NCJ Number
230275
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2010 Pages: 255-279
Date Published
April 2010
Length
25 pages
Annotation
To better understand the intersection of procedural justice and aggressive order maintenance policing, this study examined young inner-city men's perceptions of police legitimacy.
Abstract
There is tension between the core tenets of procedural justice and those of order maintenance policing. Research has shown that citizens' perceptions of procedural justice influence their beliefs about police legitimacy, yet at the same time, some order maintenance policing efforts stress frequent stops of vehicles and persons for suspected disorderly behavior. These types of programs can threaten citizens' perceptions of police legitimacy because the targeted offenses are minor and are often not well-defined. Citizens stopped for low-level offenses may view such stops as a form of harassment, as they may not believe they were doing anything to warrant police scrutiny. This paper examines young men's self-described experiences with this style of proactive policing. Study findings highlight that order maintenance policing strategies have negative implications for police legitimacy and crime control efforts via their potential to damage citizens' views of procedural justice. Tables and references (Published Abstract)