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Public willingness to obey the law is partially determined by their satisfaction levels with police job performance. Although numerous studies have researched determinants of citizen satisfaction with the police, to date, none have examined whether political orientations, measured according to voting preferences, share any association with this outcome. No study, moreover, has analyzed if the effects of political orientations vary by contact with law enforcement.

Questionnaire data were collected from a convenience sample of university students to determine whether the effects of political orientations on satisfaction with law enforcement varied by contact with the police.

Among the total sample, as well as those who had no prior contact with the police, liberal respondents expressed less satisfaction with law enforcers when compared to conservatives. Among those who were either contacted by the police, or who initiated contact, political orientations had no effect on satisfaction. What was significant across all models though was procedural justice.

Generalization attempts are hindered considering the non-probability nature of the sample, while causality can also not be confirmed since data are cross-sectional.

Police officers must behave in procedurally fair manners when interacting with citizens and engage in community outreach initiatives in order to improve their image across society.

Findings offer insight into the conditions under which voting preferences can shape evaluations of the police.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically and comprehensively review the literature on procedural justice in policing, in the context of both police-citizen encounters and organizational decision making.

The current study reflects a narrative meta-review of procedural justice within policing generated through a systematic and exhaustive search of several academic databases (e.g. Criminal Justice Abstracts, Criminology: A SAGE Full Text Collection, EBSCO Host, PsychInfo, etc.).

The current meta-review identified 46 studies that matched the selection criteria. In this body of research, 28 studies analyzed procedural justices within the context of police-citizen encounters and 18 studies examined procedural justice within the context of police organization decision making. In general, the body of research yields two main findings. First, citizens’ perceptions of procedural justice during interactions with the police positively affect their views of police legitimacy, satisfaction with police services, satisfaction with interaction disposition, trust in the police, and confidence in the police. Second, the perception of police personnel of procedural justice in organizational decision making positively influences their views of decision outcomes, trust in the administration, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, desire to stay with the agency, and overall views of the agency.

The practical implications derived from this meta-review are twofold. First, police personnel engaged in police-citizen encounters reap many benefits when they treat citizens with fairness and maintain an encounter process that is marked by objectivity and equity. Second, police supervisors and administrators reap benefits when their subordinates perceive that there is procedural justice within the organization.

The state-of-the-art meta-review on procedural justice in policing is the first of its kind. This study comprehensively reviews the literature on two important bodies of policing research. This study will be useful for researchers who wish to further explore procedural justice issues in policing, and for police managers/administrators who wish to strengthen citizens’ perceptions of the police and their employees’ perceptions of the organization.

The study aims to examine whether a baseline trait-level characteristic, in this case propensity to trust, impacts peoples' perception of procedural justice, police legitimacy, trustworthiness, obligation to obey and cooperation.

Using Hamm and colleagues' (2017) integrated framework of legitimacy (IFL) as the theoretical framework, the current research explores whether individual trait characteristic differences matter. Using a Korean survey in 2019 with 2188 samples aged 19 to 28, this study conducted structural equation modeling to assess the impact of propensity to trust on the latent factors of the IFL.

The results support the findings of the original IFL. Specifically, when it comes to citizens' perception of police legitimacy, propensity to trust positively and significantly impacts latent factors such as procedural justice, trustworthiness, trust and obligation to obey. However, it fails to impact cooperation in any capacity.

Perception of police legitimacy has been researched extensively by various scholars. Specifically, Tyler's (1990) procedural justice model has been the main focus of police legitimacy research for the past 30 years. However, the current study aims to explore the possibility of trait-level characteristic that may influence peoples' perception of police legitimacy. Specifically, the authors aim to assess individual propensity to trust tendency and its impact on police legitimacy.

Given the heightened scrutiny of police by the media in the post-Ferguson era, the purpose of this paper is to test hypotheses derived from the cultivation theory regarding possible media-related effects on perceptions of police legitimacy.

A sample of 1,197 residents from a mid-size California city was surveyed. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the relative effects of media consumption and personal experience on perceptions of police legitimacy.

Partial support for the cultivation theory was found. Those who reported local TV as their most important news source saw police as more legitimate than those who reported the internet as most important. Consistent with past research, procedural justice was the strongest predictor of perceptions of police legitimacy for those recently stopped by the police. Awareness of negative media depictions of police, however, also had independent effects indicating that media consumption does impact perceptions of police legitimacy.

While a wealth of research on the relationship between procedural justice and perceptions of police legitimacy exists, no previous research has examined the role media consumption plays in shaping such perceptions.

From 2002 to 2014, the Portland Police Bureau reported large reductions in complaints against officers and use of force indicators. The purpose of this paper is to develop a case study to document these changes and explore possible influences.

The paper maps the changes in conduct indicators against the developing relationship between the Bureau and the Portland Independent Police Review Division, and changes in policies and procedures.

Public complaints reduced by 54.4 per cent, while the rate of specific allegations per officer fell by 70.1 per cent. Quarterly use of force incident reports were reduced by 65.4 per cent between 2008 and 2014. Annual average shootings decreased from a high of nine per year across 1997-2002 to just below four per year in 2009-2014. Fatal shootings also trended downward but remained two per year in the last three years on record. Reforms instituted during this period that may have influenced these trends include a more rigorous complaints process, an early intervention system (EIS), enhanced external and internal review mechanisms, policy changes and training initiatives.

The researchers were unable to control for a range of additional variables that may have influenced the findings, including police deployments and changes in officer demographics.

The study provides support for strategies to improve police conduct including external oversight, diagnostic research, training focussed on de-escalation and minimal force, and complaint profiling and EISs.

There are very few studies available showing large long-term reductions in adverse police conduct indicators.