justice International Perspectiv es (A nt hony
Braga et al eds 2007) (exploring the impact of
percept ions of leg it i mac y i n c r i m i na l just ice
systems across t he globe)
20 Tom R T y ler Wh y People Obey the L aw
(repr i nt 2006)
21 See Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing
the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing
and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54
Wm amp Mary L Rev 1865 1879 (2012) (prov iding
this illust rative fig ure)
22 See eg Tracey L Meares Inaugural Barrock
Lecture on Criminal Law The Legitimacy of Police
Among Young Af rican American Men 92 M a rq L
R ev 651 (2009)
23 See A ndrew V Papachristos Tracey L Meares
amp Jef f re y Faga n Attention Felons Evaluating
P roje ct S afe Ne ighb orh oo d s in Chi c ag o 4 J
Empirical Legal Stud 223 (2007)
24 Lorraine Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice
Rout ine Enc ounters an d Cit izen Perc ept ion s
of Police Main Findings f rom the Queensland
C o m m un i t y E n g ag e m e n t Tr i a l (Q C ET) 8
J E x pe r i m e n ta l C r i m i nol o g y 3 4 3 (2 01 2)
[hereinafter Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice]
L o r r a i ne M a z er o l le e t a l Sh aping C it i z en
Perceptions of Police Legitimacy A Randomized
Field Trial of Procedural Justice 51 Criminology
33 (2013) [herei na f ter Ma zerol le et a l Shaping
Citizen Perceptions]
Right ful Policing | 15
25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra
note 24
2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3
(describing the federal initiative)
27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on
Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip
J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)
(evaluating Project Ex ile)
28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and
C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he
P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)
(describing the inter vention) For an analysis
of the crime control impacts of this and similar
prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L
Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence
Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res
Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)
29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223
30 See id at 258ndash59
31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l
Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t
of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on
R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s
(Social Science Research Network 2013) http
papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited
Nov 13 2014)
32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t
Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey
Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y
Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing
Paper Series No 8 2011)
33 See id at 7
34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice
Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home
Secrsquoy 2011)
3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op
Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of
Toronto Press 2003)
36 See Neyroud supra note 34
37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful
Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them
Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9
2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-
policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)
38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training
Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)
h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _
Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair
F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r
M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice
T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port
(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs
college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y
Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce
C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
4 | New Perspectives in Policing
in turn are usually described using t he same set of
tools mdash t he architecture of law and rights
T h i n k i ng about pol ice law f u l ness i n ter ms of a
tradeoff bet ween the risk of arbit rar y or oppressive
enforcement a nd a n i nd iv idua lrsquos r ig ht to pr ivac y
a nd autonomy is a dom i na nt approach i n t he
literat ure5 Those who measure good policing w it h
reference to its law f ulness do not usually focus on
police effectiveness at reducing crime Rat her t he
law fulness met ric almost always casts police power
as a necessar y ev il as opposed to a welcome utilit y
or a potentially crit ical mechanism for empowering
communities to pursue t heir ow n democratica lly
chosen goals and projects According to t he ldquomore
law fulnessrdquo view police adherence to strict dictates
that constrain their discretion generally results in
less policing and more libert y for indiv iduals The
h ig her level of cr i me t hat m ig ht resu lt f rom less
pol ic i ng is si mply a pr ice c it i z ens pay for more
freedom in societ y6
Police executives who are committed to lowering
cr i me rates i n t hei r com mu n it ies do not ag ree
t hat less polici ng is an idea l t hey shou ld seek to
ach ieve In pu rsuit of accountabi lit y one of t he
fou r c or ner s tone s of t he ne w profes s iona l i sm
advocated by Stone a nd Trav i s7 mdash t he pr i ma r y
c omponent s of w h ich i nclude reduc i ng cr i me
a nd m a k i n g c om mu n it i e s s a f er c o n t r o l l i n g
cost s a nd conduc t i ng t hem selves w it h respec t
toward t he public whom they ser ve8 mdash police have
become much more concerned w it h effect iveness
consider i ng com m it ment to cr i me reduc t ion a
prime aspect of accountabilit y9 The quest ion is no
longer whether or not police can make a difference
Pol ic e exec ut ives i n stead ask ldquoHow much of a
difference i n cr i me rates ca n police ma kerdquo The
new literature on t he relationship bet ween crime
rates and policing is voluminous Criminological
research over the last couple of decades has show n
t hat deploy i ng pol ic e forces i n geog raph ic a l ly
fo c u s e d w a y s mdash ldquo hot s p ot p ol ic i n g rdquo mdash c a n
significantly reduce crime w ithout displacing it to
ot her a reas10 Ot her scholars have demonst rated
t hat st rategies such as problem-oriented policing
and communit y policing can be usef ul to address
crime andor t he fear of crime11 The advances in
statistical approaches are strik ing and useful but a
weak ness of the scholarship on police effectiveness
is t hat law fulness is largely irrelevant to it
Those who promote success at cr ime fight ing as
the best way to assess police effect iveness too of ten
fa i l to u nderst a nd t hat pol ice fa i lu re to ad here
to law is a proper lens t h roug h wh ich to v ie w
public perception of overbroad policing mdash in the
form of too-preva lent stop a nd f r isk w idespread
publ ic su r vei l la nce or ot her ever yday pol ic ies
a nd pract ices Com ments by bot h for mer Mayor
Bloomberg and former Police Commissioner Ray
Kelly in reaction to the federal court order strik ing
dow n New York Cit yrsquos prominent stop question and
frisk practice illustrate this attitude on the part of
pol ice agenc ies a nd publ ic of f icia ls Fol low i ng
Dist r ict Judge Sh i ra Sheind linrsquos order decla ring
t he pract ice in v iolat ion of bot h t he Fou r t h and
Fou r teent h A mend ment s as it operated at t he
t ime t he order was issued Bloomberg a nd Kel ly
cla i med t hat t he judge had imper iled t he cit y rsquos
safet y by limiting liberal use of the practice12 On
t he other hand t hose who promote law f ulness as
t he best met r ic to assess good polici ng too of ten
Rightful Policing | 5
ignore t he fact that crime and predation among
i nd iv idua ls resu lt i n sig n ificant ly less f reedom
for residents of hig h-cr ime commu nit ies even
though private actors impose that constraint on
f reedom Residents of high-crime com munit ies
of ten see hig her levels of polici ng as a way to
achieve freedom as opposed to its const raint13
Rightful policing is attentive to both law fulness
a nd ef fec t iveness a nd it capt u res i mpor t a nt
d i mensions t hat neit her one of t he prev a lent
modes of evaluation does The notion of rightful
policing also includes a critique of a ldquoget-toughrdquo
approach to law enforcement which uses as its
principa l touchstone inst r u menta l t heor ies of
deterrence Deterrence w ithout t he balance of a
focus on legitimacy can be effective but its effects
often are shor t-lived and expensive to implement
Moreover c om m it ment to some met hods of
achieving deterrence such as stop and frisk can
predictably back fi re in communities that need
crime reduction most There is also strong reason
to believe that many heav y deterrence strategies
a re not pa r t ic u la rly ef fec t ive i n encou rag i ng
offenders to desist from crime
Rightful Policing Itrsquos About Legitimacy
Pol ice ac t ions such as stops a nd f r isks can be
costly even when they are law f ul constitutional
and short People do not automatically approve
of a stop just because an officer is legally entitled
to ma ke one T h i s rea l it y c r y st a l l i z es a ba sic
problem w it h foc u si ng on law f u l ness as t he
s i ng le y a rd s t ic k for r ig ht f u l p ol ic e c onduc t
Indeed research I have conducted w ith Tom Tyler
suggests t hat the public does not recognize law ful
police conduct when t hey see it14
If people do not focus on the law fulness of police
conduct what do t hey care about A lt houg h it
seems counterintuitive decades of research show
that people t y pically care much more about how
law enforcement agents t reat t hem t ha n about
t he outcome of t he contact Even when people
receive a negative outcome in an encounter such
as a speedi ng t icket t hey feel bet ter about t hat
incident t ha n about a n i ncident in which t hey
do not receive a t icket but a re t reated poorly15
I n add it ion to bei ng t reated w it h d ig n it y a nd
respect research demonstrates that people look
for behav ioral signals that allow t hem to assess
w het her a pol ice of f ic errsquos decision to stop or
arrest t hem was made fairly mdash that is accurately
and w it hout bias These t wo factors mdash qua l it y
of t reat ment a nd i nd icat ion s of h ig h-qua l it y
decision-mak ing mdash matter much more to people
than t he outcome of the encounter
Two add it iona l fac tors mat ter as wel l People
report higher levels of satisfaction in encounters
w it h aut hor it ies i f t he y feel t hat t he y have a n
opportunit y to explain t heir situation and t heir
perspective on it mdash ie to tell t heir stor y16 Fina lly
in t heir interactions w it h police people want to
believe t hat aut horities are acting out of a sense
of benevolence toward them They want to believe
that the aut horitiesrsquo mot ives are sincere and well-
intentioned and t hat the aut horities are t r y ing to
respond to peoplersquos concerns17 A ll four of these
factors mdash qualit y of treatment decision-mak ing
fa i r ness voic e a nd ex pec tat ion of benevolent
6 | New Perspectives in Policing
t reat ment mdash ma ke up what psycholog ists ca l l
ldquoprocedural justicerdquo
Procedura l just ice matters a g reat dea l in civ i l
societ y One impor ta nt consequence of peoplersquos
percept ions of procedural fairness according to
t hese ter ms is t hat t hey lead to popu lar beliefs
of leg it i mac y W hen soc ia l ps ycholog ist s use
t he ter m ldquoleg it i mac yrdquo t he y a re refer r i ng to a
ldquoproper t y t hat a r u le or a n aut hor it y has when
others feel obligated to voluntarily defer to that
r ule or aut hor it y A leg it imate aut horit y is one t hat
is regarded by people as entitled to have its rules
and decisions accepted and followed by ot hersrdquo18
Th is concept ion of leg it imac y is not normat ive
W hen ps ycholog i st s d i s c u ss leg it i mac y t he y
a re not ex plor ing in some philosophica l sense
whet her people ought to defer to legal aut horities
rather t hey are seek ing to determine whether in
fact people do defer Their approach is positive
a nd empi r ic a l T hu s when resea rchers have
soug ht to determ i ne why people obey t he law
t he leg it i mac y-based ex pla nat ion is d ist i nc t
f rom a n ex pla nat ion g rou nded i n fea r i ng t he
consequences of fa il ing to do so a nd f rom one
grounded in moralit y W hen people voluntarily
comply w ith rules and laws because they believe
aut hor it ies h av e t he r ig ht to d ic t ate pr op er
behav ior their compliance is leg itimacy-based
R ightf ul policing leverages t hese ideas
A robust body of socia l science ev idence f rom
around t he world shows t hat people are likelier
to obey t he law when t hey believe that authorities
have the right to tell t hem what to do19 Research
shows that people are mot ivated more to comply
w it h t he law by t he bel ief t hat t he y a re bei ng
t reated w it h d ig n it y a nd fair ness t ha n by fear
of pu n i sh ment I n fac t bei ng t reated fa i rly is
a more i mpor ta nt determ i na nt of compl ia nce
t han formal deterrence20 W hen police generate
good feelings in t heir ever yday contacts people
a re mot ivated to help t hem f ight cr i me A ll of
t his encourages desistance from offending law-
abiding and assistance to the police contributing
to lower crime rates
A lthough police are conceived and constituted by
and t hrough law focusing on t he law fulness of
police conduct can obscure onersquos abilit y to ident if y
and remedy policing behavior that t he public may
wel l v iew as problemat ic It is i mpor ta nt to see
t hat alt hough procedural justice can be related to
t he law fulness or legalit y of police conduct t hese
t wo va lences do not proceed in lock step One
way of t hink ing how t hese valences relate to one
anot her is to imagine points on a compass (see
figure) If we array law f ulness from west to east
w it h law f ulness to the east and unlaw fulness to
t he west t hen we wou ld ex pect police to be as
fa r east as possible Now imag i ne procedu ra l
just ice or legitimacy as r unning nort h and south
on the compass W hen police are respectf ul and
procedurally just they are headed nort h W hen
t he y a re not t hat behav ior i s c ategor i zed as
ldquorunning southrdquo Putting t he t wo parts toget her
one sees that t he best place for law enforcement
to be is in the northeast21 That is where one fi nds
rightful policing
Th is image however also reveals the sout heast
and t he northwest A primar y problem w it h street
pol icing i n urba n cit ies such as New York a nd
Chicago and i n many commu nit ies across t he
Rightful Policing | 7
justice in encounters can change public Figure Rightful Policing as the Convergence of Lawfulness and Legitimacy
W
perceptions of policing agencies leading
N to lack of t r ust i l l-w i l l and u lt imately
Legitimacy less law-abiding22 Considering both the
law fulness and the legitimacy of police Rightful conduct allows both the police officer and Policing
the citizen stopped to be right in a way
that is not possible when one operates in Lawfulness E the single dimension of lawfulness The
possibility of both sides being right can
lead to fruit ful conversat ion about the
rightfulness of policing
Putting Legitimacy to Work S
T his arg u ment ra ises t he quest ion for Source Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54 Wm amp mary L rev 1865 police of how t hey can put t hese ideas 1879 (2012)
into practice A focus on the procedural
globe is that too often such policing comprises
behavior I would locate in the southeast police
conduc t t hat is ver y l i kely law f u l but t hat
citizens in many encounters perceive as deeply
illegitimate using t he term as defined here In
t he f ig ure for example if one ask s a law yer
what const it utes racia l prof i l ing t hat person
t y pic a l l y w i l l a ns wer ldquoIt is pol ice behav ior
solely or perhaps partially motivated by racerdquo
however t he rev iew earlier in this essay of t he
events connected to Professor Gatesrsquos arrest in
the summer of 2009 should make clear that many
who believe themselves to have been profiled
care little about the legal determinants of their
encounters with police
T he bot tom l i ne i s c lea r r eg a rd le s s of t he
lawfulness of police behavior lack of procedural
justice of encounters can help policing
a ge nc i e s id e nt i f y b e h a v ior t a c t i c s
and strateg ies that many members of minorit y
communities find problematic and that lead to
disaffection even t hough t hey may be law f ul
and considered in isolat ion appear effective
Second a focus on t he psycholog ica l aspects
of leg it i mac y i n i nd iv idua l enc ou nters may
have i mpor ta nt cr i me cont rol benef its when
incor porated into tact ics a nd st rateg ies Two
case studies illustrate this The first is a strateg y
for v iolence reduction in Chicago Illinois which
has been running since 200223 The second is an
experiment conducted in Queensland Australia
on road traffic enforcement24 I have deliberately
chosen t wo ver y dif ferent examples to show
that legitimacy-based approaches have a wide
application across different aspects of the police
8 | New Perspectives in Policing
mission These t wo initiatives however are not
unique Lorraine Mazerolle and her colleag ues
recent ly completed a meta-analysis of legitimac y
policing inter vent ions and concluded that ldquopolice
can achieve positive changes in citizen attitudes
to pol ice t hroug h adopt i ng procedu ra l just ice
d ia log ue as a component pa r t of a ny t y pe of
police inter ventionrdquo25
W hen t he Chicago init iat ive sta r ted t he cit y rsquos
hom ic ide r at e hovere d ne a r 2 2 p er 10 00 0 0
Crime is often concentrated by geography and
i n C h ic a go t he nei g hb or hood s on t he c it y rsquos
west a nd sout h sides drove t he cit y rsquos hom icide
rate The h ig hest crime a rea on t he west had a
hom ic ide rate of 72 per 10 00 0 0 Usi ng f u nd s
prov ided by a billion-dollar nationw ide federal
initiative to combat g un crime called Project Safe
Neighborhoods (PSN)26 United States Attorney
Patrick Fitzgerald proposed a strateg y modeled
a f t e r P r oje c t E x i l e i n R ic h mo n d V i r g i n i a
target ing ex-offenders i n t he h ig h-cr i me a reas
w it h federa l pena lt ies for g u n possession a nd
ot her g u n of fenses Fi zgera ld bel ieved f rom
crime analysis t hat ex-offenders were primarily
responsible for the gun v iolence in Chicago This
approach is entirely consistent w it h the t y pical
ldquoget-toughrdquo deterrence-based t hin k ing around
crime control mdash a crackdow n on potent ially high-
harm offenders27
In dev ising t he pa r t icu la rs of t he st rateg y t he
programrsquos architects suggested to t he task force
that t he proposed strateg y should be w rapped in
t he t heor y of leg it imac y The resu lta nt st rateg y
wou ld st i l l t a r get t he g roup t he US At tor ney
t houg ht most v ulnerable to g u n offendi ng but
the communication strateg y to t his group would
emphasize aspects that research indicated clearly
most people care about when determining that
law enforcement is fair A lthough offenders would
be broug ht in a nd a ler ted to t he consequences
that would follow should they pick up a g un they
would also receive information about ser v ices to
help t hem turn away from a life of crime
Modeled after Operation Ceasefi re in Boston28
hour-long roundtable-st yle meetings were the
center piece of t he new st rateg y Each of t hese
for ums gathered no more than 20 offenders who
sat around a table w ith representat ives from state
and local law enforcement and the communit y
Instead of simply confronting the offenders w it h
t he pu n it ive con sequences of t hei r behav ior
emph a si s w a s pl ac e d on t he qu a l it y of t he
interact ion mdash less a t ribunal and more a dialogue
bet ween citizens mdash and the potential rewards of
law-abiding which is consistent w ith attempting
to achieve legit imac y-based compliance
Legit imacy-based law enforcement focuses more
on persuasion t ha n punish ment To persuade
aut hor it ies mu st create t he nec essa r y soc ia l
capital t hat engenders trust bet ween governors
and t he governed Simply emphasizing rewards
and punishments does not automatically lead to
t r ust because such a n approach assumes t hat
a l l i ndiv idua ls ca re about is t he bot tom line mdash
an assumption t hat is contrar y to t he t heor y of
procedural justice and much empirical ev idence
The notion that compliance is t y pically created
on l y by t h reat s of c o er c ion bac k e d up w it h
Rightful Policing | 9
punishment is f undamenta l ly inconsistent w it h
trust for such a stance assumes t hat indiv iduals
cannot be counted on to defer to and comply w ith
the law voluntarily
St at i s t ic a l a s s e s s ment s of t he i mp ac t of t he
Ch icago prog ra m a re st r i k i ng Papach r istos
Me a r e s a n d Fa g a n a s s e s s e d t h e i m p a c t o f
Chicagorsquos forums on neighborhood-level crime
rates and g un violence compared w ith the impact
of t hree other components of PSN mdash increased
federal prosecut ions for conv icted felons carr ying
or using g uns the imposition of longer sentences
associated w it h federa l prosecut ions a nd t he
removal of guns from t he street29 Their analysis
demon s t r at e s t hat a lt hou g h a l l t e s t ed P SN
initiatives were associated w it h a decrease in t he
homicide rate the forums had t he largest effect
Compa r i ng t he relat ive ef fec t s of t he for u ms
and federal g un prosecutions shows that a unit
increase in forum participation (or approx imately
45 new offenders) among t hose eligible is roughly
85 t imes more powerful than a unit increase in
federal prosecutions in reducing homicide rates30
Furt her research suggests that the forums make
a difference at an individual level as well Those
who at tended were sig n ifica nt ly more li kely to
stay out of prison t han those who did not all other
things being equal31
I n t he second e x a mple I sh i f t f rom t ac k l i ng
s er iou s i n ner-c it y v iolenc e t o t he re duc t ion
of ro ad deat h s b y t r a f f ic en forc ement T he
Q ueen s l a nd C om mu n it y E nga gement Tr ia l
(QCET)32 used a randomized field trial to test the
appl icat ion of leg it i mac y i n how Queensla nd
police enforced t he drink driv ing laws
P o l ic e of f ic er s ac r o s s A u s t r a l i a ad m i n i s t er
t hou s a n d s of b r e a t h t e s t s t o d r i v er s u n der
leg islat ion t hat empowers t hem to ca r r y out
r a ndo m r o ad s id e b r e at h-t e s t i n g T he t e s t s
tend to be ad min istered at test sites ident i fied
a s hot sp ot s of d r i n k d r i v i n g a nd c ol l i s ion s
causing serious injur y These police actions are
justifiable as bot h legal and evidence-based The
researchers at t he Australian Research Council
Cent re of Excellence in Policing and Securit y in
partnership w it h Queensland police set out to
see whet her t hey could significant ly enhance the
impact of t he test ing reg ime so that t he testing
not only checked for alcohol on the driverrsquos breath
but also increased public confidence in t he police
and support for the enforcement of drink driv ing
legislat ion
I n Q C E T t he t e s t i n g s i t e s w e r e r a ndom l y
allocated either to a cont rol mdash t he standard police
procedure mdash or to a ldquolegitimacy treatmentrdquo In t he
cont rol drivers were stopped given a short legal
wa rn ing a nd required to prov ide a breat h test
The legal minimum process and time were taken
to prov ide a test In contrast in t he ldquolegitimacy
treatmentrdquo t he drivers were taken through a five-
stage procedure t hat emphasized five dimensions
of procedu ra l just ice dec i sion neut ra l it y to
ex plain that t hose drivers stopped had not been
singled out but that t he test was being prov ided
to dr ivers at ra ndom t r ust wor t hy mot ives to
prov ide context about the reasons for the test site
and t he testing campaign cit izen participation
includ ing cri me prevent ion adv ice a nd deta i ls
of loca l Cr i mestopper s nu mber s red ress a nd
feedback or an opportunit y to raise any issues of
10 | New Perspectives in Policing
concern and dignity and respect which included
thanks to the drivers for their cooperation
There was a ver y small difference in the t ime
taken for the two approaches (around a minute
ex t ra for t he leg it i mac y t reat ment) yet t he
dr iversrsquo percept ions of t he process were ver y
different Drivers who experienced the legitimacy
t reat ment ldquore por te d s ig n i f ic a nt l y s t ronger
generalized perceptions of police fairness police
respect [a nd] hig her sat isfact ionrdquo w it h how
police do their job33 The caveat on these interim
findings is t hat researchers could not see from
this trial a w ider increase in t he respondentsrsquo
genera l con f idence i n t he pol ice or a w ider
tendency toward compliance with the law Given
that the encounter even in the longer legitimacy
treatment only lasted 1 minute and 37 seconds
this may not be surprising However the study
sug gest s t hat t he deploy ment of leg it i mac y
approaches in day-to-day police interactions with
citizens can have a significant and measurable
benefit over an approach t hat simply relies on
the letter of the law It also makes the point that
such approaches a re not on ly releva nt i n t he
critically difficult relationships between police
and minorit y communities but should also be
considered as an important part of wider police
operations
Conclusions and Implications for Policing
If legitimacy is as impor tant as I have argued
t hen it ra ises t he quest ions of how t he police
should incorporate this approach and what the
obstacles are to implementation I think we can
make progress on answering these questions by
considering three issues
Training M u c h p o l i c e t r a i n i n g d e s p i t e
improvements over t he last 20 yea rs retains
a st rong bias i n favor of lea r n i ng t he r u les
particularly legislat ion procedure (especially
c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c r i m i n a l p r o c e d u r e) a n d
depar tmental policies Such training does not
apply only at the initial recruitment phase In the
United Kingdom for example the key gateway for
promotion for all first-line managers is to pass a
set of examinations in the law and procedures
for cr ime roads policing genera l dut ies and
ev idence and procedure34 This k ind of reliance
on law and procedure as t he qualificat ion for
recr uits a nd ma nagers is t y pica l across most
jurisdictions As Janet Chan and her colleagues
show procedurallegal training is now frequently
suppor ted by prog ra ms to add ress behav iors
a nd prac t ic a l sk i l ls but a l most ne ver by a n
educational approach that provides officers with
the means and material to understand the social
science ev idence for what works in policing or
how approaches such as legitimac y make t heir
practice more effective35 Indeed Chan and her
colleag ues demonstrate how t he legal valence
of f ront line cu lt ure can u nder mi ne even t he
attempts to inject some ldquosocial contex trdquo Peter
Ne y r oud ha s re c om mende d a muc h more
fundamental shift in the framework of training
for recr u its specia l ists a nd managers so t hat
police training in the United Kingdom would be
governed by a new professional body and start
with a prequalification that emphasizes learning
about ev idence-based practice36 Without such a
Right ful Policing | 11
radical shift it seems likely from studies like that
of Chan and colleagues that police training will
continue to underpin a legalistic way of think ing
about problems and t heir solutions There are
promising signs of change however Chicago
Pol ic e Super i ntendent Ga r r y Mc Ca r t hy ha s
instituted a day-long training in police legitimacy
and racial reconciliation for the entire force To
date more than 8000 officers and leaders have
been trained37 Early assessments of the program
are extremely positive38 In the United Kingdom
extensive practical training on procedural justice
in pa r t icu la r sit uat ions is a lso becomi ng t he
norm39
Strategies and tactics Too often compelled by
the ever-present demand to bring crime statistics
down (especially in big cities) police executives
foc us on st rateg ies a nd tac t ics desig ned to
reduce violence in too-cramped ways If this is
r ig ht t hen pol ice execut ives shou ld consider
problem-solving in more holistic ways that w ill
y ield approaches t hat a re desig ned not on ly
to quel l v iolence but a lso to en ha nce sa fet y
by changing t he att itudes and disposit ions of
those alienated from them in ways that sustain
voluntar y compliance I have in mind here hot
spot policing that is not only deterrence-based but
also legitimacy-based Braga Welsh and Schnell
recently found in a rev iew of broken w indows
pol ici ng st rateg ies a dist inct brea k bet ween
t he ef fec t iveness of ag g ressive deter renc e-
focused broken w indows approaches such as
stop and frisk in New York Cit y and other more
leg it i mac y-based approaches Only t he lat ter
group produced large and statistically significant
impacts on crime40 Moreover commitment to
legit imacy can also help police increase safet y
and by implication quell violence at the incident
level by encouraging officers to engage in tactics
that defuse violent incidents41
Democracy and communit y participation I agree
w it h Loader when he notes t hat ldquoT he pol ice
in shor t are bot h m i nders a nd reminders of
community mdash a producer of significant messages
about t he k i nd of place t hat com mu nit y is or
aspires to berdquo42 Policing makes communit y It is
no accident that an iconic symbol of England itself
is the Bobbyrsquos hat43 In the United States policingrsquos
symbolic valence is not so positive At least one
scholar has located t he genesis of A mer ica n
policing not in the benevolent image of a kindly
communit y protector but in t he more sinister
for m of t he slave pat rol ler44 T he procedu ra l
justice literature rev iewed above makes clear
the ways in which this dark histor y can and likely
does undermine trust in police in the modern era
And yet this same literature provides a roadmap
for a more posit ive relat ionsh ip t hat not only
benefits those who need help from the police but
also potentially supports t heir par t icipation in
democratically led government It is important
for people to feel t hat if t hey call on t he police
(a nd ot her lega l actors a nd inst it ut ions) not
only w ill t heir securit y be protected but t hey
w i l l a lso be t reated w it h respect t hei r r ig hts
w ill be recognized and they w ill be subject to
fair decision-making The fact that most people
i n a com mu nit y ra rely ca ll on t he pol ice for
ser v ices does not change this because police
and other legal actors are in the background in
12 | New Perspec tives in Policing
ever y communit y and shape what people t hink
feel and do People want to feel comfort not fear
when the police are present and to anticipate that
they w ill receive help and professional t reatment
when they need it W hen they do t hey become
invested in the communities in which t hey live
Research on popular legitimacy to which police
contribute suggests t hat when people evaluate
t hei r pol ice a nd cou r t s ystems as procedura l ly
fair t hey identif y more w it h their communities
and engage in them socially by trust ing neighbors
p ol i t ic a l l y b y v o t i n g a nd e c onom ic a l l y b y
shoppi ng a nd goi ng to enter t a i n ment venues
within that communit y45
Police play a critical role in teaching the people
w it h whom t hey interact (and t hose who obser ve
t hose interactions) what it means to be a citizen46
Writing recently in t he Annals Justice and Meares
a rg ue t hat t he cr i mi na l just ice system offers a
cu r ricu lum of lessons on what it mea ns to be
a cit i zen much as public schools do The over t
cu r r icu lu m of policing fou nd most obv iously
in t he tex t of t he Un ited States Const it ut ion is
designed to convey concern for rights Peoplersquos
i nt er e s t s i n a u t o n om y p r i v a c y a n d b o d i l y
integrit y ought not to be subject to the whim of
an indiv idual police officer We are a government
of laws designed to restrain state power against
t he indiv idual Education theorists explain t hat a
hidden curriculum is often taught alongside the
over t cu rr icu lu m t y pica l ly fou nd in tex tbook s
a nd of f ic i a l r ubr ic s I n sc ho ol s t he h idden
curriculum may be found in adultstudent and
studentst udent interact ions in t he enforcement
of school discipli ne policies a nd behav ior codes
in the deeply buried assumptions and narratives
of h i s t or y t e x tbo ok s i n a s c hoolrsquos c hoic e of
mascot in who gets to sit where in the cafeteria or
in t he musical select ions at t he prom The hidden
curriculum of policing similarly is a function of
how people a re t reated i n i nteract ions a nd t he
ways in which groups derive meaning regarding
t heir status in t he eyes of legal aut horit y result ing
f r o m t h at t r e a t m e n t To o of t e n t he h id d e n
curriculum of policing strateg ies sends certain
cit izens clear signals t hat they are members of a
special dangerous and undesirable class mdash t he
m ir ror image of t he posit ive over t cur r icu lum
People do not necessa r i ly lea r n t hese lessons
W hat is learned depends i n pa r t on t he deg ree
and frequency of exposure and on indiv idual and
com mu nit y resilience A s Just ice a nd Meares
note
[T]he hidde n c ur r ic u lum f lour i s he s
i n t hose contex ts where democrac y is
d i s l o c a t e d I n h i g h -p er fo r m i n g
publ ic a nd pr i v at e s c ho ol s t e ac her s
a n d s t u de nt s w or k t o g e t he r t o w a rd
c om mon goa l s t hat honor t he s oc ia l
c o n t r a c t b e t w e e n t he s c h o ol t he
student the family and t he communit y
punishment is appropr iate and mercif ul
a nd of fers forg iveness i nter per sona l
i nter ac t ion s enc ou r age suc c e s s a nd
rea f f i r m belong i ng t r u st i s endem ic
Remove t he confluence of interests t he
accountabilit y of those w ith aut horit y to
those under it the fundamental sense of
legit imacy and t he hidden cur riculum
eats away at the over t47
Rightful Policing | 13
Com m it ment to r ig ht f ul policing can help but
executives cannot be sanguine about its potential
impact The approach requires broadly conceived
a nd c oord i n ate d ef for t s a mon g a v a r ie t y of
c o n t e x t s mdash c r i m e r e d u c t i o n c o m m u n i t y
relations and importantly internal discipline48
mdash to effect real change
Endnotes
1 See Nicholas Gra ham Obama on Skip Gates
Arrest Police Acted ldquoSt upidlyrdquo Hu ffi ngt on
Post Aug 22 2009 httpw w whuffi ngtonpost
c o m 2 0 0 9 0 7 2 2 o b a m a - o n - s k i p - g a t e s -
arres_n_243250ht ml (last v isited Nov 13 2014)
2 Rachel A Harmon The Problem of Policing 110
Mich L Rev 761 (2011)
3 Christopher Stone amp Jerem y Tr avis Toward
a Ne w Professiona l ism in Policing (2 011)
httpw w wnijgovpubs-sum232359htm (last
v isited Nov 13 2014)
4 Dav id H Bay ley Police for the Fu tur e 3
(1994)
5 For one e x a m p l e c r i t ic i z i n g t he p ol ic e -
law f ulness tradeoff consider t he discussion by
Meares and Kahan of the legal struggle regarding
searches for g uns in Chicago public housing See
Tr acey L Me a r es amp Da n M K a h a n Urgen t
T i m es Pol ici ng a n d R igh ts i n I n n er Ci t y
Communities (1999)
6 See id at 18ndash22
7 Stone amp Tr avis supra note 3 at 1 (noting that
accountabilit y is a critical aspect of what t hey call
t he ldquonew professionalismrdquo along w ith legitimac y
innovat ion and nat iona l coherence)
8 See id at 12 (ldquoThe best chiefs speak confident ly
about lsquot he t h ree Crsquos cr ime cost and conduct
Police departments today are accountable for all
t hreerdquo)
9 Id at 12ndash15
10 See A n t hon y Br aga amp Dav id Weisbu r d
Policing Problem Pl aces Cr ime Hot Spots
and Effective Prevention (2010)
11 See National Research Council Fair ness
and Effectiveness in Policing The Evidence
297 (Wesley Skogan amp Kathleen Fr ydl eds 2004)
A nt hony A Braga Bra ndon C Wel sh amp Cor y
Schnel l Can Policing Disorder Reduce Crime
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis J R es
Cr i m e amp D e l i nq (For t hc om i n g ) A n t hon y
A Br aga Probl em-Or ien ted Policing a n d
Crime Prevention (2d ed 2008)
12 See Tra nscr ipt Bloomberg Vows to Appeal
Fed eral Judgersquos Ruling Th at Stop -and-F ri sk
Policy Violated Civil Rights in Press Conference
NY Da i ly Ne ws Aug 12 20 03 ht t pw w w
nyd a i l y ne w scomne w spol it ic s bloomber g-
vow s-appea l-fe der a l-judge-r u l i ng-stop-stop-
and-f r isk-pol ic y-ar t icle-11424630 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014) John Eterno amp Eli Silverman Mike
Bloombergrsquos Fact-Free Defence of Stop-and-Frisk
14 | New Perspectives in Policing
T h e Gua rdi an S e pt 11 2 013 ht t pw w w
t heguardiancomcommentisfree2013sep11
stop-a nd-f r isk-m ichael-bloomberg (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
13 See Tracey L Meares amp Dan M Kahan Law
and (Norms of) Order in Inner Cit y 32 L aw amp Socrsquoy
Rev 805 830ndash32 (1998) (discussing communit y
empowerment through law enforcement)
14 Tr acey L Mear es et al Lawful or Fair
How Cops and L aypeople View Good Policing
(Social Science Research Net work) (2012) http
papersssrncomabst ract=2116645 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
15 See Tom R Tyler amp Jeffrey Fagan Legitimacy
and Cooperation Why Do People Help the Police
Fight Cr ime in Their Communit ies 6 O h io
St J Cr i m L 231 262 (20 08) Tom R Ty ler amp
Cher yl Wakslak Profiling and Police Legitimacy
Procedural Justice Attributions of Motive and
Acceptance of Police Authority 42 Cr iminology
253 255 (2004) Tom R T yler Trust in the Law
Encour aging Public Cooper ation With the
Police and Courts (2002) Ray mond Paternoster
et a l Do Fair Procedures Matter The Effect of
Procedural Justice on Spouse Assault 31 L aw amp
Socrsquoy R ev 163 (1997)
16 See Tom R Tyler Enhancing Police Legitimacy
593 A nnals A m Aca d Pol amp Soc Sci 84 94
(2004)
17 See id
18 National Research Council supra note 11
at 297
19 See generally L egi t i m ac y a n d Cr im ina l
Justice International Perspectiv es (A nt hony
Braga et al eds 2007) (exploring the impact of
percept ions of leg it i mac y i n c r i m i na l just ice
systems across t he globe)
20 Tom R T y ler Wh y People Obey the L aw
(repr i nt 2006)
21 See Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing
the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing
and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54
Wm amp Mary L Rev 1865 1879 (2012) (prov iding
this illust rative fig ure)
22 See eg Tracey L Meares Inaugural Barrock
Lecture on Criminal Law The Legitimacy of Police
Among Young Af rican American Men 92 M a rq L
R ev 651 (2009)
23 See A ndrew V Papachristos Tracey L Meares
amp Jef f re y Faga n Attention Felons Evaluating
P roje ct S afe Ne ighb orh oo d s in Chi c ag o 4 J
Empirical Legal Stud 223 (2007)
24 Lorraine Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice
Rout ine Enc ounters an d Cit izen Perc ept ion s
of Police Main Findings f rom the Queensland
C o m m un i t y E n g ag e m e n t Tr i a l (Q C ET) 8
J E x pe r i m e n ta l C r i m i nol o g y 3 4 3 (2 01 2)
[hereinafter Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice]
L o r r a i ne M a z er o l le e t a l Sh aping C it i z en
Perceptions of Police Legitimacy A Randomized
Field Trial of Procedural Justice 51 Criminology
33 (2013) [herei na f ter Ma zerol le et a l Shaping
Citizen Perceptions]
Right ful Policing | 15
25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra
note 24
2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3
(describing the federal initiative)
27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on
Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip
J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)
(evaluating Project Ex ile)
28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and
C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he
P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)
(describing the inter vention) For an analysis
of the crime control impacts of this and similar
prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L
Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence
Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res
Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)
29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223
30 See id at 258ndash59
31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l
Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t
of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on
R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s
(Social Science Research Network 2013) http
papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited
Nov 13 2014)
32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t
Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey
Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y
Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing
Paper Series No 8 2011)
33 See id at 7
34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice
Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home
Secrsquoy 2011)
3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op
Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of
Toronto Press 2003)
36 See Neyroud supra note 34
37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful
Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them
Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9
2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-
policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)
38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training
Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)
h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _
Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair
F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r
M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice
T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port
(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs
college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y
Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce
C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
Rightful Policing | 5
ignore t he fact that crime and predation among
i nd iv idua ls resu lt i n sig n ificant ly less f reedom
for residents of hig h-cr ime commu nit ies even
though private actors impose that constraint on
f reedom Residents of high-crime com munit ies
of ten see hig her levels of polici ng as a way to
achieve freedom as opposed to its const raint13
Rightful policing is attentive to both law fulness
a nd ef fec t iveness a nd it capt u res i mpor t a nt
d i mensions t hat neit her one of t he prev a lent
modes of evaluation does The notion of rightful
policing also includes a critique of a ldquoget-toughrdquo
approach to law enforcement which uses as its
principa l touchstone inst r u menta l t heor ies of
deterrence Deterrence w ithout t he balance of a
focus on legitimacy can be effective but its effects
often are shor t-lived and expensive to implement
Moreover c om m it ment to some met hods of
achieving deterrence such as stop and frisk can
predictably back fi re in communities that need
crime reduction most There is also strong reason
to believe that many heav y deterrence strategies
a re not pa r t ic u la rly ef fec t ive i n encou rag i ng
offenders to desist from crime
Rightful Policing Itrsquos About Legitimacy
Pol ice ac t ions such as stops a nd f r isks can be
costly even when they are law f ul constitutional
and short People do not automatically approve
of a stop just because an officer is legally entitled
to ma ke one T h i s rea l it y c r y st a l l i z es a ba sic
problem w it h foc u si ng on law f u l ness as t he
s i ng le y a rd s t ic k for r ig ht f u l p ol ic e c onduc t
Indeed research I have conducted w ith Tom Tyler
suggests t hat the public does not recognize law ful
police conduct when t hey see it14
If people do not focus on the law fulness of police
conduct what do t hey care about A lt houg h it
seems counterintuitive decades of research show
that people t y pically care much more about how
law enforcement agents t reat t hem t ha n about
t he outcome of t he contact Even when people
receive a negative outcome in an encounter such
as a speedi ng t icket t hey feel bet ter about t hat
incident t ha n about a n i ncident in which t hey
do not receive a t icket but a re t reated poorly15
I n add it ion to bei ng t reated w it h d ig n it y a nd
respect research demonstrates that people look
for behav ioral signals that allow t hem to assess
w het her a pol ice of f ic errsquos decision to stop or
arrest t hem was made fairly mdash that is accurately
and w it hout bias These t wo factors mdash qua l it y
of t reat ment a nd i nd icat ion s of h ig h-qua l it y
decision-mak ing mdash matter much more to people
than t he outcome of the encounter
Two add it iona l fac tors mat ter as wel l People
report higher levels of satisfaction in encounters
w it h aut hor it ies i f t he y feel t hat t he y have a n
opportunit y to explain t heir situation and t heir
perspective on it mdash ie to tell t heir stor y16 Fina lly
in t heir interactions w it h police people want to
believe t hat aut horities are acting out of a sense
of benevolence toward them They want to believe
that the aut horitiesrsquo mot ives are sincere and well-
intentioned and t hat the aut horities are t r y ing to
respond to peoplersquos concerns17 A ll four of these
factors mdash qualit y of treatment decision-mak ing
fa i r ness voic e a nd ex pec tat ion of benevolent
6 | New Perspectives in Policing
t reat ment mdash ma ke up what psycholog ists ca l l
ldquoprocedural justicerdquo
Procedura l just ice matters a g reat dea l in civ i l
societ y One impor ta nt consequence of peoplersquos
percept ions of procedural fairness according to
t hese ter ms is t hat t hey lead to popu lar beliefs
of leg it i mac y W hen soc ia l ps ycholog ist s use
t he ter m ldquoleg it i mac yrdquo t he y a re refer r i ng to a
ldquoproper t y t hat a r u le or a n aut hor it y has when
others feel obligated to voluntarily defer to that
r ule or aut hor it y A leg it imate aut horit y is one t hat
is regarded by people as entitled to have its rules
and decisions accepted and followed by ot hersrdquo18
Th is concept ion of leg it imac y is not normat ive
W hen ps ycholog i st s d i s c u ss leg it i mac y t he y
a re not ex plor ing in some philosophica l sense
whet her people ought to defer to legal aut horities
rather t hey are seek ing to determine whether in
fact people do defer Their approach is positive
a nd empi r ic a l T hu s when resea rchers have
soug ht to determ i ne why people obey t he law
t he leg it i mac y-based ex pla nat ion is d ist i nc t
f rom a n ex pla nat ion g rou nded i n fea r i ng t he
consequences of fa il ing to do so a nd f rom one
grounded in moralit y W hen people voluntarily
comply w ith rules and laws because they believe
aut hor it ies h av e t he r ig ht to d ic t ate pr op er
behav ior their compliance is leg itimacy-based
R ightf ul policing leverages t hese ideas
A robust body of socia l science ev idence f rom
around t he world shows t hat people are likelier
to obey t he law when t hey believe that authorities
have the right to tell t hem what to do19 Research
shows that people are mot ivated more to comply
w it h t he law by t he bel ief t hat t he y a re bei ng
t reated w it h d ig n it y a nd fair ness t ha n by fear
of pu n i sh ment I n fac t bei ng t reated fa i rly is
a more i mpor ta nt determ i na nt of compl ia nce
t han formal deterrence20 W hen police generate
good feelings in t heir ever yday contacts people
a re mot ivated to help t hem f ight cr i me A ll of
t his encourages desistance from offending law-
abiding and assistance to the police contributing
to lower crime rates
A lthough police are conceived and constituted by
and t hrough law focusing on t he law fulness of
police conduct can obscure onersquos abilit y to ident if y
and remedy policing behavior that t he public may
wel l v iew as problemat ic It is i mpor ta nt to see
t hat alt hough procedural justice can be related to
t he law fulness or legalit y of police conduct t hese
t wo va lences do not proceed in lock step One
way of t hink ing how t hese valences relate to one
anot her is to imagine points on a compass (see
figure) If we array law f ulness from west to east
w it h law f ulness to the east and unlaw fulness to
t he west t hen we wou ld ex pect police to be as
fa r east as possible Now imag i ne procedu ra l
just ice or legitimacy as r unning nort h and south
on the compass W hen police are respectf ul and
procedurally just they are headed nort h W hen
t he y a re not t hat behav ior i s c ategor i zed as
ldquorunning southrdquo Putting t he t wo parts toget her
one sees that t he best place for law enforcement
to be is in the northeast21 That is where one fi nds
rightful policing
Th is image however also reveals the sout heast
and t he northwest A primar y problem w it h street
pol icing i n urba n cit ies such as New York a nd
Chicago and i n many commu nit ies across t he
Rightful Policing | 7
justice in encounters can change public Figure Rightful Policing as the Convergence of Lawfulness and Legitimacy
W
perceptions of policing agencies leading
N to lack of t r ust i l l-w i l l and u lt imately
Legitimacy less law-abiding22 Considering both the
law fulness and the legitimacy of police Rightful conduct allows both the police officer and Policing
the citizen stopped to be right in a way
that is not possible when one operates in Lawfulness E the single dimension of lawfulness The
possibility of both sides being right can
lead to fruit ful conversat ion about the
rightfulness of policing
Putting Legitimacy to Work S
T his arg u ment ra ises t he quest ion for Source Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54 Wm amp mary L rev 1865 police of how t hey can put t hese ideas 1879 (2012)
into practice A focus on the procedural
globe is that too often such policing comprises
behavior I would locate in the southeast police
conduc t t hat is ver y l i kely law f u l but t hat
citizens in many encounters perceive as deeply
illegitimate using t he term as defined here In
t he f ig ure for example if one ask s a law yer
what const it utes racia l prof i l ing t hat person
t y pic a l l y w i l l a ns wer ldquoIt is pol ice behav ior
solely or perhaps partially motivated by racerdquo
however t he rev iew earlier in this essay of t he
events connected to Professor Gatesrsquos arrest in
the summer of 2009 should make clear that many
who believe themselves to have been profiled
care little about the legal determinants of their
encounters with police
T he bot tom l i ne i s c lea r r eg a rd le s s of t he
lawfulness of police behavior lack of procedural
justice of encounters can help policing
a ge nc i e s id e nt i f y b e h a v ior t a c t i c s
and strateg ies that many members of minorit y
communities find problematic and that lead to
disaffection even t hough t hey may be law f ul
and considered in isolat ion appear effective
Second a focus on t he psycholog ica l aspects
of leg it i mac y i n i nd iv idua l enc ou nters may
have i mpor ta nt cr i me cont rol benef its when
incor porated into tact ics a nd st rateg ies Two
case studies illustrate this The first is a strateg y
for v iolence reduction in Chicago Illinois which
has been running since 200223 The second is an
experiment conducted in Queensland Australia
on road traffic enforcement24 I have deliberately
chosen t wo ver y dif ferent examples to show
that legitimacy-based approaches have a wide
application across different aspects of the police
8 | New Perspectives in Policing
mission These t wo initiatives however are not
unique Lorraine Mazerolle and her colleag ues
recent ly completed a meta-analysis of legitimac y
policing inter vent ions and concluded that ldquopolice
can achieve positive changes in citizen attitudes
to pol ice t hroug h adopt i ng procedu ra l just ice
d ia log ue as a component pa r t of a ny t y pe of
police inter ventionrdquo25
W hen t he Chicago init iat ive sta r ted t he cit y rsquos
hom ic ide r at e hovere d ne a r 2 2 p er 10 00 0 0
Crime is often concentrated by geography and
i n C h ic a go t he nei g hb or hood s on t he c it y rsquos
west a nd sout h sides drove t he cit y rsquos hom icide
rate The h ig hest crime a rea on t he west had a
hom ic ide rate of 72 per 10 00 0 0 Usi ng f u nd s
prov ided by a billion-dollar nationw ide federal
initiative to combat g un crime called Project Safe
Neighborhoods (PSN)26 United States Attorney
Patrick Fitzgerald proposed a strateg y modeled
a f t e r P r oje c t E x i l e i n R ic h mo n d V i r g i n i a
target ing ex-offenders i n t he h ig h-cr i me a reas
w it h federa l pena lt ies for g u n possession a nd
ot her g u n of fenses Fi zgera ld bel ieved f rom
crime analysis t hat ex-offenders were primarily
responsible for the gun v iolence in Chicago This
approach is entirely consistent w it h the t y pical
ldquoget-toughrdquo deterrence-based t hin k ing around
crime control mdash a crackdow n on potent ially high-
harm offenders27
In dev ising t he pa r t icu la rs of t he st rateg y t he
programrsquos architects suggested to t he task force
that t he proposed strateg y should be w rapped in
t he t heor y of leg it imac y The resu lta nt st rateg y
wou ld st i l l t a r get t he g roup t he US At tor ney
t houg ht most v ulnerable to g u n offendi ng but
the communication strateg y to t his group would
emphasize aspects that research indicated clearly
most people care about when determining that
law enforcement is fair A lthough offenders would
be broug ht in a nd a ler ted to t he consequences
that would follow should they pick up a g un they
would also receive information about ser v ices to
help t hem turn away from a life of crime
Modeled after Operation Ceasefi re in Boston28
hour-long roundtable-st yle meetings were the
center piece of t he new st rateg y Each of t hese
for ums gathered no more than 20 offenders who
sat around a table w ith representat ives from state
and local law enforcement and the communit y
Instead of simply confronting the offenders w it h
t he pu n it ive con sequences of t hei r behav ior
emph a si s w a s pl ac e d on t he qu a l it y of t he
interact ion mdash less a t ribunal and more a dialogue
bet ween citizens mdash and the potential rewards of
law-abiding which is consistent w ith attempting
to achieve legit imac y-based compliance
Legit imacy-based law enforcement focuses more
on persuasion t ha n punish ment To persuade
aut hor it ies mu st create t he nec essa r y soc ia l
capital t hat engenders trust bet ween governors
and t he governed Simply emphasizing rewards
and punishments does not automatically lead to
t r ust because such a n approach assumes t hat
a l l i ndiv idua ls ca re about is t he bot tom line mdash
an assumption t hat is contrar y to t he t heor y of
procedural justice and much empirical ev idence
The notion that compliance is t y pically created
on l y by t h reat s of c o er c ion bac k e d up w it h
Rightful Policing | 9
punishment is f undamenta l ly inconsistent w it h
trust for such a stance assumes t hat indiv iduals
cannot be counted on to defer to and comply w ith
the law voluntarily
St at i s t ic a l a s s e s s ment s of t he i mp ac t of t he
Ch icago prog ra m a re st r i k i ng Papach r istos
Me a r e s a n d Fa g a n a s s e s s e d t h e i m p a c t o f
Chicagorsquos forums on neighborhood-level crime
rates and g un violence compared w ith the impact
of t hree other components of PSN mdash increased
federal prosecut ions for conv icted felons carr ying
or using g uns the imposition of longer sentences
associated w it h federa l prosecut ions a nd t he
removal of guns from t he street29 Their analysis
demon s t r at e s t hat a lt hou g h a l l t e s t ed P SN
initiatives were associated w it h a decrease in t he
homicide rate the forums had t he largest effect
Compa r i ng t he relat ive ef fec t s of t he for u ms
and federal g un prosecutions shows that a unit
increase in forum participation (or approx imately
45 new offenders) among t hose eligible is roughly
85 t imes more powerful than a unit increase in
federal prosecutions in reducing homicide rates30
Furt her research suggests that the forums make
a difference at an individual level as well Those
who at tended were sig n ifica nt ly more li kely to
stay out of prison t han those who did not all other
things being equal31
I n t he second e x a mple I sh i f t f rom t ac k l i ng
s er iou s i n ner-c it y v iolenc e t o t he re duc t ion
of ro ad deat h s b y t r a f f ic en forc ement T he
Q ueen s l a nd C om mu n it y E nga gement Tr ia l
(QCET)32 used a randomized field trial to test the
appl icat ion of leg it i mac y i n how Queensla nd
police enforced t he drink driv ing laws
P o l ic e of f ic er s ac r o s s A u s t r a l i a ad m i n i s t er
t hou s a n d s of b r e a t h t e s t s t o d r i v er s u n der
leg islat ion t hat empowers t hem to ca r r y out
r a ndo m r o ad s id e b r e at h-t e s t i n g T he t e s t s
tend to be ad min istered at test sites ident i fied
a s hot sp ot s of d r i n k d r i v i n g a nd c ol l i s ion s
causing serious injur y These police actions are
justifiable as bot h legal and evidence-based The
researchers at t he Australian Research Council
Cent re of Excellence in Policing and Securit y in
partnership w it h Queensland police set out to
see whet her t hey could significant ly enhance the
impact of t he test ing reg ime so that t he testing
not only checked for alcohol on the driverrsquos breath
but also increased public confidence in t he police
and support for the enforcement of drink driv ing
legislat ion
I n Q C E T t he t e s t i n g s i t e s w e r e r a ndom l y
allocated either to a cont rol mdash t he standard police
procedure mdash or to a ldquolegitimacy treatmentrdquo In t he
cont rol drivers were stopped given a short legal
wa rn ing a nd required to prov ide a breat h test
The legal minimum process and time were taken
to prov ide a test In contrast in t he ldquolegitimacy
treatmentrdquo t he drivers were taken through a five-
stage procedure t hat emphasized five dimensions
of procedu ra l just ice dec i sion neut ra l it y to
ex plain that t hose drivers stopped had not been
singled out but that t he test was being prov ided
to dr ivers at ra ndom t r ust wor t hy mot ives to
prov ide context about the reasons for the test site
and t he testing campaign cit izen participation
includ ing cri me prevent ion adv ice a nd deta i ls
of loca l Cr i mestopper s nu mber s red ress a nd
feedback or an opportunit y to raise any issues of
10 | New Perspectives in Policing
concern and dignity and respect which included
thanks to the drivers for their cooperation
There was a ver y small difference in the t ime
taken for the two approaches (around a minute
ex t ra for t he leg it i mac y t reat ment) yet t he
dr iversrsquo percept ions of t he process were ver y
different Drivers who experienced the legitimacy
t reat ment ldquore por te d s ig n i f ic a nt l y s t ronger
generalized perceptions of police fairness police
respect [a nd] hig her sat isfact ionrdquo w it h how
police do their job33 The caveat on these interim
findings is t hat researchers could not see from
this trial a w ider increase in t he respondentsrsquo
genera l con f idence i n t he pol ice or a w ider
tendency toward compliance with the law Given
that the encounter even in the longer legitimacy
treatment only lasted 1 minute and 37 seconds
this may not be surprising However the study
sug gest s t hat t he deploy ment of leg it i mac y
approaches in day-to-day police interactions with
citizens can have a significant and measurable
benefit over an approach t hat simply relies on
the letter of the law It also makes the point that
such approaches a re not on ly releva nt i n t he
critically difficult relationships between police
and minorit y communities but should also be
considered as an important part of wider police
operations
Conclusions and Implications for Policing
If legitimacy is as impor tant as I have argued
t hen it ra ises t he quest ions of how t he police
should incorporate this approach and what the
obstacles are to implementation I think we can
make progress on answering these questions by
considering three issues
Training M u c h p o l i c e t r a i n i n g d e s p i t e
improvements over t he last 20 yea rs retains
a st rong bias i n favor of lea r n i ng t he r u les
particularly legislat ion procedure (especially
c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c r i m i n a l p r o c e d u r e) a n d
depar tmental policies Such training does not
apply only at the initial recruitment phase In the
United Kingdom for example the key gateway for
promotion for all first-line managers is to pass a
set of examinations in the law and procedures
for cr ime roads policing genera l dut ies and
ev idence and procedure34 This k ind of reliance
on law and procedure as t he qualificat ion for
recr uits a nd ma nagers is t y pica l across most
jurisdictions As Janet Chan and her colleagues
show procedurallegal training is now frequently
suppor ted by prog ra ms to add ress behav iors
a nd prac t ic a l sk i l ls but a l most ne ver by a n
educational approach that provides officers with
the means and material to understand the social
science ev idence for what works in policing or
how approaches such as legitimac y make t heir
practice more effective35 Indeed Chan and her
colleag ues demonstrate how t he legal valence
of f ront line cu lt ure can u nder mi ne even t he
attempts to inject some ldquosocial contex trdquo Peter
Ne y r oud ha s re c om mende d a muc h more
fundamental shift in the framework of training
for recr u its specia l ists a nd managers so t hat
police training in the United Kingdom would be
governed by a new professional body and start
with a prequalification that emphasizes learning
about ev idence-based practice36 Without such a
Right ful Policing | 11
radical shift it seems likely from studies like that
of Chan and colleagues that police training will
continue to underpin a legalistic way of think ing
about problems and t heir solutions There are
promising signs of change however Chicago
Pol ic e Super i ntendent Ga r r y Mc Ca r t hy ha s
instituted a day-long training in police legitimacy
and racial reconciliation for the entire force To
date more than 8000 officers and leaders have
been trained37 Early assessments of the program
are extremely positive38 In the United Kingdom
extensive practical training on procedural justice
in pa r t icu la r sit uat ions is a lso becomi ng t he
norm39
Strategies and tactics Too often compelled by
the ever-present demand to bring crime statistics
down (especially in big cities) police executives
foc us on st rateg ies a nd tac t ics desig ned to
reduce violence in too-cramped ways If this is
r ig ht t hen pol ice execut ives shou ld consider
problem-solving in more holistic ways that w ill
y ield approaches t hat a re desig ned not on ly
to quel l v iolence but a lso to en ha nce sa fet y
by changing t he att itudes and disposit ions of
those alienated from them in ways that sustain
voluntar y compliance I have in mind here hot
spot policing that is not only deterrence-based but
also legitimacy-based Braga Welsh and Schnell
recently found in a rev iew of broken w indows
pol ici ng st rateg ies a dist inct brea k bet ween
t he ef fec t iveness of ag g ressive deter renc e-
focused broken w indows approaches such as
stop and frisk in New York Cit y and other more
leg it i mac y-based approaches Only t he lat ter
group produced large and statistically significant
impacts on crime40 Moreover commitment to
legit imacy can also help police increase safet y
and by implication quell violence at the incident
level by encouraging officers to engage in tactics
that defuse violent incidents41
Democracy and communit y participation I agree
w it h Loader when he notes t hat ldquoT he pol ice
in shor t are bot h m i nders a nd reminders of
community mdash a producer of significant messages
about t he k i nd of place t hat com mu nit y is or
aspires to berdquo42 Policing makes communit y It is
no accident that an iconic symbol of England itself
is the Bobbyrsquos hat43 In the United States policingrsquos
symbolic valence is not so positive At least one
scholar has located t he genesis of A mer ica n
policing not in the benevolent image of a kindly
communit y protector but in t he more sinister
for m of t he slave pat rol ler44 T he procedu ra l
justice literature rev iewed above makes clear
the ways in which this dark histor y can and likely
does undermine trust in police in the modern era
And yet this same literature provides a roadmap
for a more posit ive relat ionsh ip t hat not only
benefits those who need help from the police but
also potentially supports t heir par t icipation in
democratically led government It is important
for people to feel t hat if t hey call on t he police
(a nd ot her lega l actors a nd inst it ut ions) not
only w ill t heir securit y be protected but t hey
w i l l a lso be t reated w it h respect t hei r r ig hts
w ill be recognized and they w ill be subject to
fair decision-making The fact that most people
i n a com mu nit y ra rely ca ll on t he pol ice for
ser v ices does not change this because police
and other legal actors are in the background in
12 | New Perspec tives in Policing
ever y communit y and shape what people t hink
feel and do People want to feel comfort not fear
when the police are present and to anticipate that
they w ill receive help and professional t reatment
when they need it W hen they do t hey become
invested in the communities in which t hey live
Research on popular legitimacy to which police
contribute suggests t hat when people evaluate
t hei r pol ice a nd cou r t s ystems as procedura l ly
fair t hey identif y more w it h their communities
and engage in them socially by trust ing neighbors
p ol i t ic a l l y b y v o t i n g a nd e c onom ic a l l y b y
shoppi ng a nd goi ng to enter t a i n ment venues
within that communit y45
Police play a critical role in teaching the people
w it h whom t hey interact (and t hose who obser ve
t hose interactions) what it means to be a citizen46
Writing recently in t he Annals Justice and Meares
a rg ue t hat t he cr i mi na l just ice system offers a
cu r ricu lum of lessons on what it mea ns to be
a cit i zen much as public schools do The over t
cu r r icu lu m of policing fou nd most obv iously
in t he tex t of t he Un ited States Const it ut ion is
designed to convey concern for rights Peoplersquos
i nt er e s t s i n a u t o n om y p r i v a c y a n d b o d i l y
integrit y ought not to be subject to the whim of
an indiv idual police officer We are a government
of laws designed to restrain state power against
t he indiv idual Education theorists explain t hat a
hidden curriculum is often taught alongside the
over t cu rr icu lu m t y pica l ly fou nd in tex tbook s
a nd of f ic i a l r ubr ic s I n sc ho ol s t he h idden
curriculum may be found in adultstudent and
studentst udent interact ions in t he enforcement
of school discipli ne policies a nd behav ior codes
in the deeply buried assumptions and narratives
of h i s t or y t e x tbo ok s i n a s c hoolrsquos c hoic e of
mascot in who gets to sit where in the cafeteria or
in t he musical select ions at t he prom The hidden
curriculum of policing similarly is a function of
how people a re t reated i n i nteract ions a nd t he
ways in which groups derive meaning regarding
t heir status in t he eyes of legal aut horit y result ing
f r o m t h at t r e a t m e n t To o of t e n t he h id d e n
curriculum of policing strateg ies sends certain
cit izens clear signals t hat they are members of a
special dangerous and undesirable class mdash t he
m ir ror image of t he posit ive over t cur r icu lum
People do not necessa r i ly lea r n t hese lessons
W hat is learned depends i n pa r t on t he deg ree
and frequency of exposure and on indiv idual and
com mu nit y resilience A s Just ice a nd Meares
note
[T]he hidde n c ur r ic u lum f lour i s he s
i n t hose contex ts where democrac y is
d i s l o c a t e d I n h i g h -p er fo r m i n g
publ ic a nd pr i v at e s c ho ol s t e ac her s
a n d s t u de nt s w or k t o g e t he r t o w a rd
c om mon goa l s t hat honor t he s oc ia l
c o n t r a c t b e t w e e n t he s c h o ol t he
student the family and t he communit y
punishment is appropr iate and mercif ul
a nd of fers forg iveness i nter per sona l
i nter ac t ion s enc ou r age suc c e s s a nd
rea f f i r m belong i ng t r u st i s endem ic
Remove t he confluence of interests t he
accountabilit y of those w ith aut horit y to
those under it the fundamental sense of
legit imacy and t he hidden cur riculum
eats away at the over t47
Rightful Policing | 13
Com m it ment to r ig ht f ul policing can help but
executives cannot be sanguine about its potential
impact The approach requires broadly conceived
a nd c oord i n ate d ef for t s a mon g a v a r ie t y of
c o n t e x t s mdash c r i m e r e d u c t i o n c o m m u n i t y
relations and importantly internal discipline48
mdash to effect real change
Endnotes
1 See Nicholas Gra ham Obama on Skip Gates
Arrest Police Acted ldquoSt upidlyrdquo Hu ffi ngt on
Post Aug 22 2009 httpw w whuffi ngtonpost
c o m 2 0 0 9 0 7 2 2 o b a m a - o n - s k i p - g a t e s -
arres_n_243250ht ml (last v isited Nov 13 2014)
2 Rachel A Harmon The Problem of Policing 110
Mich L Rev 761 (2011)
3 Christopher Stone amp Jerem y Tr avis Toward
a Ne w Professiona l ism in Policing (2 011)
httpw w wnijgovpubs-sum232359htm (last
v isited Nov 13 2014)
4 Dav id H Bay ley Police for the Fu tur e 3
(1994)
5 For one e x a m p l e c r i t ic i z i n g t he p ol ic e -
law f ulness tradeoff consider t he discussion by
Meares and Kahan of the legal struggle regarding
searches for g uns in Chicago public housing See
Tr acey L Me a r es amp Da n M K a h a n Urgen t
T i m es Pol ici ng a n d R igh ts i n I n n er Ci t y
Communities (1999)
6 See id at 18ndash22
7 Stone amp Tr avis supra note 3 at 1 (noting that
accountabilit y is a critical aspect of what t hey call
t he ldquonew professionalismrdquo along w ith legitimac y
innovat ion and nat iona l coherence)
8 See id at 12 (ldquoThe best chiefs speak confident ly
about lsquot he t h ree Crsquos cr ime cost and conduct
Police departments today are accountable for all
t hreerdquo)
9 Id at 12ndash15
10 See A n t hon y Br aga amp Dav id Weisbu r d
Policing Problem Pl aces Cr ime Hot Spots
and Effective Prevention (2010)
11 See National Research Council Fair ness
and Effectiveness in Policing The Evidence
297 (Wesley Skogan amp Kathleen Fr ydl eds 2004)
A nt hony A Braga Bra ndon C Wel sh amp Cor y
Schnel l Can Policing Disorder Reduce Crime
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis J R es
Cr i m e amp D e l i nq (For t hc om i n g ) A n t hon y
A Br aga Probl em-Or ien ted Policing a n d
Crime Prevention (2d ed 2008)
12 See Tra nscr ipt Bloomberg Vows to Appeal
Fed eral Judgersquos Ruling Th at Stop -and-F ri sk
Policy Violated Civil Rights in Press Conference
NY Da i ly Ne ws Aug 12 20 03 ht t pw w w
nyd a i l y ne w scomne w spol it ic s bloomber g-
vow s-appea l-fe der a l-judge-r u l i ng-stop-stop-
and-f r isk-pol ic y-ar t icle-11424630 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014) John Eterno amp Eli Silverman Mike
Bloombergrsquos Fact-Free Defence of Stop-and-Frisk
14 | New Perspectives in Policing
T h e Gua rdi an S e pt 11 2 013 ht t pw w w
t heguardiancomcommentisfree2013sep11
stop-a nd-f r isk-m ichael-bloomberg (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
13 See Tracey L Meares amp Dan M Kahan Law
and (Norms of) Order in Inner Cit y 32 L aw amp Socrsquoy
Rev 805 830ndash32 (1998) (discussing communit y
empowerment through law enforcement)
14 Tr acey L Mear es et al Lawful or Fair
How Cops and L aypeople View Good Policing
(Social Science Research Net work) (2012) http
papersssrncomabst ract=2116645 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
15 See Tom R Tyler amp Jeffrey Fagan Legitimacy
and Cooperation Why Do People Help the Police
Fight Cr ime in Their Communit ies 6 O h io
St J Cr i m L 231 262 (20 08) Tom R Ty ler amp
Cher yl Wakslak Profiling and Police Legitimacy
Procedural Justice Attributions of Motive and
Acceptance of Police Authority 42 Cr iminology
253 255 (2004) Tom R T yler Trust in the Law
Encour aging Public Cooper ation With the
Police and Courts (2002) Ray mond Paternoster
et a l Do Fair Procedures Matter The Effect of
Procedural Justice on Spouse Assault 31 L aw amp
Socrsquoy R ev 163 (1997)
16 See Tom R Tyler Enhancing Police Legitimacy
593 A nnals A m Aca d Pol amp Soc Sci 84 94
(2004)
17 See id
18 National Research Council supra note 11
at 297
19 See generally L egi t i m ac y a n d Cr im ina l
Justice International Perspectiv es (A nt hony
Braga et al eds 2007) (exploring the impact of
percept ions of leg it i mac y i n c r i m i na l just ice
systems across t he globe)
20 Tom R T y ler Wh y People Obey the L aw
(repr i nt 2006)
21 See Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing
the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing
and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54
Wm amp Mary L Rev 1865 1879 (2012) (prov iding
this illust rative fig ure)
22 See eg Tracey L Meares Inaugural Barrock
Lecture on Criminal Law The Legitimacy of Police
Among Young Af rican American Men 92 M a rq L
R ev 651 (2009)
23 See A ndrew V Papachristos Tracey L Meares
amp Jef f re y Faga n Attention Felons Evaluating
P roje ct S afe Ne ighb orh oo d s in Chi c ag o 4 J
Empirical Legal Stud 223 (2007)
24 Lorraine Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice
Rout ine Enc ounters an d Cit izen Perc ept ion s
of Police Main Findings f rom the Queensland
C o m m un i t y E n g ag e m e n t Tr i a l (Q C ET) 8
J E x pe r i m e n ta l C r i m i nol o g y 3 4 3 (2 01 2)
[hereinafter Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice]
L o r r a i ne M a z er o l le e t a l Sh aping C it i z en
Perceptions of Police Legitimacy A Randomized
Field Trial of Procedural Justice 51 Criminology
33 (2013) [herei na f ter Ma zerol le et a l Shaping
Citizen Perceptions]
Right ful Policing | 15
25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra
note 24
2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3
(describing the federal initiative)
27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on
Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip
J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)
(evaluating Project Ex ile)
28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and
C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he
P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)
(describing the inter vention) For an analysis
of the crime control impacts of this and similar
prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L
Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence
Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res
Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)
29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223
30 See id at 258ndash59
31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l
Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t
of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on
R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s
(Social Science Research Network 2013) http
papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited
Nov 13 2014)
32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t
Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey
Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y
Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing
Paper Series No 8 2011)
33 See id at 7
34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice
Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home
Secrsquoy 2011)
3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op
Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of
Toronto Press 2003)
36 See Neyroud supra note 34
37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful
Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them
Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9
2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-
policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)
38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training
Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)
h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _
Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair
F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r
M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice
T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port
(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs
college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y
Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce
C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
6 | New Perspectives in Policing
t reat ment mdash ma ke up what psycholog ists ca l l
ldquoprocedural justicerdquo
Procedura l just ice matters a g reat dea l in civ i l
societ y One impor ta nt consequence of peoplersquos
percept ions of procedural fairness according to
t hese ter ms is t hat t hey lead to popu lar beliefs
of leg it i mac y W hen soc ia l ps ycholog ist s use
t he ter m ldquoleg it i mac yrdquo t he y a re refer r i ng to a
ldquoproper t y t hat a r u le or a n aut hor it y has when
others feel obligated to voluntarily defer to that
r ule or aut hor it y A leg it imate aut horit y is one t hat
is regarded by people as entitled to have its rules
and decisions accepted and followed by ot hersrdquo18
Th is concept ion of leg it imac y is not normat ive
W hen ps ycholog i st s d i s c u ss leg it i mac y t he y
a re not ex plor ing in some philosophica l sense
whet her people ought to defer to legal aut horities
rather t hey are seek ing to determine whether in
fact people do defer Their approach is positive
a nd empi r ic a l T hu s when resea rchers have
soug ht to determ i ne why people obey t he law
t he leg it i mac y-based ex pla nat ion is d ist i nc t
f rom a n ex pla nat ion g rou nded i n fea r i ng t he
consequences of fa il ing to do so a nd f rom one
grounded in moralit y W hen people voluntarily
comply w ith rules and laws because they believe
aut hor it ies h av e t he r ig ht to d ic t ate pr op er
behav ior their compliance is leg itimacy-based
R ightf ul policing leverages t hese ideas
A robust body of socia l science ev idence f rom
around t he world shows t hat people are likelier
to obey t he law when t hey believe that authorities
have the right to tell t hem what to do19 Research
shows that people are mot ivated more to comply
w it h t he law by t he bel ief t hat t he y a re bei ng
t reated w it h d ig n it y a nd fair ness t ha n by fear
of pu n i sh ment I n fac t bei ng t reated fa i rly is
a more i mpor ta nt determ i na nt of compl ia nce
t han formal deterrence20 W hen police generate
good feelings in t heir ever yday contacts people
a re mot ivated to help t hem f ight cr i me A ll of
t his encourages desistance from offending law-
abiding and assistance to the police contributing
to lower crime rates
A lthough police are conceived and constituted by
and t hrough law focusing on t he law fulness of
police conduct can obscure onersquos abilit y to ident if y
and remedy policing behavior that t he public may
wel l v iew as problemat ic It is i mpor ta nt to see
t hat alt hough procedural justice can be related to
t he law fulness or legalit y of police conduct t hese
t wo va lences do not proceed in lock step One
way of t hink ing how t hese valences relate to one
anot her is to imagine points on a compass (see
figure) If we array law f ulness from west to east
w it h law f ulness to the east and unlaw fulness to
t he west t hen we wou ld ex pect police to be as
fa r east as possible Now imag i ne procedu ra l
just ice or legitimacy as r unning nort h and south
on the compass W hen police are respectf ul and
procedurally just they are headed nort h W hen
t he y a re not t hat behav ior i s c ategor i zed as
ldquorunning southrdquo Putting t he t wo parts toget her
one sees that t he best place for law enforcement
to be is in the northeast21 That is where one fi nds
rightful policing
Th is image however also reveals the sout heast
and t he northwest A primar y problem w it h street
pol icing i n urba n cit ies such as New York a nd
Chicago and i n many commu nit ies across t he
Rightful Policing | 7
justice in encounters can change public Figure Rightful Policing as the Convergence of Lawfulness and Legitimacy
W
perceptions of policing agencies leading
N to lack of t r ust i l l-w i l l and u lt imately
Legitimacy less law-abiding22 Considering both the
law fulness and the legitimacy of police Rightful conduct allows both the police officer and Policing
the citizen stopped to be right in a way
that is not possible when one operates in Lawfulness E the single dimension of lawfulness The
possibility of both sides being right can
lead to fruit ful conversat ion about the
rightfulness of policing
Putting Legitimacy to Work S
T his arg u ment ra ises t he quest ion for Source Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54 Wm amp mary L rev 1865 police of how t hey can put t hese ideas 1879 (2012)
into practice A focus on the procedural
globe is that too often such policing comprises
behavior I would locate in the southeast police
conduc t t hat is ver y l i kely law f u l but t hat
citizens in many encounters perceive as deeply
illegitimate using t he term as defined here In
t he f ig ure for example if one ask s a law yer
what const it utes racia l prof i l ing t hat person
t y pic a l l y w i l l a ns wer ldquoIt is pol ice behav ior
solely or perhaps partially motivated by racerdquo
however t he rev iew earlier in this essay of t he
events connected to Professor Gatesrsquos arrest in
the summer of 2009 should make clear that many
who believe themselves to have been profiled
care little about the legal determinants of their
encounters with police
T he bot tom l i ne i s c lea r r eg a rd le s s of t he
lawfulness of police behavior lack of procedural
justice of encounters can help policing
a ge nc i e s id e nt i f y b e h a v ior t a c t i c s
and strateg ies that many members of minorit y
communities find problematic and that lead to
disaffection even t hough t hey may be law f ul
and considered in isolat ion appear effective
Second a focus on t he psycholog ica l aspects
of leg it i mac y i n i nd iv idua l enc ou nters may
have i mpor ta nt cr i me cont rol benef its when
incor porated into tact ics a nd st rateg ies Two
case studies illustrate this The first is a strateg y
for v iolence reduction in Chicago Illinois which
has been running since 200223 The second is an
experiment conducted in Queensland Australia
on road traffic enforcement24 I have deliberately
chosen t wo ver y dif ferent examples to show
that legitimacy-based approaches have a wide
application across different aspects of the police
8 | New Perspectives in Policing
mission These t wo initiatives however are not
unique Lorraine Mazerolle and her colleag ues
recent ly completed a meta-analysis of legitimac y
policing inter vent ions and concluded that ldquopolice
can achieve positive changes in citizen attitudes
to pol ice t hroug h adopt i ng procedu ra l just ice
d ia log ue as a component pa r t of a ny t y pe of
police inter ventionrdquo25
W hen t he Chicago init iat ive sta r ted t he cit y rsquos
hom ic ide r at e hovere d ne a r 2 2 p er 10 00 0 0
Crime is often concentrated by geography and
i n C h ic a go t he nei g hb or hood s on t he c it y rsquos
west a nd sout h sides drove t he cit y rsquos hom icide
rate The h ig hest crime a rea on t he west had a
hom ic ide rate of 72 per 10 00 0 0 Usi ng f u nd s
prov ided by a billion-dollar nationw ide federal
initiative to combat g un crime called Project Safe
Neighborhoods (PSN)26 United States Attorney
Patrick Fitzgerald proposed a strateg y modeled
a f t e r P r oje c t E x i l e i n R ic h mo n d V i r g i n i a
target ing ex-offenders i n t he h ig h-cr i me a reas
w it h federa l pena lt ies for g u n possession a nd
ot her g u n of fenses Fi zgera ld bel ieved f rom
crime analysis t hat ex-offenders were primarily
responsible for the gun v iolence in Chicago This
approach is entirely consistent w it h the t y pical
ldquoget-toughrdquo deterrence-based t hin k ing around
crime control mdash a crackdow n on potent ially high-
harm offenders27
In dev ising t he pa r t icu la rs of t he st rateg y t he
programrsquos architects suggested to t he task force
that t he proposed strateg y should be w rapped in
t he t heor y of leg it imac y The resu lta nt st rateg y
wou ld st i l l t a r get t he g roup t he US At tor ney
t houg ht most v ulnerable to g u n offendi ng but
the communication strateg y to t his group would
emphasize aspects that research indicated clearly
most people care about when determining that
law enforcement is fair A lthough offenders would
be broug ht in a nd a ler ted to t he consequences
that would follow should they pick up a g un they
would also receive information about ser v ices to
help t hem turn away from a life of crime
Modeled after Operation Ceasefi re in Boston28
hour-long roundtable-st yle meetings were the
center piece of t he new st rateg y Each of t hese
for ums gathered no more than 20 offenders who
sat around a table w ith representat ives from state
and local law enforcement and the communit y
Instead of simply confronting the offenders w it h
t he pu n it ive con sequences of t hei r behav ior
emph a si s w a s pl ac e d on t he qu a l it y of t he
interact ion mdash less a t ribunal and more a dialogue
bet ween citizens mdash and the potential rewards of
law-abiding which is consistent w ith attempting
to achieve legit imac y-based compliance
Legit imacy-based law enforcement focuses more
on persuasion t ha n punish ment To persuade
aut hor it ies mu st create t he nec essa r y soc ia l
capital t hat engenders trust bet ween governors
and t he governed Simply emphasizing rewards
and punishments does not automatically lead to
t r ust because such a n approach assumes t hat
a l l i ndiv idua ls ca re about is t he bot tom line mdash
an assumption t hat is contrar y to t he t heor y of
procedural justice and much empirical ev idence
The notion that compliance is t y pically created
on l y by t h reat s of c o er c ion bac k e d up w it h
Rightful Policing | 9
punishment is f undamenta l ly inconsistent w it h
trust for such a stance assumes t hat indiv iduals
cannot be counted on to defer to and comply w ith
the law voluntarily
St at i s t ic a l a s s e s s ment s of t he i mp ac t of t he
Ch icago prog ra m a re st r i k i ng Papach r istos
Me a r e s a n d Fa g a n a s s e s s e d t h e i m p a c t o f
Chicagorsquos forums on neighborhood-level crime
rates and g un violence compared w ith the impact
of t hree other components of PSN mdash increased
federal prosecut ions for conv icted felons carr ying
or using g uns the imposition of longer sentences
associated w it h federa l prosecut ions a nd t he
removal of guns from t he street29 Their analysis
demon s t r at e s t hat a lt hou g h a l l t e s t ed P SN
initiatives were associated w it h a decrease in t he
homicide rate the forums had t he largest effect
Compa r i ng t he relat ive ef fec t s of t he for u ms
and federal g un prosecutions shows that a unit
increase in forum participation (or approx imately
45 new offenders) among t hose eligible is roughly
85 t imes more powerful than a unit increase in
federal prosecutions in reducing homicide rates30
Furt her research suggests that the forums make
a difference at an individual level as well Those
who at tended were sig n ifica nt ly more li kely to
stay out of prison t han those who did not all other
things being equal31
I n t he second e x a mple I sh i f t f rom t ac k l i ng
s er iou s i n ner-c it y v iolenc e t o t he re duc t ion
of ro ad deat h s b y t r a f f ic en forc ement T he
Q ueen s l a nd C om mu n it y E nga gement Tr ia l
(QCET)32 used a randomized field trial to test the
appl icat ion of leg it i mac y i n how Queensla nd
police enforced t he drink driv ing laws
P o l ic e of f ic er s ac r o s s A u s t r a l i a ad m i n i s t er
t hou s a n d s of b r e a t h t e s t s t o d r i v er s u n der
leg islat ion t hat empowers t hem to ca r r y out
r a ndo m r o ad s id e b r e at h-t e s t i n g T he t e s t s
tend to be ad min istered at test sites ident i fied
a s hot sp ot s of d r i n k d r i v i n g a nd c ol l i s ion s
causing serious injur y These police actions are
justifiable as bot h legal and evidence-based The
researchers at t he Australian Research Council
Cent re of Excellence in Policing and Securit y in
partnership w it h Queensland police set out to
see whet her t hey could significant ly enhance the
impact of t he test ing reg ime so that t he testing
not only checked for alcohol on the driverrsquos breath
but also increased public confidence in t he police
and support for the enforcement of drink driv ing
legislat ion
I n Q C E T t he t e s t i n g s i t e s w e r e r a ndom l y
allocated either to a cont rol mdash t he standard police
procedure mdash or to a ldquolegitimacy treatmentrdquo In t he
cont rol drivers were stopped given a short legal
wa rn ing a nd required to prov ide a breat h test
The legal minimum process and time were taken
to prov ide a test In contrast in t he ldquolegitimacy
treatmentrdquo t he drivers were taken through a five-
stage procedure t hat emphasized five dimensions
of procedu ra l just ice dec i sion neut ra l it y to
ex plain that t hose drivers stopped had not been
singled out but that t he test was being prov ided
to dr ivers at ra ndom t r ust wor t hy mot ives to
prov ide context about the reasons for the test site
and t he testing campaign cit izen participation
includ ing cri me prevent ion adv ice a nd deta i ls
of loca l Cr i mestopper s nu mber s red ress a nd
feedback or an opportunit y to raise any issues of
10 | New Perspectives in Policing
concern and dignity and respect which included
thanks to the drivers for their cooperation
There was a ver y small difference in the t ime
taken for the two approaches (around a minute
ex t ra for t he leg it i mac y t reat ment) yet t he
dr iversrsquo percept ions of t he process were ver y
different Drivers who experienced the legitimacy
t reat ment ldquore por te d s ig n i f ic a nt l y s t ronger
generalized perceptions of police fairness police
respect [a nd] hig her sat isfact ionrdquo w it h how
police do their job33 The caveat on these interim
findings is t hat researchers could not see from
this trial a w ider increase in t he respondentsrsquo
genera l con f idence i n t he pol ice or a w ider
tendency toward compliance with the law Given
that the encounter even in the longer legitimacy
treatment only lasted 1 minute and 37 seconds
this may not be surprising However the study
sug gest s t hat t he deploy ment of leg it i mac y
approaches in day-to-day police interactions with
citizens can have a significant and measurable
benefit over an approach t hat simply relies on
the letter of the law It also makes the point that
such approaches a re not on ly releva nt i n t he
critically difficult relationships between police
and minorit y communities but should also be
considered as an important part of wider police
operations
Conclusions and Implications for Policing
If legitimacy is as impor tant as I have argued
t hen it ra ises t he quest ions of how t he police
should incorporate this approach and what the
obstacles are to implementation I think we can
make progress on answering these questions by
considering three issues
Training M u c h p o l i c e t r a i n i n g d e s p i t e
improvements over t he last 20 yea rs retains
a st rong bias i n favor of lea r n i ng t he r u les
particularly legislat ion procedure (especially
c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c r i m i n a l p r o c e d u r e) a n d
depar tmental policies Such training does not
apply only at the initial recruitment phase In the
United Kingdom for example the key gateway for
promotion for all first-line managers is to pass a
set of examinations in the law and procedures
for cr ime roads policing genera l dut ies and
ev idence and procedure34 This k ind of reliance
on law and procedure as t he qualificat ion for
recr uits a nd ma nagers is t y pica l across most
jurisdictions As Janet Chan and her colleagues
show procedurallegal training is now frequently
suppor ted by prog ra ms to add ress behav iors
a nd prac t ic a l sk i l ls but a l most ne ver by a n
educational approach that provides officers with
the means and material to understand the social
science ev idence for what works in policing or
how approaches such as legitimac y make t heir
practice more effective35 Indeed Chan and her
colleag ues demonstrate how t he legal valence
of f ront line cu lt ure can u nder mi ne even t he
attempts to inject some ldquosocial contex trdquo Peter
Ne y r oud ha s re c om mende d a muc h more
fundamental shift in the framework of training
for recr u its specia l ists a nd managers so t hat
police training in the United Kingdom would be
governed by a new professional body and start
with a prequalification that emphasizes learning
about ev idence-based practice36 Without such a
Right ful Policing | 11
radical shift it seems likely from studies like that
of Chan and colleagues that police training will
continue to underpin a legalistic way of think ing
about problems and t heir solutions There are
promising signs of change however Chicago
Pol ic e Super i ntendent Ga r r y Mc Ca r t hy ha s
instituted a day-long training in police legitimacy
and racial reconciliation for the entire force To
date more than 8000 officers and leaders have
been trained37 Early assessments of the program
are extremely positive38 In the United Kingdom
extensive practical training on procedural justice
in pa r t icu la r sit uat ions is a lso becomi ng t he
norm39
Strategies and tactics Too often compelled by
the ever-present demand to bring crime statistics
down (especially in big cities) police executives
foc us on st rateg ies a nd tac t ics desig ned to
reduce violence in too-cramped ways If this is
r ig ht t hen pol ice execut ives shou ld consider
problem-solving in more holistic ways that w ill
y ield approaches t hat a re desig ned not on ly
to quel l v iolence but a lso to en ha nce sa fet y
by changing t he att itudes and disposit ions of
those alienated from them in ways that sustain
voluntar y compliance I have in mind here hot
spot policing that is not only deterrence-based but
also legitimacy-based Braga Welsh and Schnell
recently found in a rev iew of broken w indows
pol ici ng st rateg ies a dist inct brea k bet ween
t he ef fec t iveness of ag g ressive deter renc e-
focused broken w indows approaches such as
stop and frisk in New York Cit y and other more
leg it i mac y-based approaches Only t he lat ter
group produced large and statistically significant
impacts on crime40 Moreover commitment to
legit imacy can also help police increase safet y
and by implication quell violence at the incident
level by encouraging officers to engage in tactics
that defuse violent incidents41
Democracy and communit y participation I agree
w it h Loader when he notes t hat ldquoT he pol ice
in shor t are bot h m i nders a nd reminders of
community mdash a producer of significant messages
about t he k i nd of place t hat com mu nit y is or
aspires to berdquo42 Policing makes communit y It is
no accident that an iconic symbol of England itself
is the Bobbyrsquos hat43 In the United States policingrsquos
symbolic valence is not so positive At least one
scholar has located t he genesis of A mer ica n
policing not in the benevolent image of a kindly
communit y protector but in t he more sinister
for m of t he slave pat rol ler44 T he procedu ra l
justice literature rev iewed above makes clear
the ways in which this dark histor y can and likely
does undermine trust in police in the modern era
And yet this same literature provides a roadmap
for a more posit ive relat ionsh ip t hat not only
benefits those who need help from the police but
also potentially supports t heir par t icipation in
democratically led government It is important
for people to feel t hat if t hey call on t he police
(a nd ot her lega l actors a nd inst it ut ions) not
only w ill t heir securit y be protected but t hey
w i l l a lso be t reated w it h respect t hei r r ig hts
w ill be recognized and they w ill be subject to
fair decision-making The fact that most people
i n a com mu nit y ra rely ca ll on t he pol ice for
ser v ices does not change this because police
and other legal actors are in the background in
12 | New Perspec tives in Policing
ever y communit y and shape what people t hink
feel and do People want to feel comfort not fear
when the police are present and to anticipate that
they w ill receive help and professional t reatment
when they need it W hen they do t hey become
invested in the communities in which t hey live
Research on popular legitimacy to which police
contribute suggests t hat when people evaluate
t hei r pol ice a nd cou r t s ystems as procedura l ly
fair t hey identif y more w it h their communities
and engage in them socially by trust ing neighbors
p ol i t ic a l l y b y v o t i n g a nd e c onom ic a l l y b y
shoppi ng a nd goi ng to enter t a i n ment venues
within that communit y45
Police play a critical role in teaching the people
w it h whom t hey interact (and t hose who obser ve
t hose interactions) what it means to be a citizen46
Writing recently in t he Annals Justice and Meares
a rg ue t hat t he cr i mi na l just ice system offers a
cu r ricu lum of lessons on what it mea ns to be
a cit i zen much as public schools do The over t
cu r r icu lu m of policing fou nd most obv iously
in t he tex t of t he Un ited States Const it ut ion is
designed to convey concern for rights Peoplersquos
i nt er e s t s i n a u t o n om y p r i v a c y a n d b o d i l y
integrit y ought not to be subject to the whim of
an indiv idual police officer We are a government
of laws designed to restrain state power against
t he indiv idual Education theorists explain t hat a
hidden curriculum is often taught alongside the
over t cu rr icu lu m t y pica l ly fou nd in tex tbook s
a nd of f ic i a l r ubr ic s I n sc ho ol s t he h idden
curriculum may be found in adultstudent and
studentst udent interact ions in t he enforcement
of school discipli ne policies a nd behav ior codes
in the deeply buried assumptions and narratives
of h i s t or y t e x tbo ok s i n a s c hoolrsquos c hoic e of
mascot in who gets to sit where in the cafeteria or
in t he musical select ions at t he prom The hidden
curriculum of policing similarly is a function of
how people a re t reated i n i nteract ions a nd t he
ways in which groups derive meaning regarding
t heir status in t he eyes of legal aut horit y result ing
f r o m t h at t r e a t m e n t To o of t e n t he h id d e n
curriculum of policing strateg ies sends certain
cit izens clear signals t hat they are members of a
special dangerous and undesirable class mdash t he
m ir ror image of t he posit ive over t cur r icu lum
People do not necessa r i ly lea r n t hese lessons
W hat is learned depends i n pa r t on t he deg ree
and frequency of exposure and on indiv idual and
com mu nit y resilience A s Just ice a nd Meares
note
[T]he hidde n c ur r ic u lum f lour i s he s
i n t hose contex ts where democrac y is
d i s l o c a t e d I n h i g h -p er fo r m i n g
publ ic a nd pr i v at e s c ho ol s t e ac her s
a n d s t u de nt s w or k t o g e t he r t o w a rd
c om mon goa l s t hat honor t he s oc ia l
c o n t r a c t b e t w e e n t he s c h o ol t he
student the family and t he communit y
punishment is appropr iate and mercif ul
a nd of fers forg iveness i nter per sona l
i nter ac t ion s enc ou r age suc c e s s a nd
rea f f i r m belong i ng t r u st i s endem ic
Remove t he confluence of interests t he
accountabilit y of those w ith aut horit y to
those under it the fundamental sense of
legit imacy and t he hidden cur riculum
eats away at the over t47
Rightful Policing | 13
Com m it ment to r ig ht f ul policing can help but
executives cannot be sanguine about its potential
impact The approach requires broadly conceived
a nd c oord i n ate d ef for t s a mon g a v a r ie t y of
c o n t e x t s mdash c r i m e r e d u c t i o n c o m m u n i t y
relations and importantly internal discipline48
mdash to effect real change
Endnotes
1 See Nicholas Gra ham Obama on Skip Gates
Arrest Police Acted ldquoSt upidlyrdquo Hu ffi ngt on
Post Aug 22 2009 httpw w whuffi ngtonpost
c o m 2 0 0 9 0 7 2 2 o b a m a - o n - s k i p - g a t e s -
arres_n_243250ht ml (last v isited Nov 13 2014)
2 Rachel A Harmon The Problem of Policing 110
Mich L Rev 761 (2011)
3 Christopher Stone amp Jerem y Tr avis Toward
a Ne w Professiona l ism in Policing (2 011)
httpw w wnijgovpubs-sum232359htm (last
v isited Nov 13 2014)
4 Dav id H Bay ley Police for the Fu tur e 3
(1994)
5 For one e x a m p l e c r i t ic i z i n g t he p ol ic e -
law f ulness tradeoff consider t he discussion by
Meares and Kahan of the legal struggle regarding
searches for g uns in Chicago public housing See
Tr acey L Me a r es amp Da n M K a h a n Urgen t
T i m es Pol ici ng a n d R igh ts i n I n n er Ci t y
Communities (1999)
6 See id at 18ndash22
7 Stone amp Tr avis supra note 3 at 1 (noting that
accountabilit y is a critical aspect of what t hey call
t he ldquonew professionalismrdquo along w ith legitimac y
innovat ion and nat iona l coherence)
8 See id at 12 (ldquoThe best chiefs speak confident ly
about lsquot he t h ree Crsquos cr ime cost and conduct
Police departments today are accountable for all
t hreerdquo)
9 Id at 12ndash15
10 See A n t hon y Br aga amp Dav id Weisbu r d
Policing Problem Pl aces Cr ime Hot Spots
and Effective Prevention (2010)
11 See National Research Council Fair ness
and Effectiveness in Policing The Evidence
297 (Wesley Skogan amp Kathleen Fr ydl eds 2004)
A nt hony A Braga Bra ndon C Wel sh amp Cor y
Schnel l Can Policing Disorder Reduce Crime
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis J R es
Cr i m e amp D e l i nq (For t hc om i n g ) A n t hon y
A Br aga Probl em-Or ien ted Policing a n d
Crime Prevention (2d ed 2008)
12 See Tra nscr ipt Bloomberg Vows to Appeal
Fed eral Judgersquos Ruling Th at Stop -and-F ri sk
Policy Violated Civil Rights in Press Conference
NY Da i ly Ne ws Aug 12 20 03 ht t pw w w
nyd a i l y ne w scomne w spol it ic s bloomber g-
vow s-appea l-fe der a l-judge-r u l i ng-stop-stop-
and-f r isk-pol ic y-ar t icle-11424630 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014) John Eterno amp Eli Silverman Mike
Bloombergrsquos Fact-Free Defence of Stop-and-Frisk
14 | New Perspectives in Policing
T h e Gua rdi an S e pt 11 2 013 ht t pw w w
t heguardiancomcommentisfree2013sep11
stop-a nd-f r isk-m ichael-bloomberg (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
13 See Tracey L Meares amp Dan M Kahan Law
and (Norms of) Order in Inner Cit y 32 L aw amp Socrsquoy
Rev 805 830ndash32 (1998) (discussing communit y
empowerment through law enforcement)
14 Tr acey L Mear es et al Lawful or Fair
How Cops and L aypeople View Good Policing
(Social Science Research Net work) (2012) http
papersssrncomabst ract=2116645 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
15 See Tom R Tyler amp Jeffrey Fagan Legitimacy
and Cooperation Why Do People Help the Police
Fight Cr ime in Their Communit ies 6 O h io
St J Cr i m L 231 262 (20 08) Tom R Ty ler amp
Cher yl Wakslak Profiling and Police Legitimacy
Procedural Justice Attributions of Motive and
Acceptance of Police Authority 42 Cr iminology
253 255 (2004) Tom R T yler Trust in the Law
Encour aging Public Cooper ation With the
Police and Courts (2002) Ray mond Paternoster
et a l Do Fair Procedures Matter The Effect of
Procedural Justice on Spouse Assault 31 L aw amp
Socrsquoy R ev 163 (1997)
16 See Tom R Tyler Enhancing Police Legitimacy
593 A nnals A m Aca d Pol amp Soc Sci 84 94
(2004)
17 See id
18 National Research Council supra note 11
at 297
19 See generally L egi t i m ac y a n d Cr im ina l
Justice International Perspectiv es (A nt hony
Braga et al eds 2007) (exploring the impact of
percept ions of leg it i mac y i n c r i m i na l just ice
systems across t he globe)
20 Tom R T y ler Wh y People Obey the L aw
(repr i nt 2006)
21 See Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing
the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing
and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54
Wm amp Mary L Rev 1865 1879 (2012) (prov iding
this illust rative fig ure)
22 See eg Tracey L Meares Inaugural Barrock
Lecture on Criminal Law The Legitimacy of Police
Among Young Af rican American Men 92 M a rq L
R ev 651 (2009)
23 See A ndrew V Papachristos Tracey L Meares
amp Jef f re y Faga n Attention Felons Evaluating
P roje ct S afe Ne ighb orh oo d s in Chi c ag o 4 J
Empirical Legal Stud 223 (2007)
24 Lorraine Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice
Rout ine Enc ounters an d Cit izen Perc ept ion s
of Police Main Findings f rom the Queensland
C o m m un i t y E n g ag e m e n t Tr i a l (Q C ET) 8
J E x pe r i m e n ta l C r i m i nol o g y 3 4 3 (2 01 2)
[hereinafter Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice]
L o r r a i ne M a z er o l le e t a l Sh aping C it i z en
Perceptions of Police Legitimacy A Randomized
Field Trial of Procedural Justice 51 Criminology
33 (2013) [herei na f ter Ma zerol le et a l Shaping
Citizen Perceptions]
Right ful Policing | 15
25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra
note 24
2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3
(describing the federal initiative)
27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on
Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip
J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)
(evaluating Project Ex ile)
28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and
C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he
P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)
(describing the inter vention) For an analysis
of the crime control impacts of this and similar
prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L
Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence
Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res
Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)
29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223
30 See id at 258ndash59
31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l
Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t
of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on
R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s
(Social Science Research Network 2013) http
papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited
Nov 13 2014)
32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t
Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey
Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y
Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing
Paper Series No 8 2011)
33 See id at 7
34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice
Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home
Secrsquoy 2011)
3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op
Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of
Toronto Press 2003)
36 See Neyroud supra note 34
37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful
Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them
Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9
2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-
policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)
38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training
Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)
h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _
Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair
F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r
M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice
T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port
(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs
college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y
Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce
C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
Rightful Policing | 7
justice in encounters can change public Figure Rightful Policing as the Convergence of Lawfulness and Legitimacy
W
perceptions of policing agencies leading
N to lack of t r ust i l l-w i l l and u lt imately
Legitimacy less law-abiding22 Considering both the
law fulness and the legitimacy of police Rightful conduct allows both the police officer and Policing
the citizen stopped to be right in a way
that is not possible when one operates in Lawfulness E the single dimension of lawfulness The
possibility of both sides being right can
lead to fruit ful conversat ion about the
rightfulness of policing
Putting Legitimacy to Work S
T his arg u ment ra ises t he quest ion for Source Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54 Wm amp mary L rev 1865 police of how t hey can put t hese ideas 1879 (2012)
into practice A focus on the procedural
globe is that too often such policing comprises
behavior I would locate in the southeast police
conduc t t hat is ver y l i kely law f u l but t hat
citizens in many encounters perceive as deeply
illegitimate using t he term as defined here In
t he f ig ure for example if one ask s a law yer
what const it utes racia l prof i l ing t hat person
t y pic a l l y w i l l a ns wer ldquoIt is pol ice behav ior
solely or perhaps partially motivated by racerdquo
however t he rev iew earlier in this essay of t he
events connected to Professor Gatesrsquos arrest in
the summer of 2009 should make clear that many
who believe themselves to have been profiled
care little about the legal determinants of their
encounters with police
T he bot tom l i ne i s c lea r r eg a rd le s s of t he
lawfulness of police behavior lack of procedural
justice of encounters can help policing
a ge nc i e s id e nt i f y b e h a v ior t a c t i c s
and strateg ies that many members of minorit y
communities find problematic and that lead to
disaffection even t hough t hey may be law f ul
and considered in isolat ion appear effective
Second a focus on t he psycholog ica l aspects
of leg it i mac y i n i nd iv idua l enc ou nters may
have i mpor ta nt cr i me cont rol benef its when
incor porated into tact ics a nd st rateg ies Two
case studies illustrate this The first is a strateg y
for v iolence reduction in Chicago Illinois which
has been running since 200223 The second is an
experiment conducted in Queensland Australia
on road traffic enforcement24 I have deliberately
chosen t wo ver y dif ferent examples to show
that legitimacy-based approaches have a wide
application across different aspects of the police
8 | New Perspectives in Policing
mission These t wo initiatives however are not
unique Lorraine Mazerolle and her colleag ues
recent ly completed a meta-analysis of legitimac y
policing inter vent ions and concluded that ldquopolice
can achieve positive changes in citizen attitudes
to pol ice t hroug h adopt i ng procedu ra l just ice
d ia log ue as a component pa r t of a ny t y pe of
police inter ventionrdquo25
W hen t he Chicago init iat ive sta r ted t he cit y rsquos
hom ic ide r at e hovere d ne a r 2 2 p er 10 00 0 0
Crime is often concentrated by geography and
i n C h ic a go t he nei g hb or hood s on t he c it y rsquos
west a nd sout h sides drove t he cit y rsquos hom icide
rate The h ig hest crime a rea on t he west had a
hom ic ide rate of 72 per 10 00 0 0 Usi ng f u nd s
prov ided by a billion-dollar nationw ide federal
initiative to combat g un crime called Project Safe
Neighborhoods (PSN)26 United States Attorney
Patrick Fitzgerald proposed a strateg y modeled
a f t e r P r oje c t E x i l e i n R ic h mo n d V i r g i n i a
target ing ex-offenders i n t he h ig h-cr i me a reas
w it h federa l pena lt ies for g u n possession a nd
ot her g u n of fenses Fi zgera ld bel ieved f rom
crime analysis t hat ex-offenders were primarily
responsible for the gun v iolence in Chicago This
approach is entirely consistent w it h the t y pical
ldquoget-toughrdquo deterrence-based t hin k ing around
crime control mdash a crackdow n on potent ially high-
harm offenders27
In dev ising t he pa r t icu la rs of t he st rateg y t he
programrsquos architects suggested to t he task force
that t he proposed strateg y should be w rapped in
t he t heor y of leg it imac y The resu lta nt st rateg y
wou ld st i l l t a r get t he g roup t he US At tor ney
t houg ht most v ulnerable to g u n offendi ng but
the communication strateg y to t his group would
emphasize aspects that research indicated clearly
most people care about when determining that
law enforcement is fair A lthough offenders would
be broug ht in a nd a ler ted to t he consequences
that would follow should they pick up a g un they
would also receive information about ser v ices to
help t hem turn away from a life of crime
Modeled after Operation Ceasefi re in Boston28
hour-long roundtable-st yle meetings were the
center piece of t he new st rateg y Each of t hese
for ums gathered no more than 20 offenders who
sat around a table w ith representat ives from state
and local law enforcement and the communit y
Instead of simply confronting the offenders w it h
t he pu n it ive con sequences of t hei r behav ior
emph a si s w a s pl ac e d on t he qu a l it y of t he
interact ion mdash less a t ribunal and more a dialogue
bet ween citizens mdash and the potential rewards of
law-abiding which is consistent w ith attempting
to achieve legit imac y-based compliance
Legit imacy-based law enforcement focuses more
on persuasion t ha n punish ment To persuade
aut hor it ies mu st create t he nec essa r y soc ia l
capital t hat engenders trust bet ween governors
and t he governed Simply emphasizing rewards
and punishments does not automatically lead to
t r ust because such a n approach assumes t hat
a l l i ndiv idua ls ca re about is t he bot tom line mdash
an assumption t hat is contrar y to t he t heor y of
procedural justice and much empirical ev idence
The notion that compliance is t y pically created
on l y by t h reat s of c o er c ion bac k e d up w it h
Rightful Policing | 9
punishment is f undamenta l ly inconsistent w it h
trust for such a stance assumes t hat indiv iduals
cannot be counted on to defer to and comply w ith
the law voluntarily
St at i s t ic a l a s s e s s ment s of t he i mp ac t of t he
Ch icago prog ra m a re st r i k i ng Papach r istos
Me a r e s a n d Fa g a n a s s e s s e d t h e i m p a c t o f
Chicagorsquos forums on neighborhood-level crime
rates and g un violence compared w ith the impact
of t hree other components of PSN mdash increased
federal prosecut ions for conv icted felons carr ying
or using g uns the imposition of longer sentences
associated w it h federa l prosecut ions a nd t he
removal of guns from t he street29 Their analysis
demon s t r at e s t hat a lt hou g h a l l t e s t ed P SN
initiatives were associated w it h a decrease in t he
homicide rate the forums had t he largest effect
Compa r i ng t he relat ive ef fec t s of t he for u ms
and federal g un prosecutions shows that a unit
increase in forum participation (or approx imately
45 new offenders) among t hose eligible is roughly
85 t imes more powerful than a unit increase in
federal prosecutions in reducing homicide rates30
Furt her research suggests that the forums make
a difference at an individual level as well Those
who at tended were sig n ifica nt ly more li kely to
stay out of prison t han those who did not all other
things being equal31
I n t he second e x a mple I sh i f t f rom t ac k l i ng
s er iou s i n ner-c it y v iolenc e t o t he re duc t ion
of ro ad deat h s b y t r a f f ic en forc ement T he
Q ueen s l a nd C om mu n it y E nga gement Tr ia l
(QCET)32 used a randomized field trial to test the
appl icat ion of leg it i mac y i n how Queensla nd
police enforced t he drink driv ing laws
P o l ic e of f ic er s ac r o s s A u s t r a l i a ad m i n i s t er
t hou s a n d s of b r e a t h t e s t s t o d r i v er s u n der
leg islat ion t hat empowers t hem to ca r r y out
r a ndo m r o ad s id e b r e at h-t e s t i n g T he t e s t s
tend to be ad min istered at test sites ident i fied
a s hot sp ot s of d r i n k d r i v i n g a nd c ol l i s ion s
causing serious injur y These police actions are
justifiable as bot h legal and evidence-based The
researchers at t he Australian Research Council
Cent re of Excellence in Policing and Securit y in
partnership w it h Queensland police set out to
see whet her t hey could significant ly enhance the
impact of t he test ing reg ime so that t he testing
not only checked for alcohol on the driverrsquos breath
but also increased public confidence in t he police
and support for the enforcement of drink driv ing
legislat ion
I n Q C E T t he t e s t i n g s i t e s w e r e r a ndom l y
allocated either to a cont rol mdash t he standard police
procedure mdash or to a ldquolegitimacy treatmentrdquo In t he
cont rol drivers were stopped given a short legal
wa rn ing a nd required to prov ide a breat h test
The legal minimum process and time were taken
to prov ide a test In contrast in t he ldquolegitimacy
treatmentrdquo t he drivers were taken through a five-
stage procedure t hat emphasized five dimensions
of procedu ra l just ice dec i sion neut ra l it y to
ex plain that t hose drivers stopped had not been
singled out but that t he test was being prov ided
to dr ivers at ra ndom t r ust wor t hy mot ives to
prov ide context about the reasons for the test site
and t he testing campaign cit izen participation
includ ing cri me prevent ion adv ice a nd deta i ls
of loca l Cr i mestopper s nu mber s red ress a nd
feedback or an opportunit y to raise any issues of
10 | New Perspectives in Policing
concern and dignity and respect which included
thanks to the drivers for their cooperation
There was a ver y small difference in the t ime
taken for the two approaches (around a minute
ex t ra for t he leg it i mac y t reat ment) yet t he
dr iversrsquo percept ions of t he process were ver y
different Drivers who experienced the legitimacy
t reat ment ldquore por te d s ig n i f ic a nt l y s t ronger
generalized perceptions of police fairness police
respect [a nd] hig her sat isfact ionrdquo w it h how
police do their job33 The caveat on these interim
findings is t hat researchers could not see from
this trial a w ider increase in t he respondentsrsquo
genera l con f idence i n t he pol ice or a w ider
tendency toward compliance with the law Given
that the encounter even in the longer legitimacy
treatment only lasted 1 minute and 37 seconds
this may not be surprising However the study
sug gest s t hat t he deploy ment of leg it i mac y
approaches in day-to-day police interactions with
citizens can have a significant and measurable
benefit over an approach t hat simply relies on
the letter of the law It also makes the point that
such approaches a re not on ly releva nt i n t he
critically difficult relationships between police
and minorit y communities but should also be
considered as an important part of wider police
operations
Conclusions and Implications for Policing
If legitimacy is as impor tant as I have argued
t hen it ra ises t he quest ions of how t he police
should incorporate this approach and what the
obstacles are to implementation I think we can
make progress on answering these questions by
considering three issues
Training M u c h p o l i c e t r a i n i n g d e s p i t e
improvements over t he last 20 yea rs retains
a st rong bias i n favor of lea r n i ng t he r u les
particularly legislat ion procedure (especially
c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c r i m i n a l p r o c e d u r e) a n d
depar tmental policies Such training does not
apply only at the initial recruitment phase In the
United Kingdom for example the key gateway for
promotion for all first-line managers is to pass a
set of examinations in the law and procedures
for cr ime roads policing genera l dut ies and
ev idence and procedure34 This k ind of reliance
on law and procedure as t he qualificat ion for
recr uits a nd ma nagers is t y pica l across most
jurisdictions As Janet Chan and her colleagues
show procedurallegal training is now frequently
suppor ted by prog ra ms to add ress behav iors
a nd prac t ic a l sk i l ls but a l most ne ver by a n
educational approach that provides officers with
the means and material to understand the social
science ev idence for what works in policing or
how approaches such as legitimac y make t heir
practice more effective35 Indeed Chan and her
colleag ues demonstrate how t he legal valence
of f ront line cu lt ure can u nder mi ne even t he
attempts to inject some ldquosocial contex trdquo Peter
Ne y r oud ha s re c om mende d a muc h more
fundamental shift in the framework of training
for recr u its specia l ists a nd managers so t hat
police training in the United Kingdom would be
governed by a new professional body and start
with a prequalification that emphasizes learning
about ev idence-based practice36 Without such a
Right ful Policing | 11
radical shift it seems likely from studies like that
of Chan and colleagues that police training will
continue to underpin a legalistic way of think ing
about problems and t heir solutions There are
promising signs of change however Chicago
Pol ic e Super i ntendent Ga r r y Mc Ca r t hy ha s
instituted a day-long training in police legitimacy
and racial reconciliation for the entire force To
date more than 8000 officers and leaders have
been trained37 Early assessments of the program
are extremely positive38 In the United Kingdom
extensive practical training on procedural justice
in pa r t icu la r sit uat ions is a lso becomi ng t he
norm39
Strategies and tactics Too often compelled by
the ever-present demand to bring crime statistics
down (especially in big cities) police executives
foc us on st rateg ies a nd tac t ics desig ned to
reduce violence in too-cramped ways If this is
r ig ht t hen pol ice execut ives shou ld consider
problem-solving in more holistic ways that w ill
y ield approaches t hat a re desig ned not on ly
to quel l v iolence but a lso to en ha nce sa fet y
by changing t he att itudes and disposit ions of
those alienated from them in ways that sustain
voluntar y compliance I have in mind here hot
spot policing that is not only deterrence-based but
also legitimacy-based Braga Welsh and Schnell
recently found in a rev iew of broken w indows
pol ici ng st rateg ies a dist inct brea k bet ween
t he ef fec t iveness of ag g ressive deter renc e-
focused broken w indows approaches such as
stop and frisk in New York Cit y and other more
leg it i mac y-based approaches Only t he lat ter
group produced large and statistically significant
impacts on crime40 Moreover commitment to
legit imacy can also help police increase safet y
and by implication quell violence at the incident
level by encouraging officers to engage in tactics
that defuse violent incidents41
Democracy and communit y participation I agree
w it h Loader when he notes t hat ldquoT he pol ice
in shor t are bot h m i nders a nd reminders of
community mdash a producer of significant messages
about t he k i nd of place t hat com mu nit y is or
aspires to berdquo42 Policing makes communit y It is
no accident that an iconic symbol of England itself
is the Bobbyrsquos hat43 In the United States policingrsquos
symbolic valence is not so positive At least one
scholar has located t he genesis of A mer ica n
policing not in the benevolent image of a kindly
communit y protector but in t he more sinister
for m of t he slave pat rol ler44 T he procedu ra l
justice literature rev iewed above makes clear
the ways in which this dark histor y can and likely
does undermine trust in police in the modern era
And yet this same literature provides a roadmap
for a more posit ive relat ionsh ip t hat not only
benefits those who need help from the police but
also potentially supports t heir par t icipation in
democratically led government It is important
for people to feel t hat if t hey call on t he police
(a nd ot her lega l actors a nd inst it ut ions) not
only w ill t heir securit y be protected but t hey
w i l l a lso be t reated w it h respect t hei r r ig hts
w ill be recognized and they w ill be subject to
fair decision-making The fact that most people
i n a com mu nit y ra rely ca ll on t he pol ice for
ser v ices does not change this because police
and other legal actors are in the background in
12 | New Perspec tives in Policing
ever y communit y and shape what people t hink
feel and do People want to feel comfort not fear
when the police are present and to anticipate that
they w ill receive help and professional t reatment
when they need it W hen they do t hey become
invested in the communities in which t hey live
Research on popular legitimacy to which police
contribute suggests t hat when people evaluate
t hei r pol ice a nd cou r t s ystems as procedura l ly
fair t hey identif y more w it h their communities
and engage in them socially by trust ing neighbors
p ol i t ic a l l y b y v o t i n g a nd e c onom ic a l l y b y
shoppi ng a nd goi ng to enter t a i n ment venues
within that communit y45
Police play a critical role in teaching the people
w it h whom t hey interact (and t hose who obser ve
t hose interactions) what it means to be a citizen46
Writing recently in t he Annals Justice and Meares
a rg ue t hat t he cr i mi na l just ice system offers a
cu r ricu lum of lessons on what it mea ns to be
a cit i zen much as public schools do The over t
cu r r icu lu m of policing fou nd most obv iously
in t he tex t of t he Un ited States Const it ut ion is
designed to convey concern for rights Peoplersquos
i nt er e s t s i n a u t o n om y p r i v a c y a n d b o d i l y
integrit y ought not to be subject to the whim of
an indiv idual police officer We are a government
of laws designed to restrain state power against
t he indiv idual Education theorists explain t hat a
hidden curriculum is often taught alongside the
over t cu rr icu lu m t y pica l ly fou nd in tex tbook s
a nd of f ic i a l r ubr ic s I n sc ho ol s t he h idden
curriculum may be found in adultstudent and
studentst udent interact ions in t he enforcement
of school discipli ne policies a nd behav ior codes
in the deeply buried assumptions and narratives
of h i s t or y t e x tbo ok s i n a s c hoolrsquos c hoic e of
mascot in who gets to sit where in the cafeteria or
in t he musical select ions at t he prom The hidden
curriculum of policing similarly is a function of
how people a re t reated i n i nteract ions a nd t he
ways in which groups derive meaning regarding
t heir status in t he eyes of legal aut horit y result ing
f r o m t h at t r e a t m e n t To o of t e n t he h id d e n
curriculum of policing strateg ies sends certain
cit izens clear signals t hat they are members of a
special dangerous and undesirable class mdash t he
m ir ror image of t he posit ive over t cur r icu lum
People do not necessa r i ly lea r n t hese lessons
W hat is learned depends i n pa r t on t he deg ree
and frequency of exposure and on indiv idual and
com mu nit y resilience A s Just ice a nd Meares
note
[T]he hidde n c ur r ic u lum f lour i s he s
i n t hose contex ts where democrac y is
d i s l o c a t e d I n h i g h -p er fo r m i n g
publ ic a nd pr i v at e s c ho ol s t e ac her s
a n d s t u de nt s w or k t o g e t he r t o w a rd
c om mon goa l s t hat honor t he s oc ia l
c o n t r a c t b e t w e e n t he s c h o ol t he
student the family and t he communit y
punishment is appropr iate and mercif ul
a nd of fers forg iveness i nter per sona l
i nter ac t ion s enc ou r age suc c e s s a nd
rea f f i r m belong i ng t r u st i s endem ic
Remove t he confluence of interests t he
accountabilit y of those w ith aut horit y to
those under it the fundamental sense of
legit imacy and t he hidden cur riculum
eats away at the over t47
Rightful Policing | 13
Com m it ment to r ig ht f ul policing can help but
executives cannot be sanguine about its potential
impact The approach requires broadly conceived
a nd c oord i n ate d ef for t s a mon g a v a r ie t y of
c o n t e x t s mdash c r i m e r e d u c t i o n c o m m u n i t y
relations and importantly internal discipline48
mdash to effect real change
Endnotes
1 See Nicholas Gra ham Obama on Skip Gates
Arrest Police Acted ldquoSt upidlyrdquo Hu ffi ngt on
Post Aug 22 2009 httpw w whuffi ngtonpost
c o m 2 0 0 9 0 7 2 2 o b a m a - o n - s k i p - g a t e s -
arres_n_243250ht ml (last v isited Nov 13 2014)
2 Rachel A Harmon The Problem of Policing 110
Mich L Rev 761 (2011)
3 Christopher Stone amp Jerem y Tr avis Toward
a Ne w Professiona l ism in Policing (2 011)
httpw w wnijgovpubs-sum232359htm (last
v isited Nov 13 2014)
4 Dav id H Bay ley Police for the Fu tur e 3
(1994)
5 For one e x a m p l e c r i t ic i z i n g t he p ol ic e -
law f ulness tradeoff consider t he discussion by
Meares and Kahan of the legal struggle regarding
searches for g uns in Chicago public housing See
Tr acey L Me a r es amp Da n M K a h a n Urgen t
T i m es Pol ici ng a n d R igh ts i n I n n er Ci t y
Communities (1999)
6 See id at 18ndash22
7 Stone amp Tr avis supra note 3 at 1 (noting that
accountabilit y is a critical aspect of what t hey call
t he ldquonew professionalismrdquo along w ith legitimac y
innovat ion and nat iona l coherence)
8 See id at 12 (ldquoThe best chiefs speak confident ly
about lsquot he t h ree Crsquos cr ime cost and conduct
Police departments today are accountable for all
t hreerdquo)
9 Id at 12ndash15
10 See A n t hon y Br aga amp Dav id Weisbu r d
Policing Problem Pl aces Cr ime Hot Spots
and Effective Prevention (2010)
11 See National Research Council Fair ness
and Effectiveness in Policing The Evidence
297 (Wesley Skogan amp Kathleen Fr ydl eds 2004)
A nt hony A Braga Bra ndon C Wel sh amp Cor y
Schnel l Can Policing Disorder Reduce Crime
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis J R es
Cr i m e amp D e l i nq (For t hc om i n g ) A n t hon y
A Br aga Probl em-Or ien ted Policing a n d
Crime Prevention (2d ed 2008)
12 See Tra nscr ipt Bloomberg Vows to Appeal
Fed eral Judgersquos Ruling Th at Stop -and-F ri sk
Policy Violated Civil Rights in Press Conference
NY Da i ly Ne ws Aug 12 20 03 ht t pw w w
nyd a i l y ne w scomne w spol it ic s bloomber g-
vow s-appea l-fe der a l-judge-r u l i ng-stop-stop-
and-f r isk-pol ic y-ar t icle-11424630 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014) John Eterno amp Eli Silverman Mike
Bloombergrsquos Fact-Free Defence of Stop-and-Frisk
14 | New Perspectives in Policing
T h e Gua rdi an S e pt 11 2 013 ht t pw w w
t heguardiancomcommentisfree2013sep11
stop-a nd-f r isk-m ichael-bloomberg (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
13 See Tracey L Meares amp Dan M Kahan Law
and (Norms of) Order in Inner Cit y 32 L aw amp Socrsquoy
Rev 805 830ndash32 (1998) (discussing communit y
empowerment through law enforcement)
14 Tr acey L Mear es et al Lawful or Fair
How Cops and L aypeople View Good Policing
(Social Science Research Net work) (2012) http
papersssrncomabst ract=2116645 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
15 See Tom R Tyler amp Jeffrey Fagan Legitimacy
and Cooperation Why Do People Help the Police
Fight Cr ime in Their Communit ies 6 O h io
St J Cr i m L 231 262 (20 08) Tom R Ty ler amp
Cher yl Wakslak Profiling and Police Legitimacy
Procedural Justice Attributions of Motive and
Acceptance of Police Authority 42 Cr iminology
253 255 (2004) Tom R T yler Trust in the Law
Encour aging Public Cooper ation With the
Police and Courts (2002) Ray mond Paternoster
et a l Do Fair Procedures Matter The Effect of
Procedural Justice on Spouse Assault 31 L aw amp
Socrsquoy R ev 163 (1997)
16 See Tom R Tyler Enhancing Police Legitimacy
593 A nnals A m Aca d Pol amp Soc Sci 84 94
(2004)
17 See id
18 National Research Council supra note 11
at 297
19 See generally L egi t i m ac y a n d Cr im ina l
Justice International Perspectiv es (A nt hony
Braga et al eds 2007) (exploring the impact of
percept ions of leg it i mac y i n c r i m i na l just ice
systems across t he globe)
20 Tom R T y ler Wh y People Obey the L aw
(repr i nt 2006)
21 See Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing
the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing
and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54
Wm amp Mary L Rev 1865 1879 (2012) (prov iding
this illust rative fig ure)
22 See eg Tracey L Meares Inaugural Barrock
Lecture on Criminal Law The Legitimacy of Police
Among Young Af rican American Men 92 M a rq L
R ev 651 (2009)
23 See A ndrew V Papachristos Tracey L Meares
amp Jef f re y Faga n Attention Felons Evaluating
P roje ct S afe Ne ighb orh oo d s in Chi c ag o 4 J
Empirical Legal Stud 223 (2007)
24 Lorraine Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice
Rout ine Enc ounters an d Cit izen Perc ept ion s
of Police Main Findings f rom the Queensland
C o m m un i t y E n g ag e m e n t Tr i a l (Q C ET) 8
J E x pe r i m e n ta l C r i m i nol o g y 3 4 3 (2 01 2)
[hereinafter Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice]
L o r r a i ne M a z er o l le e t a l Sh aping C it i z en
Perceptions of Police Legitimacy A Randomized
Field Trial of Procedural Justice 51 Criminology
33 (2013) [herei na f ter Ma zerol le et a l Shaping
Citizen Perceptions]
Right ful Policing | 15
25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra
note 24
2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3
(describing the federal initiative)
27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on
Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip
J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)
(evaluating Project Ex ile)
28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and
C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he
P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)
(describing the inter vention) For an analysis
of the crime control impacts of this and similar
prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L
Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence
Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res
Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)
29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223
30 See id at 258ndash59
31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l
Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t
of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on
R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s
(Social Science Research Network 2013) http
papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited
Nov 13 2014)
32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t
Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey
Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y
Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing
Paper Series No 8 2011)
33 See id at 7
34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice
Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home
Secrsquoy 2011)
3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op
Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of
Toronto Press 2003)
36 See Neyroud supra note 34
37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful
Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them
Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9
2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-
policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)
38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training
Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)
h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _
Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair
F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r
M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice
T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port
(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs
college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y
Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce
C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
8 | New Perspectives in Policing
mission These t wo initiatives however are not
unique Lorraine Mazerolle and her colleag ues
recent ly completed a meta-analysis of legitimac y
policing inter vent ions and concluded that ldquopolice
can achieve positive changes in citizen attitudes
to pol ice t hroug h adopt i ng procedu ra l just ice
d ia log ue as a component pa r t of a ny t y pe of
police inter ventionrdquo25
W hen t he Chicago init iat ive sta r ted t he cit y rsquos
hom ic ide r at e hovere d ne a r 2 2 p er 10 00 0 0
Crime is often concentrated by geography and
i n C h ic a go t he nei g hb or hood s on t he c it y rsquos
west a nd sout h sides drove t he cit y rsquos hom icide
rate The h ig hest crime a rea on t he west had a
hom ic ide rate of 72 per 10 00 0 0 Usi ng f u nd s
prov ided by a billion-dollar nationw ide federal
initiative to combat g un crime called Project Safe
Neighborhoods (PSN)26 United States Attorney
Patrick Fitzgerald proposed a strateg y modeled
a f t e r P r oje c t E x i l e i n R ic h mo n d V i r g i n i a
target ing ex-offenders i n t he h ig h-cr i me a reas
w it h federa l pena lt ies for g u n possession a nd
ot her g u n of fenses Fi zgera ld bel ieved f rom
crime analysis t hat ex-offenders were primarily
responsible for the gun v iolence in Chicago This
approach is entirely consistent w it h the t y pical
ldquoget-toughrdquo deterrence-based t hin k ing around
crime control mdash a crackdow n on potent ially high-
harm offenders27
In dev ising t he pa r t icu la rs of t he st rateg y t he
programrsquos architects suggested to t he task force
that t he proposed strateg y should be w rapped in
t he t heor y of leg it imac y The resu lta nt st rateg y
wou ld st i l l t a r get t he g roup t he US At tor ney
t houg ht most v ulnerable to g u n offendi ng but
the communication strateg y to t his group would
emphasize aspects that research indicated clearly
most people care about when determining that
law enforcement is fair A lthough offenders would
be broug ht in a nd a ler ted to t he consequences
that would follow should they pick up a g un they
would also receive information about ser v ices to
help t hem turn away from a life of crime
Modeled after Operation Ceasefi re in Boston28
hour-long roundtable-st yle meetings were the
center piece of t he new st rateg y Each of t hese
for ums gathered no more than 20 offenders who
sat around a table w ith representat ives from state
and local law enforcement and the communit y
Instead of simply confronting the offenders w it h
t he pu n it ive con sequences of t hei r behav ior
emph a si s w a s pl ac e d on t he qu a l it y of t he
interact ion mdash less a t ribunal and more a dialogue
bet ween citizens mdash and the potential rewards of
law-abiding which is consistent w ith attempting
to achieve legit imac y-based compliance
Legit imacy-based law enforcement focuses more
on persuasion t ha n punish ment To persuade
aut hor it ies mu st create t he nec essa r y soc ia l
capital t hat engenders trust bet ween governors
and t he governed Simply emphasizing rewards
and punishments does not automatically lead to
t r ust because such a n approach assumes t hat
a l l i ndiv idua ls ca re about is t he bot tom line mdash
an assumption t hat is contrar y to t he t heor y of
procedural justice and much empirical ev idence
The notion that compliance is t y pically created
on l y by t h reat s of c o er c ion bac k e d up w it h
Rightful Policing | 9
punishment is f undamenta l ly inconsistent w it h
trust for such a stance assumes t hat indiv iduals
cannot be counted on to defer to and comply w ith
the law voluntarily
St at i s t ic a l a s s e s s ment s of t he i mp ac t of t he
Ch icago prog ra m a re st r i k i ng Papach r istos
Me a r e s a n d Fa g a n a s s e s s e d t h e i m p a c t o f
Chicagorsquos forums on neighborhood-level crime
rates and g un violence compared w ith the impact
of t hree other components of PSN mdash increased
federal prosecut ions for conv icted felons carr ying
or using g uns the imposition of longer sentences
associated w it h federa l prosecut ions a nd t he
removal of guns from t he street29 Their analysis
demon s t r at e s t hat a lt hou g h a l l t e s t ed P SN
initiatives were associated w it h a decrease in t he
homicide rate the forums had t he largest effect
Compa r i ng t he relat ive ef fec t s of t he for u ms
and federal g un prosecutions shows that a unit
increase in forum participation (or approx imately
45 new offenders) among t hose eligible is roughly
85 t imes more powerful than a unit increase in
federal prosecutions in reducing homicide rates30
Furt her research suggests that the forums make
a difference at an individual level as well Those
who at tended were sig n ifica nt ly more li kely to
stay out of prison t han those who did not all other
things being equal31
I n t he second e x a mple I sh i f t f rom t ac k l i ng
s er iou s i n ner-c it y v iolenc e t o t he re duc t ion
of ro ad deat h s b y t r a f f ic en forc ement T he
Q ueen s l a nd C om mu n it y E nga gement Tr ia l
(QCET)32 used a randomized field trial to test the
appl icat ion of leg it i mac y i n how Queensla nd
police enforced t he drink driv ing laws
P o l ic e of f ic er s ac r o s s A u s t r a l i a ad m i n i s t er
t hou s a n d s of b r e a t h t e s t s t o d r i v er s u n der
leg islat ion t hat empowers t hem to ca r r y out
r a ndo m r o ad s id e b r e at h-t e s t i n g T he t e s t s
tend to be ad min istered at test sites ident i fied
a s hot sp ot s of d r i n k d r i v i n g a nd c ol l i s ion s
causing serious injur y These police actions are
justifiable as bot h legal and evidence-based The
researchers at t he Australian Research Council
Cent re of Excellence in Policing and Securit y in
partnership w it h Queensland police set out to
see whet her t hey could significant ly enhance the
impact of t he test ing reg ime so that t he testing
not only checked for alcohol on the driverrsquos breath
but also increased public confidence in t he police
and support for the enforcement of drink driv ing
legislat ion
I n Q C E T t he t e s t i n g s i t e s w e r e r a ndom l y
allocated either to a cont rol mdash t he standard police
procedure mdash or to a ldquolegitimacy treatmentrdquo In t he
cont rol drivers were stopped given a short legal
wa rn ing a nd required to prov ide a breat h test
The legal minimum process and time were taken
to prov ide a test In contrast in t he ldquolegitimacy
treatmentrdquo t he drivers were taken through a five-
stage procedure t hat emphasized five dimensions
of procedu ra l just ice dec i sion neut ra l it y to
ex plain that t hose drivers stopped had not been
singled out but that t he test was being prov ided
to dr ivers at ra ndom t r ust wor t hy mot ives to
prov ide context about the reasons for the test site
and t he testing campaign cit izen participation
includ ing cri me prevent ion adv ice a nd deta i ls
of loca l Cr i mestopper s nu mber s red ress a nd
feedback or an opportunit y to raise any issues of
10 | New Perspectives in Policing
concern and dignity and respect which included
thanks to the drivers for their cooperation
There was a ver y small difference in the t ime
taken for the two approaches (around a minute
ex t ra for t he leg it i mac y t reat ment) yet t he
dr iversrsquo percept ions of t he process were ver y
different Drivers who experienced the legitimacy
t reat ment ldquore por te d s ig n i f ic a nt l y s t ronger
generalized perceptions of police fairness police
respect [a nd] hig her sat isfact ionrdquo w it h how
police do their job33 The caveat on these interim
findings is t hat researchers could not see from
this trial a w ider increase in t he respondentsrsquo
genera l con f idence i n t he pol ice or a w ider
tendency toward compliance with the law Given
that the encounter even in the longer legitimacy
treatment only lasted 1 minute and 37 seconds
this may not be surprising However the study
sug gest s t hat t he deploy ment of leg it i mac y
approaches in day-to-day police interactions with
citizens can have a significant and measurable
benefit over an approach t hat simply relies on
the letter of the law It also makes the point that
such approaches a re not on ly releva nt i n t he
critically difficult relationships between police
and minorit y communities but should also be
considered as an important part of wider police
operations
Conclusions and Implications for Policing
If legitimacy is as impor tant as I have argued
t hen it ra ises t he quest ions of how t he police
should incorporate this approach and what the
obstacles are to implementation I think we can
make progress on answering these questions by
considering three issues
Training M u c h p o l i c e t r a i n i n g d e s p i t e
improvements over t he last 20 yea rs retains
a st rong bias i n favor of lea r n i ng t he r u les
particularly legislat ion procedure (especially
c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c r i m i n a l p r o c e d u r e) a n d
depar tmental policies Such training does not
apply only at the initial recruitment phase In the
United Kingdom for example the key gateway for
promotion for all first-line managers is to pass a
set of examinations in the law and procedures
for cr ime roads policing genera l dut ies and
ev idence and procedure34 This k ind of reliance
on law and procedure as t he qualificat ion for
recr uits a nd ma nagers is t y pica l across most
jurisdictions As Janet Chan and her colleagues
show procedurallegal training is now frequently
suppor ted by prog ra ms to add ress behav iors
a nd prac t ic a l sk i l ls but a l most ne ver by a n
educational approach that provides officers with
the means and material to understand the social
science ev idence for what works in policing or
how approaches such as legitimac y make t heir
practice more effective35 Indeed Chan and her
colleag ues demonstrate how t he legal valence
of f ront line cu lt ure can u nder mi ne even t he
attempts to inject some ldquosocial contex trdquo Peter
Ne y r oud ha s re c om mende d a muc h more
fundamental shift in the framework of training
for recr u its specia l ists a nd managers so t hat
police training in the United Kingdom would be
governed by a new professional body and start
with a prequalification that emphasizes learning
about ev idence-based practice36 Without such a
Right ful Policing | 11
radical shift it seems likely from studies like that
of Chan and colleagues that police training will
continue to underpin a legalistic way of think ing
about problems and t heir solutions There are
promising signs of change however Chicago
Pol ic e Super i ntendent Ga r r y Mc Ca r t hy ha s
instituted a day-long training in police legitimacy
and racial reconciliation for the entire force To
date more than 8000 officers and leaders have
been trained37 Early assessments of the program
are extremely positive38 In the United Kingdom
extensive practical training on procedural justice
in pa r t icu la r sit uat ions is a lso becomi ng t he
norm39
Strategies and tactics Too often compelled by
the ever-present demand to bring crime statistics
down (especially in big cities) police executives
foc us on st rateg ies a nd tac t ics desig ned to
reduce violence in too-cramped ways If this is
r ig ht t hen pol ice execut ives shou ld consider
problem-solving in more holistic ways that w ill
y ield approaches t hat a re desig ned not on ly
to quel l v iolence but a lso to en ha nce sa fet y
by changing t he att itudes and disposit ions of
those alienated from them in ways that sustain
voluntar y compliance I have in mind here hot
spot policing that is not only deterrence-based but
also legitimacy-based Braga Welsh and Schnell
recently found in a rev iew of broken w indows
pol ici ng st rateg ies a dist inct brea k bet ween
t he ef fec t iveness of ag g ressive deter renc e-
focused broken w indows approaches such as
stop and frisk in New York Cit y and other more
leg it i mac y-based approaches Only t he lat ter
group produced large and statistically significant
impacts on crime40 Moreover commitment to
legit imacy can also help police increase safet y
and by implication quell violence at the incident
level by encouraging officers to engage in tactics
that defuse violent incidents41
Democracy and communit y participation I agree
w it h Loader when he notes t hat ldquoT he pol ice
in shor t are bot h m i nders a nd reminders of
community mdash a producer of significant messages
about t he k i nd of place t hat com mu nit y is or
aspires to berdquo42 Policing makes communit y It is
no accident that an iconic symbol of England itself
is the Bobbyrsquos hat43 In the United States policingrsquos
symbolic valence is not so positive At least one
scholar has located t he genesis of A mer ica n
policing not in the benevolent image of a kindly
communit y protector but in t he more sinister
for m of t he slave pat rol ler44 T he procedu ra l
justice literature rev iewed above makes clear
the ways in which this dark histor y can and likely
does undermine trust in police in the modern era
And yet this same literature provides a roadmap
for a more posit ive relat ionsh ip t hat not only
benefits those who need help from the police but
also potentially supports t heir par t icipation in
democratically led government It is important
for people to feel t hat if t hey call on t he police
(a nd ot her lega l actors a nd inst it ut ions) not
only w ill t heir securit y be protected but t hey
w i l l a lso be t reated w it h respect t hei r r ig hts
w ill be recognized and they w ill be subject to
fair decision-making The fact that most people
i n a com mu nit y ra rely ca ll on t he pol ice for
ser v ices does not change this because police
and other legal actors are in the background in
12 | New Perspec tives in Policing
ever y communit y and shape what people t hink
feel and do People want to feel comfort not fear
when the police are present and to anticipate that
they w ill receive help and professional t reatment
when they need it W hen they do t hey become
invested in the communities in which t hey live
Research on popular legitimacy to which police
contribute suggests t hat when people evaluate
t hei r pol ice a nd cou r t s ystems as procedura l ly
fair t hey identif y more w it h their communities
and engage in them socially by trust ing neighbors
p ol i t ic a l l y b y v o t i n g a nd e c onom ic a l l y b y
shoppi ng a nd goi ng to enter t a i n ment venues
within that communit y45
Police play a critical role in teaching the people
w it h whom t hey interact (and t hose who obser ve
t hose interactions) what it means to be a citizen46
Writing recently in t he Annals Justice and Meares
a rg ue t hat t he cr i mi na l just ice system offers a
cu r ricu lum of lessons on what it mea ns to be
a cit i zen much as public schools do The over t
cu r r icu lu m of policing fou nd most obv iously
in t he tex t of t he Un ited States Const it ut ion is
designed to convey concern for rights Peoplersquos
i nt er e s t s i n a u t o n om y p r i v a c y a n d b o d i l y
integrit y ought not to be subject to the whim of
an indiv idual police officer We are a government
of laws designed to restrain state power against
t he indiv idual Education theorists explain t hat a
hidden curriculum is often taught alongside the
over t cu rr icu lu m t y pica l ly fou nd in tex tbook s
a nd of f ic i a l r ubr ic s I n sc ho ol s t he h idden
curriculum may be found in adultstudent and
studentst udent interact ions in t he enforcement
of school discipli ne policies a nd behav ior codes
in the deeply buried assumptions and narratives
of h i s t or y t e x tbo ok s i n a s c hoolrsquos c hoic e of
mascot in who gets to sit where in the cafeteria or
in t he musical select ions at t he prom The hidden
curriculum of policing similarly is a function of
how people a re t reated i n i nteract ions a nd t he
ways in which groups derive meaning regarding
t heir status in t he eyes of legal aut horit y result ing
f r o m t h at t r e a t m e n t To o of t e n t he h id d e n
curriculum of policing strateg ies sends certain
cit izens clear signals t hat they are members of a
special dangerous and undesirable class mdash t he
m ir ror image of t he posit ive over t cur r icu lum
People do not necessa r i ly lea r n t hese lessons
W hat is learned depends i n pa r t on t he deg ree
and frequency of exposure and on indiv idual and
com mu nit y resilience A s Just ice a nd Meares
note
[T]he hidde n c ur r ic u lum f lour i s he s
i n t hose contex ts where democrac y is
d i s l o c a t e d I n h i g h -p er fo r m i n g
publ ic a nd pr i v at e s c ho ol s t e ac her s
a n d s t u de nt s w or k t o g e t he r t o w a rd
c om mon goa l s t hat honor t he s oc ia l
c o n t r a c t b e t w e e n t he s c h o ol t he
student the family and t he communit y
punishment is appropr iate and mercif ul
a nd of fers forg iveness i nter per sona l
i nter ac t ion s enc ou r age suc c e s s a nd
rea f f i r m belong i ng t r u st i s endem ic
Remove t he confluence of interests t he
accountabilit y of those w ith aut horit y to
those under it the fundamental sense of
legit imacy and t he hidden cur riculum
eats away at the over t47
Rightful Policing | 13
Com m it ment to r ig ht f ul policing can help but
executives cannot be sanguine about its potential
impact The approach requires broadly conceived
a nd c oord i n ate d ef for t s a mon g a v a r ie t y of
c o n t e x t s mdash c r i m e r e d u c t i o n c o m m u n i t y
relations and importantly internal discipline48
mdash to effect real change
Endnotes
1 See Nicholas Gra ham Obama on Skip Gates
Arrest Police Acted ldquoSt upidlyrdquo Hu ffi ngt on
Post Aug 22 2009 httpw w whuffi ngtonpost
c o m 2 0 0 9 0 7 2 2 o b a m a - o n - s k i p - g a t e s -
arres_n_243250ht ml (last v isited Nov 13 2014)
2 Rachel A Harmon The Problem of Policing 110
Mich L Rev 761 (2011)
3 Christopher Stone amp Jerem y Tr avis Toward
a Ne w Professiona l ism in Policing (2 011)
httpw w wnijgovpubs-sum232359htm (last
v isited Nov 13 2014)
4 Dav id H Bay ley Police for the Fu tur e 3
(1994)
5 For one e x a m p l e c r i t ic i z i n g t he p ol ic e -
law f ulness tradeoff consider t he discussion by
Meares and Kahan of the legal struggle regarding
searches for g uns in Chicago public housing See
Tr acey L Me a r es amp Da n M K a h a n Urgen t
T i m es Pol ici ng a n d R igh ts i n I n n er Ci t y
Communities (1999)
6 See id at 18ndash22
7 Stone amp Tr avis supra note 3 at 1 (noting that
accountabilit y is a critical aspect of what t hey call
t he ldquonew professionalismrdquo along w ith legitimac y
innovat ion and nat iona l coherence)
8 See id at 12 (ldquoThe best chiefs speak confident ly
about lsquot he t h ree Crsquos cr ime cost and conduct
Police departments today are accountable for all
t hreerdquo)
9 Id at 12ndash15
10 See A n t hon y Br aga amp Dav id Weisbu r d
Policing Problem Pl aces Cr ime Hot Spots
and Effective Prevention (2010)
11 See National Research Council Fair ness
and Effectiveness in Policing The Evidence
297 (Wesley Skogan amp Kathleen Fr ydl eds 2004)
A nt hony A Braga Bra ndon C Wel sh amp Cor y
Schnel l Can Policing Disorder Reduce Crime
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis J R es
Cr i m e amp D e l i nq (For t hc om i n g ) A n t hon y
A Br aga Probl em-Or ien ted Policing a n d
Crime Prevention (2d ed 2008)
12 See Tra nscr ipt Bloomberg Vows to Appeal
Fed eral Judgersquos Ruling Th at Stop -and-F ri sk
Policy Violated Civil Rights in Press Conference
NY Da i ly Ne ws Aug 12 20 03 ht t pw w w
nyd a i l y ne w scomne w spol it ic s bloomber g-
vow s-appea l-fe der a l-judge-r u l i ng-stop-stop-
and-f r isk-pol ic y-ar t icle-11424630 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014) John Eterno amp Eli Silverman Mike
Bloombergrsquos Fact-Free Defence of Stop-and-Frisk
14 | New Perspectives in Policing
T h e Gua rdi an S e pt 11 2 013 ht t pw w w
t heguardiancomcommentisfree2013sep11
stop-a nd-f r isk-m ichael-bloomberg (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
13 See Tracey L Meares amp Dan M Kahan Law
and (Norms of) Order in Inner Cit y 32 L aw amp Socrsquoy
Rev 805 830ndash32 (1998) (discussing communit y
empowerment through law enforcement)
14 Tr acey L Mear es et al Lawful or Fair
How Cops and L aypeople View Good Policing
(Social Science Research Net work) (2012) http
papersssrncomabst ract=2116645 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
15 See Tom R Tyler amp Jeffrey Fagan Legitimacy
and Cooperation Why Do People Help the Police
Fight Cr ime in Their Communit ies 6 O h io
St J Cr i m L 231 262 (20 08) Tom R Ty ler amp
Cher yl Wakslak Profiling and Police Legitimacy
Procedural Justice Attributions of Motive and
Acceptance of Police Authority 42 Cr iminology
253 255 (2004) Tom R T yler Trust in the Law
Encour aging Public Cooper ation With the
Police and Courts (2002) Ray mond Paternoster
et a l Do Fair Procedures Matter The Effect of
Procedural Justice on Spouse Assault 31 L aw amp
Socrsquoy R ev 163 (1997)
16 See Tom R Tyler Enhancing Police Legitimacy
593 A nnals A m Aca d Pol amp Soc Sci 84 94
(2004)
17 See id
18 National Research Council supra note 11
at 297
19 See generally L egi t i m ac y a n d Cr im ina l
Justice International Perspectiv es (A nt hony
Braga et al eds 2007) (exploring the impact of
percept ions of leg it i mac y i n c r i m i na l just ice
systems across t he globe)
20 Tom R T y ler Wh y People Obey the L aw
(repr i nt 2006)
21 See Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing
the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing
and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54
Wm amp Mary L Rev 1865 1879 (2012) (prov iding
this illust rative fig ure)
22 See eg Tracey L Meares Inaugural Barrock
Lecture on Criminal Law The Legitimacy of Police
Among Young Af rican American Men 92 M a rq L
R ev 651 (2009)
23 See A ndrew V Papachristos Tracey L Meares
amp Jef f re y Faga n Attention Felons Evaluating
P roje ct S afe Ne ighb orh oo d s in Chi c ag o 4 J
Empirical Legal Stud 223 (2007)
24 Lorraine Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice
Rout ine Enc ounters an d Cit izen Perc ept ion s
of Police Main Findings f rom the Queensland
C o m m un i t y E n g ag e m e n t Tr i a l (Q C ET) 8
J E x pe r i m e n ta l C r i m i nol o g y 3 4 3 (2 01 2)
[hereinafter Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice]
L o r r a i ne M a z er o l le e t a l Sh aping C it i z en
Perceptions of Police Legitimacy A Randomized
Field Trial of Procedural Justice 51 Criminology
33 (2013) [herei na f ter Ma zerol le et a l Shaping
Citizen Perceptions]
Right ful Policing | 15
25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra
note 24
2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3
(describing the federal initiative)
27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on
Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip
J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)
(evaluating Project Ex ile)
28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and
C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he
P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)
(describing the inter vention) For an analysis
of the crime control impacts of this and similar
prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L
Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence
Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res
Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)
29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223
30 See id at 258ndash59
31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l
Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t
of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on
R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s
(Social Science Research Network 2013) http
papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited
Nov 13 2014)
32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t
Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey
Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y
Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing
Paper Series No 8 2011)
33 See id at 7
34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice
Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home
Secrsquoy 2011)
3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op
Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of
Toronto Press 2003)
36 See Neyroud supra note 34
37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful
Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them
Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9
2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-
policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)
38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training
Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)
h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _
Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair
F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r
M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice
T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port
(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs
college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y
Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce
C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
Rightful Policing | 9
punishment is f undamenta l ly inconsistent w it h
trust for such a stance assumes t hat indiv iduals
cannot be counted on to defer to and comply w ith
the law voluntarily
St at i s t ic a l a s s e s s ment s of t he i mp ac t of t he
Ch icago prog ra m a re st r i k i ng Papach r istos
Me a r e s a n d Fa g a n a s s e s s e d t h e i m p a c t o f
Chicagorsquos forums on neighborhood-level crime
rates and g un violence compared w ith the impact
of t hree other components of PSN mdash increased
federal prosecut ions for conv icted felons carr ying
or using g uns the imposition of longer sentences
associated w it h federa l prosecut ions a nd t he
removal of guns from t he street29 Their analysis
demon s t r at e s t hat a lt hou g h a l l t e s t ed P SN
initiatives were associated w it h a decrease in t he
homicide rate the forums had t he largest effect
Compa r i ng t he relat ive ef fec t s of t he for u ms
and federal g un prosecutions shows that a unit
increase in forum participation (or approx imately
45 new offenders) among t hose eligible is roughly
85 t imes more powerful than a unit increase in
federal prosecutions in reducing homicide rates30
Furt her research suggests that the forums make
a difference at an individual level as well Those
who at tended were sig n ifica nt ly more li kely to
stay out of prison t han those who did not all other
things being equal31
I n t he second e x a mple I sh i f t f rom t ac k l i ng
s er iou s i n ner-c it y v iolenc e t o t he re duc t ion
of ro ad deat h s b y t r a f f ic en forc ement T he
Q ueen s l a nd C om mu n it y E nga gement Tr ia l
(QCET)32 used a randomized field trial to test the
appl icat ion of leg it i mac y i n how Queensla nd
police enforced t he drink driv ing laws
P o l ic e of f ic er s ac r o s s A u s t r a l i a ad m i n i s t er
t hou s a n d s of b r e a t h t e s t s t o d r i v er s u n der
leg islat ion t hat empowers t hem to ca r r y out
r a ndo m r o ad s id e b r e at h-t e s t i n g T he t e s t s
tend to be ad min istered at test sites ident i fied
a s hot sp ot s of d r i n k d r i v i n g a nd c ol l i s ion s
causing serious injur y These police actions are
justifiable as bot h legal and evidence-based The
researchers at t he Australian Research Council
Cent re of Excellence in Policing and Securit y in
partnership w it h Queensland police set out to
see whet her t hey could significant ly enhance the
impact of t he test ing reg ime so that t he testing
not only checked for alcohol on the driverrsquos breath
but also increased public confidence in t he police
and support for the enforcement of drink driv ing
legislat ion
I n Q C E T t he t e s t i n g s i t e s w e r e r a ndom l y
allocated either to a cont rol mdash t he standard police
procedure mdash or to a ldquolegitimacy treatmentrdquo In t he
cont rol drivers were stopped given a short legal
wa rn ing a nd required to prov ide a breat h test
The legal minimum process and time were taken
to prov ide a test In contrast in t he ldquolegitimacy
treatmentrdquo t he drivers were taken through a five-
stage procedure t hat emphasized five dimensions
of procedu ra l just ice dec i sion neut ra l it y to
ex plain that t hose drivers stopped had not been
singled out but that t he test was being prov ided
to dr ivers at ra ndom t r ust wor t hy mot ives to
prov ide context about the reasons for the test site
and t he testing campaign cit izen participation
includ ing cri me prevent ion adv ice a nd deta i ls
of loca l Cr i mestopper s nu mber s red ress a nd
feedback or an opportunit y to raise any issues of
10 | New Perspectives in Policing
concern and dignity and respect which included
thanks to the drivers for their cooperation
There was a ver y small difference in the t ime
taken for the two approaches (around a minute
ex t ra for t he leg it i mac y t reat ment) yet t he
dr iversrsquo percept ions of t he process were ver y
different Drivers who experienced the legitimacy
t reat ment ldquore por te d s ig n i f ic a nt l y s t ronger
generalized perceptions of police fairness police
respect [a nd] hig her sat isfact ionrdquo w it h how
police do their job33 The caveat on these interim
findings is t hat researchers could not see from
this trial a w ider increase in t he respondentsrsquo
genera l con f idence i n t he pol ice or a w ider
tendency toward compliance with the law Given
that the encounter even in the longer legitimacy
treatment only lasted 1 minute and 37 seconds
this may not be surprising However the study
sug gest s t hat t he deploy ment of leg it i mac y
approaches in day-to-day police interactions with
citizens can have a significant and measurable
benefit over an approach t hat simply relies on
the letter of the law It also makes the point that
such approaches a re not on ly releva nt i n t he
critically difficult relationships between police
and minorit y communities but should also be
considered as an important part of wider police
operations
Conclusions and Implications for Policing
If legitimacy is as impor tant as I have argued
t hen it ra ises t he quest ions of how t he police
should incorporate this approach and what the
obstacles are to implementation I think we can
make progress on answering these questions by
considering three issues
Training M u c h p o l i c e t r a i n i n g d e s p i t e
improvements over t he last 20 yea rs retains
a st rong bias i n favor of lea r n i ng t he r u les
particularly legislat ion procedure (especially
c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c r i m i n a l p r o c e d u r e) a n d
depar tmental policies Such training does not
apply only at the initial recruitment phase In the
United Kingdom for example the key gateway for
promotion for all first-line managers is to pass a
set of examinations in the law and procedures
for cr ime roads policing genera l dut ies and
ev idence and procedure34 This k ind of reliance
on law and procedure as t he qualificat ion for
recr uits a nd ma nagers is t y pica l across most
jurisdictions As Janet Chan and her colleagues
show procedurallegal training is now frequently
suppor ted by prog ra ms to add ress behav iors
a nd prac t ic a l sk i l ls but a l most ne ver by a n
educational approach that provides officers with
the means and material to understand the social
science ev idence for what works in policing or
how approaches such as legitimac y make t heir
practice more effective35 Indeed Chan and her
colleag ues demonstrate how t he legal valence
of f ront line cu lt ure can u nder mi ne even t he
attempts to inject some ldquosocial contex trdquo Peter
Ne y r oud ha s re c om mende d a muc h more
fundamental shift in the framework of training
for recr u its specia l ists a nd managers so t hat
police training in the United Kingdom would be
governed by a new professional body and start
with a prequalification that emphasizes learning
about ev idence-based practice36 Without such a
Right ful Policing | 11
radical shift it seems likely from studies like that
of Chan and colleagues that police training will
continue to underpin a legalistic way of think ing
about problems and t heir solutions There are
promising signs of change however Chicago
Pol ic e Super i ntendent Ga r r y Mc Ca r t hy ha s
instituted a day-long training in police legitimacy
and racial reconciliation for the entire force To
date more than 8000 officers and leaders have
been trained37 Early assessments of the program
are extremely positive38 In the United Kingdom
extensive practical training on procedural justice
in pa r t icu la r sit uat ions is a lso becomi ng t he
norm39
Strategies and tactics Too often compelled by
the ever-present demand to bring crime statistics
down (especially in big cities) police executives
foc us on st rateg ies a nd tac t ics desig ned to
reduce violence in too-cramped ways If this is
r ig ht t hen pol ice execut ives shou ld consider
problem-solving in more holistic ways that w ill
y ield approaches t hat a re desig ned not on ly
to quel l v iolence but a lso to en ha nce sa fet y
by changing t he att itudes and disposit ions of
those alienated from them in ways that sustain
voluntar y compliance I have in mind here hot
spot policing that is not only deterrence-based but
also legitimacy-based Braga Welsh and Schnell
recently found in a rev iew of broken w indows
pol ici ng st rateg ies a dist inct brea k bet ween
t he ef fec t iveness of ag g ressive deter renc e-
focused broken w indows approaches such as
stop and frisk in New York Cit y and other more
leg it i mac y-based approaches Only t he lat ter
group produced large and statistically significant
impacts on crime40 Moreover commitment to
legit imacy can also help police increase safet y
and by implication quell violence at the incident
level by encouraging officers to engage in tactics
that defuse violent incidents41
Democracy and communit y participation I agree
w it h Loader when he notes t hat ldquoT he pol ice
in shor t are bot h m i nders a nd reminders of
community mdash a producer of significant messages
about t he k i nd of place t hat com mu nit y is or
aspires to berdquo42 Policing makes communit y It is
no accident that an iconic symbol of England itself
is the Bobbyrsquos hat43 In the United States policingrsquos
symbolic valence is not so positive At least one
scholar has located t he genesis of A mer ica n
policing not in the benevolent image of a kindly
communit y protector but in t he more sinister
for m of t he slave pat rol ler44 T he procedu ra l
justice literature rev iewed above makes clear
the ways in which this dark histor y can and likely
does undermine trust in police in the modern era
And yet this same literature provides a roadmap
for a more posit ive relat ionsh ip t hat not only
benefits those who need help from the police but
also potentially supports t heir par t icipation in
democratically led government It is important
for people to feel t hat if t hey call on t he police
(a nd ot her lega l actors a nd inst it ut ions) not
only w ill t heir securit y be protected but t hey
w i l l a lso be t reated w it h respect t hei r r ig hts
w ill be recognized and they w ill be subject to
fair decision-making The fact that most people
i n a com mu nit y ra rely ca ll on t he pol ice for
ser v ices does not change this because police
and other legal actors are in the background in
12 | New Perspec tives in Policing
ever y communit y and shape what people t hink
feel and do People want to feel comfort not fear
when the police are present and to anticipate that
they w ill receive help and professional t reatment
when they need it W hen they do t hey become
invested in the communities in which t hey live
Research on popular legitimacy to which police
contribute suggests t hat when people evaluate
t hei r pol ice a nd cou r t s ystems as procedura l ly
fair t hey identif y more w it h their communities
and engage in them socially by trust ing neighbors
p ol i t ic a l l y b y v o t i n g a nd e c onom ic a l l y b y
shoppi ng a nd goi ng to enter t a i n ment venues
within that communit y45
Police play a critical role in teaching the people
w it h whom t hey interact (and t hose who obser ve
t hose interactions) what it means to be a citizen46
Writing recently in t he Annals Justice and Meares
a rg ue t hat t he cr i mi na l just ice system offers a
cu r ricu lum of lessons on what it mea ns to be
a cit i zen much as public schools do The over t
cu r r icu lu m of policing fou nd most obv iously
in t he tex t of t he Un ited States Const it ut ion is
designed to convey concern for rights Peoplersquos
i nt er e s t s i n a u t o n om y p r i v a c y a n d b o d i l y
integrit y ought not to be subject to the whim of
an indiv idual police officer We are a government
of laws designed to restrain state power against
t he indiv idual Education theorists explain t hat a
hidden curriculum is often taught alongside the
over t cu rr icu lu m t y pica l ly fou nd in tex tbook s
a nd of f ic i a l r ubr ic s I n sc ho ol s t he h idden
curriculum may be found in adultstudent and
studentst udent interact ions in t he enforcement
of school discipli ne policies a nd behav ior codes
in the deeply buried assumptions and narratives
of h i s t or y t e x tbo ok s i n a s c hoolrsquos c hoic e of
mascot in who gets to sit where in the cafeteria or
in t he musical select ions at t he prom The hidden
curriculum of policing similarly is a function of
how people a re t reated i n i nteract ions a nd t he
ways in which groups derive meaning regarding
t heir status in t he eyes of legal aut horit y result ing
f r o m t h at t r e a t m e n t To o of t e n t he h id d e n
curriculum of policing strateg ies sends certain
cit izens clear signals t hat they are members of a
special dangerous and undesirable class mdash t he
m ir ror image of t he posit ive over t cur r icu lum
People do not necessa r i ly lea r n t hese lessons
W hat is learned depends i n pa r t on t he deg ree
and frequency of exposure and on indiv idual and
com mu nit y resilience A s Just ice a nd Meares
note
[T]he hidde n c ur r ic u lum f lour i s he s
i n t hose contex ts where democrac y is
d i s l o c a t e d I n h i g h -p er fo r m i n g
publ ic a nd pr i v at e s c ho ol s t e ac her s
a n d s t u de nt s w or k t o g e t he r t o w a rd
c om mon goa l s t hat honor t he s oc ia l
c o n t r a c t b e t w e e n t he s c h o ol t he
student the family and t he communit y
punishment is appropr iate and mercif ul
a nd of fers forg iveness i nter per sona l
i nter ac t ion s enc ou r age suc c e s s a nd
rea f f i r m belong i ng t r u st i s endem ic
Remove t he confluence of interests t he
accountabilit y of those w ith aut horit y to
those under it the fundamental sense of
legit imacy and t he hidden cur riculum
eats away at the over t47
Rightful Policing | 13
Com m it ment to r ig ht f ul policing can help but
executives cannot be sanguine about its potential
impact The approach requires broadly conceived
a nd c oord i n ate d ef for t s a mon g a v a r ie t y of
c o n t e x t s mdash c r i m e r e d u c t i o n c o m m u n i t y
relations and importantly internal discipline48
mdash to effect real change
Endnotes
1 See Nicholas Gra ham Obama on Skip Gates
Arrest Police Acted ldquoSt upidlyrdquo Hu ffi ngt on
Post Aug 22 2009 httpw w whuffi ngtonpost
c o m 2 0 0 9 0 7 2 2 o b a m a - o n - s k i p - g a t e s -
arres_n_243250ht ml (last v isited Nov 13 2014)
2 Rachel A Harmon The Problem of Policing 110
Mich L Rev 761 (2011)
3 Christopher Stone amp Jerem y Tr avis Toward
a Ne w Professiona l ism in Policing (2 011)
httpw w wnijgovpubs-sum232359htm (last
v isited Nov 13 2014)
4 Dav id H Bay ley Police for the Fu tur e 3
(1994)
5 For one e x a m p l e c r i t ic i z i n g t he p ol ic e -
law f ulness tradeoff consider t he discussion by
Meares and Kahan of the legal struggle regarding
searches for g uns in Chicago public housing See
Tr acey L Me a r es amp Da n M K a h a n Urgen t
T i m es Pol ici ng a n d R igh ts i n I n n er Ci t y
Communities (1999)
6 See id at 18ndash22
7 Stone amp Tr avis supra note 3 at 1 (noting that
accountabilit y is a critical aspect of what t hey call
t he ldquonew professionalismrdquo along w ith legitimac y
innovat ion and nat iona l coherence)
8 See id at 12 (ldquoThe best chiefs speak confident ly
about lsquot he t h ree Crsquos cr ime cost and conduct
Police departments today are accountable for all
t hreerdquo)
9 Id at 12ndash15
10 See A n t hon y Br aga amp Dav id Weisbu r d
Policing Problem Pl aces Cr ime Hot Spots
and Effective Prevention (2010)
11 See National Research Council Fair ness
and Effectiveness in Policing The Evidence
297 (Wesley Skogan amp Kathleen Fr ydl eds 2004)
A nt hony A Braga Bra ndon C Wel sh amp Cor y
Schnel l Can Policing Disorder Reduce Crime
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis J R es
Cr i m e amp D e l i nq (For t hc om i n g ) A n t hon y
A Br aga Probl em-Or ien ted Policing a n d
Crime Prevention (2d ed 2008)
12 See Tra nscr ipt Bloomberg Vows to Appeal
Fed eral Judgersquos Ruling Th at Stop -and-F ri sk
Policy Violated Civil Rights in Press Conference
NY Da i ly Ne ws Aug 12 20 03 ht t pw w w
nyd a i l y ne w scomne w spol it ic s bloomber g-
vow s-appea l-fe der a l-judge-r u l i ng-stop-stop-
and-f r isk-pol ic y-ar t icle-11424630 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014) John Eterno amp Eli Silverman Mike
Bloombergrsquos Fact-Free Defence of Stop-and-Frisk
14 | New Perspectives in Policing
T h e Gua rdi an S e pt 11 2 013 ht t pw w w
t heguardiancomcommentisfree2013sep11
stop-a nd-f r isk-m ichael-bloomberg (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
13 See Tracey L Meares amp Dan M Kahan Law
and (Norms of) Order in Inner Cit y 32 L aw amp Socrsquoy
Rev 805 830ndash32 (1998) (discussing communit y
empowerment through law enforcement)
14 Tr acey L Mear es et al Lawful or Fair
How Cops and L aypeople View Good Policing
(Social Science Research Net work) (2012) http
papersssrncomabst ract=2116645 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
15 See Tom R Tyler amp Jeffrey Fagan Legitimacy
and Cooperation Why Do People Help the Police
Fight Cr ime in Their Communit ies 6 O h io
St J Cr i m L 231 262 (20 08) Tom R Ty ler amp
Cher yl Wakslak Profiling and Police Legitimacy
Procedural Justice Attributions of Motive and
Acceptance of Police Authority 42 Cr iminology
253 255 (2004) Tom R T yler Trust in the Law
Encour aging Public Cooper ation With the
Police and Courts (2002) Ray mond Paternoster
et a l Do Fair Procedures Matter The Effect of
Procedural Justice on Spouse Assault 31 L aw amp
Socrsquoy R ev 163 (1997)
16 See Tom R Tyler Enhancing Police Legitimacy
593 A nnals A m Aca d Pol amp Soc Sci 84 94
(2004)
17 See id
18 National Research Council supra note 11
at 297
19 See generally L egi t i m ac y a n d Cr im ina l
Justice International Perspectiv es (A nt hony
Braga et al eds 2007) (exploring the impact of
percept ions of leg it i mac y i n c r i m i na l just ice
systems across t he globe)
20 Tom R T y ler Wh y People Obey the L aw
(repr i nt 2006)
21 See Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing
the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing
and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54
Wm amp Mary L Rev 1865 1879 (2012) (prov iding
this illust rative fig ure)
22 See eg Tracey L Meares Inaugural Barrock
Lecture on Criminal Law The Legitimacy of Police
Among Young Af rican American Men 92 M a rq L
R ev 651 (2009)
23 See A ndrew V Papachristos Tracey L Meares
amp Jef f re y Faga n Attention Felons Evaluating
P roje ct S afe Ne ighb orh oo d s in Chi c ag o 4 J
Empirical Legal Stud 223 (2007)
24 Lorraine Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice
Rout ine Enc ounters an d Cit izen Perc ept ion s
of Police Main Findings f rom the Queensland
C o m m un i t y E n g ag e m e n t Tr i a l (Q C ET) 8
J E x pe r i m e n ta l C r i m i nol o g y 3 4 3 (2 01 2)
[hereinafter Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice]
L o r r a i ne M a z er o l le e t a l Sh aping C it i z en
Perceptions of Police Legitimacy A Randomized
Field Trial of Procedural Justice 51 Criminology
33 (2013) [herei na f ter Ma zerol le et a l Shaping
Citizen Perceptions]
Right ful Policing | 15
25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra
note 24
2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3
(describing the federal initiative)
27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on
Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip
J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)
(evaluating Project Ex ile)
28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and
C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he
P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)
(describing the inter vention) For an analysis
of the crime control impacts of this and similar
prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L
Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence
Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res
Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)
29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223
30 See id at 258ndash59
31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l
Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t
of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on
R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s
(Social Science Research Network 2013) http
papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited
Nov 13 2014)
32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t
Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey
Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y
Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing
Paper Series No 8 2011)
33 See id at 7
34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice
Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home
Secrsquoy 2011)
3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op
Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of
Toronto Press 2003)
36 See Neyroud supra note 34
37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful
Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them
Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9
2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-
policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)
38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training
Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)
h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _
Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair
F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r
M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice
T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port
(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs
college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y
Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce
C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
10 | New Perspectives in Policing
concern and dignity and respect which included
thanks to the drivers for their cooperation
There was a ver y small difference in the t ime
taken for the two approaches (around a minute
ex t ra for t he leg it i mac y t reat ment) yet t he
dr iversrsquo percept ions of t he process were ver y
different Drivers who experienced the legitimacy
t reat ment ldquore por te d s ig n i f ic a nt l y s t ronger
generalized perceptions of police fairness police
respect [a nd] hig her sat isfact ionrdquo w it h how
police do their job33 The caveat on these interim
findings is t hat researchers could not see from
this trial a w ider increase in t he respondentsrsquo
genera l con f idence i n t he pol ice or a w ider
tendency toward compliance with the law Given
that the encounter even in the longer legitimacy
treatment only lasted 1 minute and 37 seconds
this may not be surprising However the study
sug gest s t hat t he deploy ment of leg it i mac y
approaches in day-to-day police interactions with
citizens can have a significant and measurable
benefit over an approach t hat simply relies on
the letter of the law It also makes the point that
such approaches a re not on ly releva nt i n t he
critically difficult relationships between police
and minorit y communities but should also be
considered as an important part of wider police
operations
Conclusions and Implications for Policing
If legitimacy is as impor tant as I have argued
t hen it ra ises t he quest ions of how t he police
should incorporate this approach and what the
obstacles are to implementation I think we can
make progress on answering these questions by
considering three issues
Training M u c h p o l i c e t r a i n i n g d e s p i t e
improvements over t he last 20 yea rs retains
a st rong bias i n favor of lea r n i ng t he r u les
particularly legislat ion procedure (especially
c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c r i m i n a l p r o c e d u r e) a n d
depar tmental policies Such training does not
apply only at the initial recruitment phase In the
United Kingdom for example the key gateway for
promotion for all first-line managers is to pass a
set of examinations in the law and procedures
for cr ime roads policing genera l dut ies and
ev idence and procedure34 This k ind of reliance
on law and procedure as t he qualificat ion for
recr uits a nd ma nagers is t y pica l across most
jurisdictions As Janet Chan and her colleagues
show procedurallegal training is now frequently
suppor ted by prog ra ms to add ress behav iors
a nd prac t ic a l sk i l ls but a l most ne ver by a n
educational approach that provides officers with
the means and material to understand the social
science ev idence for what works in policing or
how approaches such as legitimac y make t heir
practice more effective35 Indeed Chan and her
colleag ues demonstrate how t he legal valence
of f ront line cu lt ure can u nder mi ne even t he
attempts to inject some ldquosocial contex trdquo Peter
Ne y r oud ha s re c om mende d a muc h more
fundamental shift in the framework of training
for recr u its specia l ists a nd managers so t hat
police training in the United Kingdom would be
governed by a new professional body and start
with a prequalification that emphasizes learning
about ev idence-based practice36 Without such a
Right ful Policing | 11
radical shift it seems likely from studies like that
of Chan and colleagues that police training will
continue to underpin a legalistic way of think ing
about problems and t heir solutions There are
promising signs of change however Chicago
Pol ic e Super i ntendent Ga r r y Mc Ca r t hy ha s
instituted a day-long training in police legitimacy
and racial reconciliation for the entire force To
date more than 8000 officers and leaders have
been trained37 Early assessments of the program
are extremely positive38 In the United Kingdom
extensive practical training on procedural justice
in pa r t icu la r sit uat ions is a lso becomi ng t he
norm39
Strategies and tactics Too often compelled by
the ever-present demand to bring crime statistics
down (especially in big cities) police executives
foc us on st rateg ies a nd tac t ics desig ned to
reduce violence in too-cramped ways If this is
r ig ht t hen pol ice execut ives shou ld consider
problem-solving in more holistic ways that w ill
y ield approaches t hat a re desig ned not on ly
to quel l v iolence but a lso to en ha nce sa fet y
by changing t he att itudes and disposit ions of
those alienated from them in ways that sustain
voluntar y compliance I have in mind here hot
spot policing that is not only deterrence-based but
also legitimacy-based Braga Welsh and Schnell
recently found in a rev iew of broken w indows
pol ici ng st rateg ies a dist inct brea k bet ween
t he ef fec t iveness of ag g ressive deter renc e-
focused broken w indows approaches such as
stop and frisk in New York Cit y and other more
leg it i mac y-based approaches Only t he lat ter
group produced large and statistically significant
impacts on crime40 Moreover commitment to
legit imacy can also help police increase safet y
and by implication quell violence at the incident
level by encouraging officers to engage in tactics
that defuse violent incidents41
Democracy and communit y participation I agree
w it h Loader when he notes t hat ldquoT he pol ice
in shor t are bot h m i nders a nd reminders of
community mdash a producer of significant messages
about t he k i nd of place t hat com mu nit y is or
aspires to berdquo42 Policing makes communit y It is
no accident that an iconic symbol of England itself
is the Bobbyrsquos hat43 In the United States policingrsquos
symbolic valence is not so positive At least one
scholar has located t he genesis of A mer ica n
policing not in the benevolent image of a kindly
communit y protector but in t he more sinister
for m of t he slave pat rol ler44 T he procedu ra l
justice literature rev iewed above makes clear
the ways in which this dark histor y can and likely
does undermine trust in police in the modern era
And yet this same literature provides a roadmap
for a more posit ive relat ionsh ip t hat not only
benefits those who need help from the police but
also potentially supports t heir par t icipation in
democratically led government It is important
for people to feel t hat if t hey call on t he police
(a nd ot her lega l actors a nd inst it ut ions) not
only w ill t heir securit y be protected but t hey
w i l l a lso be t reated w it h respect t hei r r ig hts
w ill be recognized and they w ill be subject to
fair decision-making The fact that most people
i n a com mu nit y ra rely ca ll on t he pol ice for
ser v ices does not change this because police
and other legal actors are in the background in
12 | New Perspec tives in Policing
ever y communit y and shape what people t hink
feel and do People want to feel comfort not fear
when the police are present and to anticipate that
they w ill receive help and professional t reatment
when they need it W hen they do t hey become
invested in the communities in which t hey live
Research on popular legitimacy to which police
contribute suggests t hat when people evaluate
t hei r pol ice a nd cou r t s ystems as procedura l ly
fair t hey identif y more w it h their communities
and engage in them socially by trust ing neighbors
p ol i t ic a l l y b y v o t i n g a nd e c onom ic a l l y b y
shoppi ng a nd goi ng to enter t a i n ment venues
within that communit y45
Police play a critical role in teaching the people
w it h whom t hey interact (and t hose who obser ve
t hose interactions) what it means to be a citizen46
Writing recently in t he Annals Justice and Meares
a rg ue t hat t he cr i mi na l just ice system offers a
cu r ricu lum of lessons on what it mea ns to be
a cit i zen much as public schools do The over t
cu r r icu lu m of policing fou nd most obv iously
in t he tex t of t he Un ited States Const it ut ion is
designed to convey concern for rights Peoplersquos
i nt er e s t s i n a u t o n om y p r i v a c y a n d b o d i l y
integrit y ought not to be subject to the whim of
an indiv idual police officer We are a government
of laws designed to restrain state power against
t he indiv idual Education theorists explain t hat a
hidden curriculum is often taught alongside the
over t cu rr icu lu m t y pica l ly fou nd in tex tbook s
a nd of f ic i a l r ubr ic s I n sc ho ol s t he h idden
curriculum may be found in adultstudent and
studentst udent interact ions in t he enforcement
of school discipli ne policies a nd behav ior codes
in the deeply buried assumptions and narratives
of h i s t or y t e x tbo ok s i n a s c hoolrsquos c hoic e of
mascot in who gets to sit where in the cafeteria or
in t he musical select ions at t he prom The hidden
curriculum of policing similarly is a function of
how people a re t reated i n i nteract ions a nd t he
ways in which groups derive meaning regarding
t heir status in t he eyes of legal aut horit y result ing
f r o m t h at t r e a t m e n t To o of t e n t he h id d e n
curriculum of policing strateg ies sends certain
cit izens clear signals t hat they are members of a
special dangerous and undesirable class mdash t he
m ir ror image of t he posit ive over t cur r icu lum
People do not necessa r i ly lea r n t hese lessons
W hat is learned depends i n pa r t on t he deg ree
and frequency of exposure and on indiv idual and
com mu nit y resilience A s Just ice a nd Meares
note
[T]he hidde n c ur r ic u lum f lour i s he s
i n t hose contex ts where democrac y is
d i s l o c a t e d I n h i g h -p er fo r m i n g
publ ic a nd pr i v at e s c ho ol s t e ac her s
a n d s t u de nt s w or k t o g e t he r t o w a rd
c om mon goa l s t hat honor t he s oc ia l
c o n t r a c t b e t w e e n t he s c h o ol t he
student the family and t he communit y
punishment is appropr iate and mercif ul
a nd of fers forg iveness i nter per sona l
i nter ac t ion s enc ou r age suc c e s s a nd
rea f f i r m belong i ng t r u st i s endem ic
Remove t he confluence of interests t he
accountabilit y of those w ith aut horit y to
those under it the fundamental sense of
legit imacy and t he hidden cur riculum
eats away at the over t47
Rightful Policing | 13
Com m it ment to r ig ht f ul policing can help but
executives cannot be sanguine about its potential
impact The approach requires broadly conceived
a nd c oord i n ate d ef for t s a mon g a v a r ie t y of
c o n t e x t s mdash c r i m e r e d u c t i o n c o m m u n i t y
relations and importantly internal discipline48
mdash to effect real change
Endnotes
1 See Nicholas Gra ham Obama on Skip Gates
Arrest Police Acted ldquoSt upidlyrdquo Hu ffi ngt on
Post Aug 22 2009 httpw w whuffi ngtonpost
c o m 2 0 0 9 0 7 2 2 o b a m a - o n - s k i p - g a t e s -
arres_n_243250ht ml (last v isited Nov 13 2014)
2 Rachel A Harmon The Problem of Policing 110
Mich L Rev 761 (2011)
3 Christopher Stone amp Jerem y Tr avis Toward
a Ne w Professiona l ism in Policing (2 011)
httpw w wnijgovpubs-sum232359htm (last
v isited Nov 13 2014)
4 Dav id H Bay ley Police for the Fu tur e 3
(1994)
5 For one e x a m p l e c r i t ic i z i n g t he p ol ic e -
law f ulness tradeoff consider t he discussion by
Meares and Kahan of the legal struggle regarding
searches for g uns in Chicago public housing See
Tr acey L Me a r es amp Da n M K a h a n Urgen t
T i m es Pol ici ng a n d R igh ts i n I n n er Ci t y
Communities (1999)
6 See id at 18ndash22
7 Stone amp Tr avis supra note 3 at 1 (noting that
accountabilit y is a critical aspect of what t hey call
t he ldquonew professionalismrdquo along w ith legitimac y
innovat ion and nat iona l coherence)
8 See id at 12 (ldquoThe best chiefs speak confident ly
about lsquot he t h ree Crsquos cr ime cost and conduct
Police departments today are accountable for all
t hreerdquo)
9 Id at 12ndash15
10 See A n t hon y Br aga amp Dav id Weisbu r d
Policing Problem Pl aces Cr ime Hot Spots
and Effective Prevention (2010)
11 See National Research Council Fair ness
and Effectiveness in Policing The Evidence
297 (Wesley Skogan amp Kathleen Fr ydl eds 2004)
A nt hony A Braga Bra ndon C Wel sh amp Cor y
Schnel l Can Policing Disorder Reduce Crime
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis J R es
Cr i m e amp D e l i nq (For t hc om i n g ) A n t hon y
A Br aga Probl em-Or ien ted Policing a n d
Crime Prevention (2d ed 2008)
12 See Tra nscr ipt Bloomberg Vows to Appeal
Fed eral Judgersquos Ruling Th at Stop -and-F ri sk
Policy Violated Civil Rights in Press Conference
NY Da i ly Ne ws Aug 12 20 03 ht t pw w w
nyd a i l y ne w scomne w spol it ic s bloomber g-
vow s-appea l-fe der a l-judge-r u l i ng-stop-stop-
and-f r isk-pol ic y-ar t icle-11424630 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014) John Eterno amp Eli Silverman Mike
Bloombergrsquos Fact-Free Defence of Stop-and-Frisk
14 | New Perspectives in Policing
T h e Gua rdi an S e pt 11 2 013 ht t pw w w
t heguardiancomcommentisfree2013sep11
stop-a nd-f r isk-m ichael-bloomberg (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
13 See Tracey L Meares amp Dan M Kahan Law
and (Norms of) Order in Inner Cit y 32 L aw amp Socrsquoy
Rev 805 830ndash32 (1998) (discussing communit y
empowerment through law enforcement)
14 Tr acey L Mear es et al Lawful or Fair
How Cops and L aypeople View Good Policing
(Social Science Research Net work) (2012) http
papersssrncomabst ract=2116645 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
15 See Tom R Tyler amp Jeffrey Fagan Legitimacy
and Cooperation Why Do People Help the Police
Fight Cr ime in Their Communit ies 6 O h io
St J Cr i m L 231 262 (20 08) Tom R Ty ler amp
Cher yl Wakslak Profiling and Police Legitimacy
Procedural Justice Attributions of Motive and
Acceptance of Police Authority 42 Cr iminology
253 255 (2004) Tom R T yler Trust in the Law
Encour aging Public Cooper ation With the
Police and Courts (2002) Ray mond Paternoster
et a l Do Fair Procedures Matter The Effect of
Procedural Justice on Spouse Assault 31 L aw amp
Socrsquoy R ev 163 (1997)
16 See Tom R Tyler Enhancing Police Legitimacy
593 A nnals A m Aca d Pol amp Soc Sci 84 94
(2004)
17 See id
18 National Research Council supra note 11
at 297
19 See generally L egi t i m ac y a n d Cr im ina l
Justice International Perspectiv es (A nt hony
Braga et al eds 2007) (exploring the impact of
percept ions of leg it i mac y i n c r i m i na l just ice
systems across t he globe)
20 Tom R T y ler Wh y People Obey the L aw
(repr i nt 2006)
21 See Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing
the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing
and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54
Wm amp Mary L Rev 1865 1879 (2012) (prov iding
this illust rative fig ure)
22 See eg Tracey L Meares Inaugural Barrock
Lecture on Criminal Law The Legitimacy of Police
Among Young Af rican American Men 92 M a rq L
R ev 651 (2009)
23 See A ndrew V Papachristos Tracey L Meares
amp Jef f re y Faga n Attention Felons Evaluating
P roje ct S afe Ne ighb orh oo d s in Chi c ag o 4 J
Empirical Legal Stud 223 (2007)
24 Lorraine Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice
Rout ine Enc ounters an d Cit izen Perc ept ion s
of Police Main Findings f rom the Queensland
C o m m un i t y E n g ag e m e n t Tr i a l (Q C ET) 8
J E x pe r i m e n ta l C r i m i nol o g y 3 4 3 (2 01 2)
[hereinafter Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice]
L o r r a i ne M a z er o l le e t a l Sh aping C it i z en
Perceptions of Police Legitimacy A Randomized
Field Trial of Procedural Justice 51 Criminology
33 (2013) [herei na f ter Ma zerol le et a l Shaping
Citizen Perceptions]
Right ful Policing | 15
25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra
note 24
2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3
(describing the federal initiative)
27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on
Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip
J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)
(evaluating Project Ex ile)
28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and
C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he
P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)
(describing the inter vention) For an analysis
of the crime control impacts of this and similar
prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L
Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence
Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res
Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)
29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223
30 See id at 258ndash59
31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l
Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t
of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on
R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s
(Social Science Research Network 2013) http
papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited
Nov 13 2014)
32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t
Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey
Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y
Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing
Paper Series No 8 2011)
33 See id at 7
34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice
Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home
Secrsquoy 2011)
3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op
Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of
Toronto Press 2003)
36 See Neyroud supra note 34
37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful
Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them
Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9
2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-
policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)
38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training
Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)
h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _
Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair
F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r
M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice
T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port
(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs
college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y
Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce
C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
Right ful Policing | 11
radical shift it seems likely from studies like that
of Chan and colleagues that police training will
continue to underpin a legalistic way of think ing
about problems and t heir solutions There are
promising signs of change however Chicago
Pol ic e Super i ntendent Ga r r y Mc Ca r t hy ha s
instituted a day-long training in police legitimacy
and racial reconciliation for the entire force To
date more than 8000 officers and leaders have
been trained37 Early assessments of the program
are extremely positive38 In the United Kingdom
extensive practical training on procedural justice
in pa r t icu la r sit uat ions is a lso becomi ng t he
norm39
Strategies and tactics Too often compelled by
the ever-present demand to bring crime statistics
down (especially in big cities) police executives
foc us on st rateg ies a nd tac t ics desig ned to
reduce violence in too-cramped ways If this is
r ig ht t hen pol ice execut ives shou ld consider
problem-solving in more holistic ways that w ill
y ield approaches t hat a re desig ned not on ly
to quel l v iolence but a lso to en ha nce sa fet y
by changing t he att itudes and disposit ions of
those alienated from them in ways that sustain
voluntar y compliance I have in mind here hot
spot policing that is not only deterrence-based but
also legitimacy-based Braga Welsh and Schnell
recently found in a rev iew of broken w indows
pol ici ng st rateg ies a dist inct brea k bet ween
t he ef fec t iveness of ag g ressive deter renc e-
focused broken w indows approaches such as
stop and frisk in New York Cit y and other more
leg it i mac y-based approaches Only t he lat ter
group produced large and statistically significant
impacts on crime40 Moreover commitment to
legit imacy can also help police increase safet y
and by implication quell violence at the incident
level by encouraging officers to engage in tactics
that defuse violent incidents41
Democracy and communit y participation I agree
w it h Loader when he notes t hat ldquoT he pol ice
in shor t are bot h m i nders a nd reminders of
community mdash a producer of significant messages
about t he k i nd of place t hat com mu nit y is or
aspires to berdquo42 Policing makes communit y It is
no accident that an iconic symbol of England itself
is the Bobbyrsquos hat43 In the United States policingrsquos
symbolic valence is not so positive At least one
scholar has located t he genesis of A mer ica n
policing not in the benevolent image of a kindly
communit y protector but in t he more sinister
for m of t he slave pat rol ler44 T he procedu ra l
justice literature rev iewed above makes clear
the ways in which this dark histor y can and likely
does undermine trust in police in the modern era
And yet this same literature provides a roadmap
for a more posit ive relat ionsh ip t hat not only
benefits those who need help from the police but
also potentially supports t heir par t icipation in
democratically led government It is important
for people to feel t hat if t hey call on t he police
(a nd ot her lega l actors a nd inst it ut ions) not
only w ill t heir securit y be protected but t hey
w i l l a lso be t reated w it h respect t hei r r ig hts
w ill be recognized and they w ill be subject to
fair decision-making The fact that most people
i n a com mu nit y ra rely ca ll on t he pol ice for
ser v ices does not change this because police
and other legal actors are in the background in
12 | New Perspec tives in Policing
ever y communit y and shape what people t hink
feel and do People want to feel comfort not fear
when the police are present and to anticipate that
they w ill receive help and professional t reatment
when they need it W hen they do t hey become
invested in the communities in which t hey live
Research on popular legitimacy to which police
contribute suggests t hat when people evaluate
t hei r pol ice a nd cou r t s ystems as procedura l ly
fair t hey identif y more w it h their communities
and engage in them socially by trust ing neighbors
p ol i t ic a l l y b y v o t i n g a nd e c onom ic a l l y b y
shoppi ng a nd goi ng to enter t a i n ment venues
within that communit y45
Police play a critical role in teaching the people
w it h whom t hey interact (and t hose who obser ve
t hose interactions) what it means to be a citizen46
Writing recently in t he Annals Justice and Meares
a rg ue t hat t he cr i mi na l just ice system offers a
cu r ricu lum of lessons on what it mea ns to be
a cit i zen much as public schools do The over t
cu r r icu lu m of policing fou nd most obv iously
in t he tex t of t he Un ited States Const it ut ion is
designed to convey concern for rights Peoplersquos
i nt er e s t s i n a u t o n om y p r i v a c y a n d b o d i l y
integrit y ought not to be subject to the whim of
an indiv idual police officer We are a government
of laws designed to restrain state power against
t he indiv idual Education theorists explain t hat a
hidden curriculum is often taught alongside the
over t cu rr icu lu m t y pica l ly fou nd in tex tbook s
a nd of f ic i a l r ubr ic s I n sc ho ol s t he h idden
curriculum may be found in adultstudent and
studentst udent interact ions in t he enforcement
of school discipli ne policies a nd behav ior codes
in the deeply buried assumptions and narratives
of h i s t or y t e x tbo ok s i n a s c hoolrsquos c hoic e of
mascot in who gets to sit where in the cafeteria or
in t he musical select ions at t he prom The hidden
curriculum of policing similarly is a function of
how people a re t reated i n i nteract ions a nd t he
ways in which groups derive meaning regarding
t heir status in t he eyes of legal aut horit y result ing
f r o m t h at t r e a t m e n t To o of t e n t he h id d e n
curriculum of policing strateg ies sends certain
cit izens clear signals t hat they are members of a
special dangerous and undesirable class mdash t he
m ir ror image of t he posit ive over t cur r icu lum
People do not necessa r i ly lea r n t hese lessons
W hat is learned depends i n pa r t on t he deg ree
and frequency of exposure and on indiv idual and
com mu nit y resilience A s Just ice a nd Meares
note
[T]he hidde n c ur r ic u lum f lour i s he s
i n t hose contex ts where democrac y is
d i s l o c a t e d I n h i g h -p er fo r m i n g
publ ic a nd pr i v at e s c ho ol s t e ac her s
a n d s t u de nt s w or k t o g e t he r t o w a rd
c om mon goa l s t hat honor t he s oc ia l
c o n t r a c t b e t w e e n t he s c h o ol t he
student the family and t he communit y
punishment is appropr iate and mercif ul
a nd of fers forg iveness i nter per sona l
i nter ac t ion s enc ou r age suc c e s s a nd
rea f f i r m belong i ng t r u st i s endem ic
Remove t he confluence of interests t he
accountabilit y of those w ith aut horit y to
those under it the fundamental sense of
legit imacy and t he hidden cur riculum
eats away at the over t47
Rightful Policing | 13
Com m it ment to r ig ht f ul policing can help but
executives cannot be sanguine about its potential
impact The approach requires broadly conceived
a nd c oord i n ate d ef for t s a mon g a v a r ie t y of
c o n t e x t s mdash c r i m e r e d u c t i o n c o m m u n i t y
relations and importantly internal discipline48
mdash to effect real change
Endnotes
1 See Nicholas Gra ham Obama on Skip Gates
Arrest Police Acted ldquoSt upidlyrdquo Hu ffi ngt on
Post Aug 22 2009 httpw w whuffi ngtonpost
c o m 2 0 0 9 0 7 2 2 o b a m a - o n - s k i p - g a t e s -
arres_n_243250ht ml (last v isited Nov 13 2014)
2 Rachel A Harmon The Problem of Policing 110
Mich L Rev 761 (2011)
3 Christopher Stone amp Jerem y Tr avis Toward
a Ne w Professiona l ism in Policing (2 011)
httpw w wnijgovpubs-sum232359htm (last
v isited Nov 13 2014)
4 Dav id H Bay ley Police for the Fu tur e 3
(1994)
5 For one e x a m p l e c r i t ic i z i n g t he p ol ic e -
law f ulness tradeoff consider t he discussion by
Meares and Kahan of the legal struggle regarding
searches for g uns in Chicago public housing See
Tr acey L Me a r es amp Da n M K a h a n Urgen t
T i m es Pol ici ng a n d R igh ts i n I n n er Ci t y
Communities (1999)
6 See id at 18ndash22
7 Stone amp Tr avis supra note 3 at 1 (noting that
accountabilit y is a critical aspect of what t hey call
t he ldquonew professionalismrdquo along w ith legitimac y
innovat ion and nat iona l coherence)
8 See id at 12 (ldquoThe best chiefs speak confident ly
about lsquot he t h ree Crsquos cr ime cost and conduct
Police departments today are accountable for all
t hreerdquo)
9 Id at 12ndash15
10 See A n t hon y Br aga amp Dav id Weisbu r d
Policing Problem Pl aces Cr ime Hot Spots
and Effective Prevention (2010)
11 See National Research Council Fair ness
and Effectiveness in Policing The Evidence
297 (Wesley Skogan amp Kathleen Fr ydl eds 2004)
A nt hony A Braga Bra ndon C Wel sh amp Cor y
Schnel l Can Policing Disorder Reduce Crime
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis J R es
Cr i m e amp D e l i nq (For t hc om i n g ) A n t hon y
A Br aga Probl em-Or ien ted Policing a n d
Crime Prevention (2d ed 2008)
12 See Tra nscr ipt Bloomberg Vows to Appeal
Fed eral Judgersquos Ruling Th at Stop -and-F ri sk
Policy Violated Civil Rights in Press Conference
NY Da i ly Ne ws Aug 12 20 03 ht t pw w w
nyd a i l y ne w scomne w spol it ic s bloomber g-
vow s-appea l-fe der a l-judge-r u l i ng-stop-stop-
and-f r isk-pol ic y-ar t icle-11424630 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014) John Eterno amp Eli Silverman Mike
Bloombergrsquos Fact-Free Defence of Stop-and-Frisk
14 | New Perspectives in Policing
T h e Gua rdi an S e pt 11 2 013 ht t pw w w
t heguardiancomcommentisfree2013sep11
stop-a nd-f r isk-m ichael-bloomberg (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
13 See Tracey L Meares amp Dan M Kahan Law
and (Norms of) Order in Inner Cit y 32 L aw amp Socrsquoy
Rev 805 830ndash32 (1998) (discussing communit y
empowerment through law enforcement)
14 Tr acey L Mear es et al Lawful or Fair
How Cops and L aypeople View Good Policing
(Social Science Research Net work) (2012) http
papersssrncomabst ract=2116645 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
15 See Tom R Tyler amp Jeffrey Fagan Legitimacy
and Cooperation Why Do People Help the Police
Fight Cr ime in Their Communit ies 6 O h io
St J Cr i m L 231 262 (20 08) Tom R Ty ler amp
Cher yl Wakslak Profiling and Police Legitimacy
Procedural Justice Attributions of Motive and
Acceptance of Police Authority 42 Cr iminology
253 255 (2004) Tom R T yler Trust in the Law
Encour aging Public Cooper ation With the
Police and Courts (2002) Ray mond Paternoster
et a l Do Fair Procedures Matter The Effect of
Procedural Justice on Spouse Assault 31 L aw amp
Socrsquoy R ev 163 (1997)
16 See Tom R Tyler Enhancing Police Legitimacy
593 A nnals A m Aca d Pol amp Soc Sci 84 94
(2004)
17 See id
18 National Research Council supra note 11
at 297
19 See generally L egi t i m ac y a n d Cr im ina l
Justice International Perspectiv es (A nt hony
Braga et al eds 2007) (exploring the impact of
percept ions of leg it i mac y i n c r i m i na l just ice
systems across t he globe)
20 Tom R T y ler Wh y People Obey the L aw
(repr i nt 2006)
21 See Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing
the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing
and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54
Wm amp Mary L Rev 1865 1879 (2012) (prov iding
this illust rative fig ure)
22 See eg Tracey L Meares Inaugural Barrock
Lecture on Criminal Law The Legitimacy of Police
Among Young Af rican American Men 92 M a rq L
R ev 651 (2009)
23 See A ndrew V Papachristos Tracey L Meares
amp Jef f re y Faga n Attention Felons Evaluating
P roje ct S afe Ne ighb orh oo d s in Chi c ag o 4 J
Empirical Legal Stud 223 (2007)
24 Lorraine Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice
Rout ine Enc ounters an d Cit izen Perc ept ion s
of Police Main Findings f rom the Queensland
C o m m un i t y E n g ag e m e n t Tr i a l (Q C ET) 8
J E x pe r i m e n ta l C r i m i nol o g y 3 4 3 (2 01 2)
[hereinafter Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice]
L o r r a i ne M a z er o l le e t a l Sh aping C it i z en
Perceptions of Police Legitimacy A Randomized
Field Trial of Procedural Justice 51 Criminology
33 (2013) [herei na f ter Ma zerol le et a l Shaping
Citizen Perceptions]
Right ful Policing | 15
25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra
note 24
2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3
(describing the federal initiative)
27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on
Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip
J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)
(evaluating Project Ex ile)
28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and
C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he
P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)
(describing the inter vention) For an analysis
of the crime control impacts of this and similar
prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L
Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence
Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res
Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)
29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223
30 See id at 258ndash59
31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l
Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t
of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on
R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s
(Social Science Research Network 2013) http
papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited
Nov 13 2014)
32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t
Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey
Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y
Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing
Paper Series No 8 2011)
33 See id at 7
34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice
Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home
Secrsquoy 2011)
3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op
Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of
Toronto Press 2003)
36 See Neyroud supra note 34
37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful
Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them
Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9
2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-
policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)
38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training
Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)
h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _
Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair
F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r
M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice
T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port
(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs
college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y
Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce
C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
12 | New Perspec tives in Policing
ever y communit y and shape what people t hink
feel and do People want to feel comfort not fear
when the police are present and to anticipate that
they w ill receive help and professional t reatment
when they need it W hen they do t hey become
invested in the communities in which t hey live
Research on popular legitimacy to which police
contribute suggests t hat when people evaluate
t hei r pol ice a nd cou r t s ystems as procedura l ly
fair t hey identif y more w it h their communities
and engage in them socially by trust ing neighbors
p ol i t ic a l l y b y v o t i n g a nd e c onom ic a l l y b y
shoppi ng a nd goi ng to enter t a i n ment venues
within that communit y45
Police play a critical role in teaching the people
w it h whom t hey interact (and t hose who obser ve
t hose interactions) what it means to be a citizen46
Writing recently in t he Annals Justice and Meares
a rg ue t hat t he cr i mi na l just ice system offers a
cu r ricu lum of lessons on what it mea ns to be
a cit i zen much as public schools do The over t
cu r r icu lu m of policing fou nd most obv iously
in t he tex t of t he Un ited States Const it ut ion is
designed to convey concern for rights Peoplersquos
i nt er e s t s i n a u t o n om y p r i v a c y a n d b o d i l y
integrit y ought not to be subject to the whim of
an indiv idual police officer We are a government
of laws designed to restrain state power against
t he indiv idual Education theorists explain t hat a
hidden curriculum is often taught alongside the
over t cu rr icu lu m t y pica l ly fou nd in tex tbook s
a nd of f ic i a l r ubr ic s I n sc ho ol s t he h idden
curriculum may be found in adultstudent and
studentst udent interact ions in t he enforcement
of school discipli ne policies a nd behav ior codes
in the deeply buried assumptions and narratives
of h i s t or y t e x tbo ok s i n a s c hoolrsquos c hoic e of
mascot in who gets to sit where in the cafeteria or
in t he musical select ions at t he prom The hidden
curriculum of policing similarly is a function of
how people a re t reated i n i nteract ions a nd t he
ways in which groups derive meaning regarding
t heir status in t he eyes of legal aut horit y result ing
f r o m t h at t r e a t m e n t To o of t e n t he h id d e n
curriculum of policing strateg ies sends certain
cit izens clear signals t hat they are members of a
special dangerous and undesirable class mdash t he
m ir ror image of t he posit ive over t cur r icu lum
People do not necessa r i ly lea r n t hese lessons
W hat is learned depends i n pa r t on t he deg ree
and frequency of exposure and on indiv idual and
com mu nit y resilience A s Just ice a nd Meares
note
[T]he hidde n c ur r ic u lum f lour i s he s
i n t hose contex ts where democrac y is
d i s l o c a t e d I n h i g h -p er fo r m i n g
publ ic a nd pr i v at e s c ho ol s t e ac her s
a n d s t u de nt s w or k t o g e t he r t o w a rd
c om mon goa l s t hat honor t he s oc ia l
c o n t r a c t b e t w e e n t he s c h o ol t he
student the family and t he communit y
punishment is appropr iate and mercif ul
a nd of fers forg iveness i nter per sona l
i nter ac t ion s enc ou r age suc c e s s a nd
rea f f i r m belong i ng t r u st i s endem ic
Remove t he confluence of interests t he
accountabilit y of those w ith aut horit y to
those under it the fundamental sense of
legit imacy and t he hidden cur riculum
eats away at the over t47
Rightful Policing | 13
Com m it ment to r ig ht f ul policing can help but
executives cannot be sanguine about its potential
impact The approach requires broadly conceived
a nd c oord i n ate d ef for t s a mon g a v a r ie t y of
c o n t e x t s mdash c r i m e r e d u c t i o n c o m m u n i t y
relations and importantly internal discipline48
mdash to effect real change
Endnotes
1 See Nicholas Gra ham Obama on Skip Gates
Arrest Police Acted ldquoSt upidlyrdquo Hu ffi ngt on
Post Aug 22 2009 httpw w whuffi ngtonpost
c o m 2 0 0 9 0 7 2 2 o b a m a - o n - s k i p - g a t e s -
arres_n_243250ht ml (last v isited Nov 13 2014)
2 Rachel A Harmon The Problem of Policing 110
Mich L Rev 761 (2011)
3 Christopher Stone amp Jerem y Tr avis Toward
a Ne w Professiona l ism in Policing (2 011)
httpw w wnijgovpubs-sum232359htm (last
v isited Nov 13 2014)
4 Dav id H Bay ley Police for the Fu tur e 3
(1994)
5 For one e x a m p l e c r i t ic i z i n g t he p ol ic e -
law f ulness tradeoff consider t he discussion by
Meares and Kahan of the legal struggle regarding
searches for g uns in Chicago public housing See
Tr acey L Me a r es amp Da n M K a h a n Urgen t
T i m es Pol ici ng a n d R igh ts i n I n n er Ci t y
Communities (1999)
6 See id at 18ndash22
7 Stone amp Tr avis supra note 3 at 1 (noting that
accountabilit y is a critical aspect of what t hey call
t he ldquonew professionalismrdquo along w ith legitimac y
innovat ion and nat iona l coherence)
8 See id at 12 (ldquoThe best chiefs speak confident ly
about lsquot he t h ree Crsquos cr ime cost and conduct
Police departments today are accountable for all
t hreerdquo)
9 Id at 12ndash15
10 See A n t hon y Br aga amp Dav id Weisbu r d
Policing Problem Pl aces Cr ime Hot Spots
and Effective Prevention (2010)
11 See National Research Council Fair ness
and Effectiveness in Policing The Evidence
297 (Wesley Skogan amp Kathleen Fr ydl eds 2004)
A nt hony A Braga Bra ndon C Wel sh amp Cor y
Schnel l Can Policing Disorder Reduce Crime
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis J R es
Cr i m e amp D e l i nq (For t hc om i n g ) A n t hon y
A Br aga Probl em-Or ien ted Policing a n d
Crime Prevention (2d ed 2008)
12 See Tra nscr ipt Bloomberg Vows to Appeal
Fed eral Judgersquos Ruling Th at Stop -and-F ri sk
Policy Violated Civil Rights in Press Conference
NY Da i ly Ne ws Aug 12 20 03 ht t pw w w
nyd a i l y ne w scomne w spol it ic s bloomber g-
vow s-appea l-fe der a l-judge-r u l i ng-stop-stop-
and-f r isk-pol ic y-ar t icle-11424630 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014) John Eterno amp Eli Silverman Mike
Bloombergrsquos Fact-Free Defence of Stop-and-Frisk
14 | New Perspectives in Policing
T h e Gua rdi an S e pt 11 2 013 ht t pw w w
t heguardiancomcommentisfree2013sep11
stop-a nd-f r isk-m ichael-bloomberg (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
13 See Tracey L Meares amp Dan M Kahan Law
and (Norms of) Order in Inner Cit y 32 L aw amp Socrsquoy
Rev 805 830ndash32 (1998) (discussing communit y
empowerment through law enforcement)
14 Tr acey L Mear es et al Lawful or Fair
How Cops and L aypeople View Good Policing
(Social Science Research Net work) (2012) http
papersssrncomabst ract=2116645 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
15 See Tom R Tyler amp Jeffrey Fagan Legitimacy
and Cooperation Why Do People Help the Police
Fight Cr ime in Their Communit ies 6 O h io
St J Cr i m L 231 262 (20 08) Tom R Ty ler amp
Cher yl Wakslak Profiling and Police Legitimacy
Procedural Justice Attributions of Motive and
Acceptance of Police Authority 42 Cr iminology
253 255 (2004) Tom R T yler Trust in the Law
Encour aging Public Cooper ation With the
Police and Courts (2002) Ray mond Paternoster
et a l Do Fair Procedures Matter The Effect of
Procedural Justice on Spouse Assault 31 L aw amp
Socrsquoy R ev 163 (1997)
16 See Tom R Tyler Enhancing Police Legitimacy
593 A nnals A m Aca d Pol amp Soc Sci 84 94
(2004)
17 See id
18 National Research Council supra note 11
at 297
19 See generally L egi t i m ac y a n d Cr im ina l
Justice International Perspectiv es (A nt hony
Braga et al eds 2007) (exploring the impact of
percept ions of leg it i mac y i n c r i m i na l just ice
systems across t he globe)
20 Tom R T y ler Wh y People Obey the L aw
(repr i nt 2006)
21 See Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing
the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing
and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54
Wm amp Mary L Rev 1865 1879 (2012) (prov iding
this illust rative fig ure)
22 See eg Tracey L Meares Inaugural Barrock
Lecture on Criminal Law The Legitimacy of Police
Among Young Af rican American Men 92 M a rq L
R ev 651 (2009)
23 See A ndrew V Papachristos Tracey L Meares
amp Jef f re y Faga n Attention Felons Evaluating
P roje ct S afe Ne ighb orh oo d s in Chi c ag o 4 J
Empirical Legal Stud 223 (2007)
24 Lorraine Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice
Rout ine Enc ounters an d Cit izen Perc ept ion s
of Police Main Findings f rom the Queensland
C o m m un i t y E n g ag e m e n t Tr i a l (Q C ET) 8
J E x pe r i m e n ta l C r i m i nol o g y 3 4 3 (2 01 2)
[hereinafter Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice]
L o r r a i ne M a z er o l le e t a l Sh aping C it i z en
Perceptions of Police Legitimacy A Randomized
Field Trial of Procedural Justice 51 Criminology
33 (2013) [herei na f ter Ma zerol le et a l Shaping
Citizen Perceptions]
Right ful Policing | 15
25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra
note 24
2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3
(describing the federal initiative)
27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on
Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip
J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)
(evaluating Project Ex ile)
28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and
C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he
P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)
(describing the inter vention) For an analysis
of the crime control impacts of this and similar
prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L
Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence
Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res
Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)
29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223
30 See id at 258ndash59
31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l
Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t
of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on
R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s
(Social Science Research Network 2013) http
papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited
Nov 13 2014)
32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t
Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey
Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y
Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing
Paper Series No 8 2011)
33 See id at 7
34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice
Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home
Secrsquoy 2011)
3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op
Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of
Toronto Press 2003)
36 See Neyroud supra note 34
37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful
Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them
Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9
2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-
policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)
38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training
Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)
h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _
Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair
F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r
M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice
T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port
(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs
college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y
Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce
C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
Rightful Policing | 13
Com m it ment to r ig ht f ul policing can help but
executives cannot be sanguine about its potential
impact The approach requires broadly conceived
a nd c oord i n ate d ef for t s a mon g a v a r ie t y of
c o n t e x t s mdash c r i m e r e d u c t i o n c o m m u n i t y
relations and importantly internal discipline48
mdash to effect real change
Endnotes
1 See Nicholas Gra ham Obama on Skip Gates
Arrest Police Acted ldquoSt upidlyrdquo Hu ffi ngt on
Post Aug 22 2009 httpw w whuffi ngtonpost
c o m 2 0 0 9 0 7 2 2 o b a m a - o n - s k i p - g a t e s -
arres_n_243250ht ml (last v isited Nov 13 2014)
2 Rachel A Harmon The Problem of Policing 110
Mich L Rev 761 (2011)
3 Christopher Stone amp Jerem y Tr avis Toward
a Ne w Professiona l ism in Policing (2 011)
httpw w wnijgovpubs-sum232359htm (last
v isited Nov 13 2014)
4 Dav id H Bay ley Police for the Fu tur e 3
(1994)
5 For one e x a m p l e c r i t ic i z i n g t he p ol ic e -
law f ulness tradeoff consider t he discussion by
Meares and Kahan of the legal struggle regarding
searches for g uns in Chicago public housing See
Tr acey L Me a r es amp Da n M K a h a n Urgen t
T i m es Pol ici ng a n d R igh ts i n I n n er Ci t y
Communities (1999)
6 See id at 18ndash22
7 Stone amp Tr avis supra note 3 at 1 (noting that
accountabilit y is a critical aspect of what t hey call
t he ldquonew professionalismrdquo along w ith legitimac y
innovat ion and nat iona l coherence)
8 See id at 12 (ldquoThe best chiefs speak confident ly
about lsquot he t h ree Crsquos cr ime cost and conduct
Police departments today are accountable for all
t hreerdquo)
9 Id at 12ndash15
10 See A n t hon y Br aga amp Dav id Weisbu r d
Policing Problem Pl aces Cr ime Hot Spots
and Effective Prevention (2010)
11 See National Research Council Fair ness
and Effectiveness in Policing The Evidence
297 (Wesley Skogan amp Kathleen Fr ydl eds 2004)
A nt hony A Braga Bra ndon C Wel sh amp Cor y
Schnel l Can Policing Disorder Reduce Crime
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis J R es
Cr i m e amp D e l i nq (For t hc om i n g ) A n t hon y
A Br aga Probl em-Or ien ted Policing a n d
Crime Prevention (2d ed 2008)
12 See Tra nscr ipt Bloomberg Vows to Appeal
Fed eral Judgersquos Ruling Th at Stop -and-F ri sk
Policy Violated Civil Rights in Press Conference
NY Da i ly Ne ws Aug 12 20 03 ht t pw w w
nyd a i l y ne w scomne w spol it ic s bloomber g-
vow s-appea l-fe der a l-judge-r u l i ng-stop-stop-
and-f r isk-pol ic y-ar t icle-11424630 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014) John Eterno amp Eli Silverman Mike
Bloombergrsquos Fact-Free Defence of Stop-and-Frisk
14 | New Perspectives in Policing
T h e Gua rdi an S e pt 11 2 013 ht t pw w w
t heguardiancomcommentisfree2013sep11
stop-a nd-f r isk-m ichael-bloomberg (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
13 See Tracey L Meares amp Dan M Kahan Law
and (Norms of) Order in Inner Cit y 32 L aw amp Socrsquoy
Rev 805 830ndash32 (1998) (discussing communit y
empowerment through law enforcement)
14 Tr acey L Mear es et al Lawful or Fair
How Cops and L aypeople View Good Policing
(Social Science Research Net work) (2012) http
papersssrncomabst ract=2116645 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
15 See Tom R Tyler amp Jeffrey Fagan Legitimacy
and Cooperation Why Do People Help the Police
Fight Cr ime in Their Communit ies 6 O h io
St J Cr i m L 231 262 (20 08) Tom R Ty ler amp
Cher yl Wakslak Profiling and Police Legitimacy
Procedural Justice Attributions of Motive and
Acceptance of Police Authority 42 Cr iminology
253 255 (2004) Tom R T yler Trust in the Law
Encour aging Public Cooper ation With the
Police and Courts (2002) Ray mond Paternoster
et a l Do Fair Procedures Matter The Effect of
Procedural Justice on Spouse Assault 31 L aw amp
Socrsquoy R ev 163 (1997)
16 See Tom R Tyler Enhancing Police Legitimacy
593 A nnals A m Aca d Pol amp Soc Sci 84 94
(2004)
17 See id
18 National Research Council supra note 11
at 297
19 See generally L egi t i m ac y a n d Cr im ina l
Justice International Perspectiv es (A nt hony
Braga et al eds 2007) (exploring the impact of
percept ions of leg it i mac y i n c r i m i na l just ice
systems across t he globe)
20 Tom R T y ler Wh y People Obey the L aw
(repr i nt 2006)
21 See Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing
the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing
and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54
Wm amp Mary L Rev 1865 1879 (2012) (prov iding
this illust rative fig ure)
22 See eg Tracey L Meares Inaugural Barrock
Lecture on Criminal Law The Legitimacy of Police
Among Young Af rican American Men 92 M a rq L
R ev 651 (2009)
23 See A ndrew V Papachristos Tracey L Meares
amp Jef f re y Faga n Attention Felons Evaluating
P roje ct S afe Ne ighb orh oo d s in Chi c ag o 4 J
Empirical Legal Stud 223 (2007)
24 Lorraine Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice
Rout ine Enc ounters an d Cit izen Perc ept ion s
of Police Main Findings f rom the Queensland
C o m m un i t y E n g ag e m e n t Tr i a l (Q C ET) 8
J E x pe r i m e n ta l C r i m i nol o g y 3 4 3 (2 01 2)
[hereinafter Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice]
L o r r a i ne M a z er o l le e t a l Sh aping C it i z en
Perceptions of Police Legitimacy A Randomized
Field Trial of Procedural Justice 51 Criminology
33 (2013) [herei na f ter Ma zerol le et a l Shaping
Citizen Perceptions]
Right ful Policing | 15
25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra
note 24
2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3
(describing the federal initiative)
27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on
Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip
J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)
(evaluating Project Ex ile)
28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and
C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he
P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)
(describing the inter vention) For an analysis
of the crime control impacts of this and similar
prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L
Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence
Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res
Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)
29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223
30 See id at 258ndash59
31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l
Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t
of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on
R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s
(Social Science Research Network 2013) http
papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited
Nov 13 2014)
32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t
Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey
Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y
Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing
Paper Series No 8 2011)
33 See id at 7
34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice
Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home
Secrsquoy 2011)
3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op
Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of
Toronto Press 2003)
36 See Neyroud supra note 34
37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful
Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them
Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9
2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-
policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)
38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training
Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)
h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _
Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair
F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r
M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice
T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port
(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs
college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y
Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce
C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
14 | New Perspectives in Policing
T h e Gua rdi an S e pt 11 2 013 ht t pw w w
t heguardiancomcommentisfree2013sep11
stop-a nd-f r isk-m ichael-bloomberg (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
13 See Tracey L Meares amp Dan M Kahan Law
and (Norms of) Order in Inner Cit y 32 L aw amp Socrsquoy
Rev 805 830ndash32 (1998) (discussing communit y
empowerment through law enforcement)
14 Tr acey L Mear es et al Lawful or Fair
How Cops and L aypeople View Good Policing
(Social Science Research Net work) (2012) http
papersssrncomabst ract=2116645 (last v isited
Nov 13 2014)
15 See Tom R Tyler amp Jeffrey Fagan Legitimacy
and Cooperation Why Do People Help the Police
Fight Cr ime in Their Communit ies 6 O h io
St J Cr i m L 231 262 (20 08) Tom R Ty ler amp
Cher yl Wakslak Profiling and Police Legitimacy
Procedural Justice Attributions of Motive and
Acceptance of Police Authority 42 Cr iminology
253 255 (2004) Tom R T yler Trust in the Law
Encour aging Public Cooper ation With the
Police and Courts (2002) Ray mond Paternoster
et a l Do Fair Procedures Matter The Effect of
Procedural Justice on Spouse Assault 31 L aw amp
Socrsquoy R ev 163 (1997)
16 See Tom R Tyler Enhancing Police Legitimacy
593 A nnals A m Aca d Pol amp Soc Sci 84 94
(2004)
17 See id
18 National Research Council supra note 11
at 297
19 See generally L egi t i m ac y a n d Cr im ina l
Justice International Perspectiv es (A nt hony
Braga et al eds 2007) (exploring the impact of
percept ions of leg it i mac y i n c r i m i na l just ice
systems across t he globe)
20 Tom R T y ler Wh y People Obey the L aw
(repr i nt 2006)
21 See Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing
the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing
and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54
Wm amp Mary L Rev 1865 1879 (2012) (prov iding
this illust rative fig ure)
22 See eg Tracey L Meares Inaugural Barrock
Lecture on Criminal Law The Legitimacy of Police
Among Young Af rican American Men 92 M a rq L
R ev 651 (2009)
23 See A ndrew V Papachristos Tracey L Meares
amp Jef f re y Faga n Attention Felons Evaluating
P roje ct S afe Ne ighb orh oo d s in Chi c ag o 4 J
Empirical Legal Stud 223 (2007)
24 Lorraine Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice
Rout ine Enc ounters an d Cit izen Perc ept ion s
of Police Main Findings f rom the Queensland
C o m m un i t y E n g ag e m e n t Tr i a l (Q C ET) 8
J E x pe r i m e n ta l C r i m i nol o g y 3 4 3 (2 01 2)
[hereinafter Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice]
L o r r a i ne M a z er o l le e t a l Sh aping C it i z en
Perceptions of Police Legitimacy A Randomized
Field Trial of Procedural Justice 51 Criminology
33 (2013) [herei na f ter Ma zerol le et a l Shaping
Citizen Perceptions]
Right ful Policing | 15
25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra
note 24
2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3
(describing the federal initiative)
27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on
Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip
J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)
(evaluating Project Ex ile)
28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and
C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he
P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)
(describing the inter vention) For an analysis
of the crime control impacts of this and similar
prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L
Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence
Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res
Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)
29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223
30 See id at 258ndash59
31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l
Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t
of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on
R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s
(Social Science Research Network 2013) http
papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited
Nov 13 2014)
32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t
Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey
Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y
Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing
Paper Series No 8 2011)
33 See id at 7
34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice
Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home
Secrsquoy 2011)
3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op
Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of
Toronto Press 2003)
36 See Neyroud supra note 34
37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful
Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them
Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9
2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-
policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)
38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training
Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)
h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _
Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair
F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r
M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice
T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port
(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs
college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y
Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce
C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
Right ful Policing | 15
25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra
note 24
2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3
(describing the federal initiative)
27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on
Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip
J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)
(evaluating Project Ex ile)
28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and
C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he
P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)
(describing the inter vention) For an analysis
of the crime control impacts of this and similar
prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L
Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence
Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and
Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res
Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)
29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223
30 See id at 258ndash59
31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l
Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t
of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on
R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s
(Social Science Research Network 2013) http
papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited
Nov 13 2014)
32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t
Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey
Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y
Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre
of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing
Paper Series No 8 2011)
33 See id at 7
34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice
Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home
Secrsquoy 2011)
3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op
Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of
Toronto Press 2003)
36 See Neyroud supra note 34
37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful
Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them
Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9
2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-
policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)
38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training
Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)
h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _
Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair
F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r
M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice
T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port
(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs
college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last
visited Nov 13 2014)
40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y
Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce
C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
16 | New Perspec tives in Policing
Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and
Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l
meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y
Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)
41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for
Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just
Tactics (2003)
4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and
Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc
Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng
Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12
Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))
43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing
a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y
Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y
iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be
conf used w it h the blue police box
44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er
Patriarchy and the Foundations of American
Government (2005)
45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular
Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority
Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d
Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78
(2014)
46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How
the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651
Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)
47 Id at 175
48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline
T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion
Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)
(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y
of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice
School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n
California)
Author Note
Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton
P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e
Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud
CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident
Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental
Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y
of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version
of t his paper
Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411
NCJ 248411
Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety
Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School
Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department
Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum
Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist
Learn more about the Executive Session at
wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo
US Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
8660 Cherry Lane
Laurel MD 20707-4651
Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300
PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID
DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26
NCJ~248411