Implicit Bias

Implicit bias describes the automatic association people make between groups of people and stereotypes about those groups.

Implicit bias describes the automatic association people make between groups of people and stereotypes about those groups. Under certain conditions, those automatic associations can influence behavior—making people respond in biased ways even when they are not explicitly prejudiced. More than thirty years of research in neurology and social and cognitive psychology has shown that people hold implicit biases even in the absence of heartfelt bigotry, simply by paying attention to the social world around them. Implicit racial bias has given rise to a phenomenon known as “racism without racists,” which can cause institutions or individuals to act on racial prejudices, even in spite of good intentions and nondiscriminatory policies or standards.

In the context of criminal justice and community safety, implicit bias has been shown to have significant influence in the outcomes of interactions between police and citizens. While conscious, “traditional” racism has declined significantly in recent decades, research suggests that “implicit attitudes may be better at predicting and/or influencing behavior than self-reported explicit attitudes.”

Discussions of implicit bias in policing tend to focus on implicit racial biases; however, implicit bias can be expressed in relation to non-racial factors, including gender, age, religion, or sexual orientation. As with all types of bias, implicit bias can distort one’s perception and subsequent treatment either in favor of or against a given person or group. In policing, this has resulted in widespread practices that focus undeserved suspicion on some groups and presume other groups innocent.

Reducing the influence of implicit bias is vitally important to strengthening relationships between police and minority communities. For example, studies suggest that implicit bias contributes to “shooter bias,”—the tendency for police to shoot unarmed black suspects more often than white ones—as well as the frequency of police stops for members of minority groups. Other expressions of implicit bias, such as public defenders’ prioritization of cases involving white defendants, can have major impact on communities. This latter point is particularly significant in light of recent findings about the importance of procedural justice in fostering cooperation between citizens and the criminal justice system and cultivating law-abiding communities.

Despite these challenges, the work of Phillip Atiba Goff, President of the Center for Policing Equity, has shown that it is possible to address and reduce implicit bias through training and policy interventions with law enforcement agencies. Research suggests that biased associations can be gradually unlearned and replaced with nonbiased ones. Perhaps even more encouragingly, one can reduce the influence of implicit bias simply by changing the context in which an interaction takes place. Consequently, through policy and training, it is possible to mend the harm that racial stereotypes do to our minds and our public safety.

Research

La Vigne, N., Fontaine, J., & Dwivedi, A. 2017. How Do People in High-Crime, Low-Income Communities View the Police?. Urban Institute. https://nnscommunities.org/uploads/how_do_people_in_high-crime_view_the_police.pdf

The Sentencing Project. Disproportionate minority contact.

La Vigne, N. G., Lachman, P., Rao, S., Matthews, A. (2014). Stop and Frisk: Balancing Crime Control with Community Relations. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

Beattie, G., Cohen, D., & McGuire, L. (2013). An exploration of possible unconscious ethnic biases in higher education: The role of implicit attitudes on selection for university posts. Semiotica 2013, 197, 171-201.

Richardson, L. S., & Goff, P. A. (2013). Implicit Racial Bias in Public Defender Triage. Yale Law Journal, 122, 13-24

Sadler, M. S., Correll, J., Park, B., & Judd, C. M. (2012). The world is not Black and White: Racial bias in the decision to shoot in a multiethnic context. Journal of Social Issues, 68(2), 286-313.

Alexander, M. (2011). The New Jim Crow. New York: The New Press.

Goff, P. A., Eberhardt, J. L., Williams, M., & Jackson, M. C. (2008). Not yet human: Implicit knowledge, historical dehumanization, and contemporary consequences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94(2), 292-306.

Correll, et al., (2007). The influence of stereotypes on decisions to shoot. European Journal of Social Psychology, 37: 1102–1117.

Eberhardt, J. L., Davies, P. G., Purdie-Vaughns, V.J., & Johnson, S. L. (2006). Looking deathworthy: Perceived stereotypicality of Black defendants predicts capital-sentencing outcomes. Psychological Science, 17(5), 383-386.

Ziegert, J. C., & Hanges, P. J. (2005). Employment Discrimination: The Role of Implicit Attitudes, Motivation, and a Climate for Racial Bias. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(3), 553-562.

Eberhardt, J. L., Goff, P. A., Purdie, & Davies, P. G. (2004). Seeing Black: Race crime, and visual processing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(6), 876-893.

Correll, J., Park, B., Judd, C. M., & Wittenbrink, B. (2002). The police officer's dilemma: using ethnicity to disambiguate potentially threatening individuals. Journal of personality and social psychology, 83(6), 1314-1329.

Dovidio, J. F. (2001). On the nature of contemporary prejudice: The third wave. Journal of Social Issues, 57(4), 829-849.

Blair, I. V., Ma, J. E., & Lenton, A. P. (2001). Imagining stereotypes away: the moderation of implicit stereotypes through mental imagery. Journal of personality and social psychology, 81(5), 828-841.

Dovidio, J. F., Kawakami, K., & Gaertner, S. L. (2000). Reducing contemporary prejudice: Combating explicit and implicit bias at the individual and intergroup level in S. Oskamp (Ed.), Reducing prejudice and discrimination (pp. 137-163). Hilldale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Oskamp, S. (2000). Reducing prejudice and discrimination. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Chartrand, T. L.; Bargh, J. A. (1999). The chameleon effect: The perception–behavior link and social interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(6), 893-910.

Resources

Tactical Perception: Using the Science of Justice (PJ3) Facilitator Guide

The goal of this course is to engage police officers in critical thought and discussion about contemporary mechanisms of bias regarding race, gender, sexuality, and other identities within the context of law enforcement, centering on identity traps and drawing on the scholarship of implicit bias and self-threats. Read More

Tactical Perception for Community: The Science of Justice (PJ3) Facilitator Guide

Principled Policing

Stockton Chief of Police Eric Jones published his thoughts on what he calls "principled policing" and how the Stockton Police Department is using that concept to build trust with its community and enhance public safety. Read More

Strengthening Community-Police Relationships: Training as a Tool for Change

The California Partnership for Safe Communities, in conjunction with the CA Department of Justice, police and community leaders, and researchers at Stanford University have produced "an innovative training curriculum to promote procedural justice and address implicit bias." This document seeks to combine real-world experiences and academic evaluation in order to develop training practices that will enhance police-community relations. Read More

Issue Brief: Implicit Bias

The COPS Office and the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice have provided overview briefs on topics important to building community safety by improving police legitimacy. Implicit Bias focuses on the phenomenon of automatic associations individuals make between groups of people. Read More

How to Serve Diverse Communities

The Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, in partnership with the Vera Institute of Justice and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, has released a series of guidebooks intended to serve as a tool for all levels of law enforcement. This is one in a series of three guides, all of which can be found in the "Tools and Guides" section of the National Initiative website. Read More

How to Increase Cultural Understanding

Fact Sheet: US DOJ Gender-Bias Policing

The Department of Justice announced new guidance in December 2015 designed to help law enforcement agencies (LEAs) prevent gender bias in their response to sexual assault and domestic violence, focusing on the need for clear policies, robust training and responsive accountability systems. Read More

Identifying and Preventing Gender Bias in Law Enforcement Response to Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch announced a new guidance from the Justice Department designed to help law enforcement agencies prevent gender bias in their response to sexual assault and domestic violence, highlighting the need for clear policies, robust training and responsive accountability systems. Read More

Strengthening the Relationship Between Law Enforcement and Communities of Color

On April 4, 2014, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) hosted a conference with law enforcement officials, civil rights activists, academic experts, community leaders, and policymakers at the Ford Foundation offices in New York City. This forum was the first in a series of forums focusing on building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. This publication, recently published by COPS at DOJ, is a great outline of the first of many forums to focus on building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Read More

Procedural Justice 3 Community Training Deck (Template)

The goal of this course is to engage police officers and the communities they serve in critical thought and discussion about contemporary mechanisms of bias regarding race, gender, sexuality, and other identities within the context of law enforcement centering on identity traps and drawing on the scholarship of implicit bias and self-threats. Click here to view and download the PowerPoint.

Procedural Justice 3 Training Deck (Template)

IACP Communities of Color Toolkit

"The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) convened three focus groups of community stakeholders, frontline officers, and law enforcement executives to discuss building community trust. They discussed strategies that have been used successfully to develop communities of trust and identified challenges facing law enforcement and the community. This toolkit collects some of the most successful strategies, and tools for engaging communities of color, here defined as people of African, Latino or Hispanic, Native American, Asian, or Pacific Island descent.

Communities of color have faced many decades of real and perceived mistreatment by the justice system and law enforcement, leading to fear, anger, resentment, and distrust. Communities of color often feel marginalized and mistreated. Recognizing and responding to mistrust lies at the heart of building stronger community-police relationships. This requires a variety of resources, protocols, policies, strategies, and training. Communities of color and police must continue to join forces to create safe environments. In this toolkit we share a number of promising programs working to improve community-police relations on a daily basis."

Executive Summary

The National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice is a project to improve relationships and increase trust between communities and the criminal justice system and advance the public and scholarly understandings of the issues contributing to those relationships. In September 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a three year, $4.75 million grant to establish the project. In collaboration with the Department of Justice, the National Initiative is coordinated by the National Network for Safe Communities at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, with partnership from the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School, the Center for Policing Equity at John Jay College and UCLA, and the Urban Institute.

Leveraging Community Voices in Violence Prevention

On September 27, 2016, research conducted by the Urban Institute under the National Initiative was presented by Nancy La Vigne at a Congressional Briefing on "Violence and Violence Prevention." At the briefing, which was sponsored by Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy (CEBCP) in collaboration with WestEd’s Justice and Prevention Research Center, La Vigne detailed data collected from surveys distributed to residents of high-crime, low-income neighborhoods in each of the National Initiative’s six pilot sites—Birmingham AL; Fort Worth, TX; Gary, IN; Minneapolis, MN; Pittsburgh, PA; and Stockton, CA—that confirms suspicions of longstanding mistrust between law enforcement and communities of color.

For example, fewer than half of all survey respondents believe that police officers are responsive to community concerns and are held accountable for misconduct. Similarly, more than half of those surveyed agreed that officers judge local residents "based on personal biases or prejudices" and that they treat people differently based on their race or ethnicity.

Despite this high degree of mistrust, law enforcement and communities of color share common ground, with many residents willing to serve as active partners in crime prevention. More than 60 percent of respondents said they would report crimes or suspicious activities to police and about half said they would attend community meetings to discuss crime prevention.

These surveys, part of the National Initiative's research and evaluation component, were distributed in each of our six pilot sites before the project was underway. Following its completion, a second round of surveys will be distributed to measure the impact of interventions oriented around implicit bias, procedural justice, and reconciliation.

Click here to download a PDF of the presentation and below for the video.

Law Enforcement and the Transgender Community: A Training Video

The U.S. Department of Justice's Community Relations Service (CRS), aiming to improve interactions between police and transgender individuals, has soft-launched a new cultural professionalism roll-call training video entitled “Law Enforcement and the Transgender Community.” The video, which features scenarios of the three most common ways police officers encounter members of the transgender community, provides the information, tools, and techniques for departments to exercise procedural justice and mitigate implicit bias when interacting with this community.

NNSC National Conference 2015: Karol V. Mason

Karol V. Mason, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs, delivers the keynote address of the National Network for Safe Communities' National Conference 2015.

NNSC National Conference 2015: Truth-Telling, Reconciliation, and the National Initiative

This plenary session of the National Network for Safe Communities' conference provides an overview of the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice and situates it within the context of the post-Ferguson climate around trust, legitimacy, reform, and reconciliation. Participants discuss the genesis of the National Initiative, its aims and early steps, and its relevance to the national interest in re-examining traditional criminal justice and promoting truth-telling and reconciliation between law enforcement and the communities it serves. Moderated by David Kennedy, Director of the NNSC, this panel features Katherine Darke Schmitt, Policy Advisor in the Office of Justice Programs at the US Department of Justice, Tom Tyler, Macklin Fleming Professor of Law at Yale University, Tracie Keesee, Project Director of the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice, and Priscilla Hayner, independent writer and consultant on truth and reconciliation processes.

NNSC National Conference 2015: Police and Communities in Motion

This plenary session of the National Network for Safe Communities' conference addresses the cultural shifts taking place in law enforcement agencies and communities around the country. Participants discuss how gradually changing law enforcement practices have affected the relationships between police and the communities they serve, and how momentum has built behind practices that acknowledge history, repair legitimacy, and rebuild public trust. Moderated by Professor Phillip Atiba Goff of the Center for Policing Equity at UCLA, this panel features Chief A.C. Roper of Birmingham Police Dept., Ben McBride, Founder of the Empower Initiative, and Rev. K. Edward Copeland, Pastor of the New Zion Baptist Church of Rockford, IL.

Interim Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing

“When any part of the American family does not feel like it is being treated fairly, that’s a problem for all of us,” said the President. “It’s not just a problem for some. It’s not just a problem for a particular community or a particular demographic. It means that we are not as strong as a country as we can be. And when applied to the criminal justice system, it means we’re not as effective in fighting crime as we could be.”

Download and read the full report.

Stockton, California

Stockton, California, is one of six pilot sites employing strategies, examining policies, and developing evidence through research to reduce implicit bias, enhance procedural justice, and promote racial reconciliation. - Learn More

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is one of six pilot sites employing strategies, examining policies, and developing evidence through research to reduce implicit bias, enhance procedural justice, and promote racial reconciliation. - Learn More

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota, is one of six pilot sites employing strategies, examining policies, and developing evidence through research to reduce implicit bias, enhance procedural justice, and promote racial reconciliation. - Learn More

Gary, Indiana

Gary, Indiana, is one of six pilot sites employing strategies, examining policies, and developing evidence through research to reduce implicit bias, enhance procedural justice, and promote racial reconciliation. - Learn More

Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth, Texas, is one of six pilot sites employing strategies, examining policies, and developing evidence through research to reduce implicit bias, enhance procedural justice, and promote racial reconciliation. - Learn More

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama, is one of six pilot sites employing strategies, examining policies, and developing evidence through research to reduce implicit bias, enhance procedural justice, and promote racial reconciliation. - Learn More

The Evolution of Policing and a Return to Principles

Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones: "It is clearer than ever that to reach significant reductions in violent crime, police trust-building must be a priority. Whether some community members do not report crime or do not work with police due to apathy, fear, or a lack of confidence, it is data-driven policing coupled with trust-building that can begin to change that. Whether some community members do not occupy their public spaces because of perceived or actual crime, smarter policing and trust-building can ease these fears." - Read More

A Word from the National Initiative on Recent Events

The National Initiative would like to take this moment to offer a word of support to all of our law enforcement and community partners. - Read More

National Initiative Research Roundtable Report

On November 19 and 20, 2015, the National Initiative held a rountable discussions hosted by the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School. - Read More

Getting Beyond Ferguson

The National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice is designed to make real and rapid progress on the strained and often broken relationship between many communities -- especially, alienated communities of color -- and law enforcement. - Read More

In the News

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - February 2019
Pittsburgh police chief, officers meet with community in trust-building effort

The New York Times - May 2018
Opinion: A Better Solution for Starbucks

Berkeleyside - May 2018
Berkeley police stops show racial disparities — but what does that mean?

The Stockton Record - April 2018
Town hall on officer-involved shootings brings together law enforcement, south Stockton leaders

NI Newsletter - February 2018
Procedural Justice: More Than Just Being Nice

Steelers.com - December 2017
Working together as one: The Steelers and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police continue to grow their relationship.

NI Newsletter - December 2017
2017 National Initiative Status Reports

ACLU Blog - September 2017
The Minneapolis Police Department Is Sharing Data on Police Stops. Other Departments Should Follow.

NI Newsletter - July 2017
The Process of Trust Building

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - June 2017
Pittsburgh police train community, officers on implicit bias

WFAA - May 2017
Details on Fort Worth Police Department’s Community Procedural Justice Initiative

The Stanford Daily - April 2017
Q&A: Stockton Police Chief aims to regain community’s trust

Stockton Record - March 2017
Stockton summit highlights strategies for law enforcement

The Stockton Record - March 2017
Stockton Police reach out to clarify role, assure Latino community

The Stockton Record - March 2017
Stockton community member: Getting ‘a seat at the table’

The Stockton Record - March 2017
Listening in a new way

PA Times - February 2017
A Tale of Six Cities

New York Times - December 2016
The Roots of Implicit Bias

John Jay College - November 2016
Liberation Through Language: Philip Goff’s First Lecture at John Jay College

The Missourian - November 2016
Implicit bias training will continue for Columbia Police

Complex Magazine - November 2016
How Do We Unlearn Racism

The Pitt News - November 2016
McLay resigned, but his reforms should remain

The Birmingham Times - November 2016
Birmingham’s Playbook for Community Policing

Huffington Post - October 2016
Can Empathy Improve Policing?

New York Times - October 2016
We’re All a Little Biased, Even if We Don’t Know It

Washington Post - August 2016
A look inside the training the White House thinks could stop the police shooting, protest, damning DOJ report cycle

The New York Times - July 2016
A Strategy to Build Police-Citizen Trust

90.5 WESA - July 2016
Pittsburgh Police Take On Implicit Bias With Peer-To-Peer Training

California Police Chiefs - July 2016
Principled Policing

New York Times - July 2016
Study Supports Suspicion That Police Are More Likely to Use Force on Blacks

CS Monitor - July 2016
Obama: Police must reduce ‘appearance or reality of racial bias’

New York Times - July 2016
Policing the Police on Stop-and-Frisk

Crain's - July 2016
Chicago should be commended for police reforms, not dissed

The Marshall Project - May 2016
Do Public Defenders Spend Less Time on Black Clients?

The Crime Report - May 2016
Can Cops Be Trained to Avoid Biased Policing?

MPR News - May 2016
Minn. police chiefs hear about implicit bias in policing

Michigan Radio - April 2016
Police training could be key to solving racial bias

Kokomo Perspective - April 2016
Gary police already implementing change

The Crime Report - April 2016
Let’s Train Cops For ‘Compassionate Policing’

The Crime Report - April 2016
Why Chicago’s Black Youth Distrust Cops

The Washington Post - April 2016
Can police police their biases? Training is underway.

USA Today - April 2016
Minneapolis police revamp training to combat discrimination

CBS Minnesota - March 2016
Minneapolis Police Department Looks Back At Roots Of Diversity

California Partnership for Safe Communities - March 2016
Strengthening Community-Police Relations: Training as a Tool for Change

Southwest Journal - March 2016
Police and community take a hard look at implicit bias

Star Tribune - February 2016
In Minneapolis, a time for change on policing and race

ABC 5 Minneapolis - February 2016
Minneapolis Police Training Looks to Transform Police, Resident Interaction

FOX 9 Minneapolis - February 2016
Minneapolis part of Dept. of Justice initiative to build trust between community, police

The Psych Report - February 2016
Stereotype Threat in Police Encounters: Implications for Miscarriages of Justice

ABC 5 Minneapolis - February 2016
National Pilot Program on Police-Community Relations Gets Underway in Mpls.

John Jay College News - February 2016
American Justice Summit Draws Leading Voices on Criminal Justice Reform

MSR News Online - January 2016
Pilot project seeks ways to build police-community trust

KRON 4- San Francisco - January 2016
SFPD officers make pledge against racism

Criminal Justice and Behavior - January 2016
Arrestees Perceptions of the Police: Exploring Procedural Justice, Legitimacy, and Willingness to Cooperate With Police Across Offender Types

Stockton Record - January 2016
Stockton Crime Rate at 15-Year Low

Washington Post - January 2016
In push to reform police work, officers examine their own biases

Houston Chronicle - December 2015
Feds release new guidance to prevent gender-bias policing

SanJoaquin.com-Blog - December 2015
First in series of youth forums “to educate … about rights and responsibilities when encountering police”

Association for Psychological Science - December 2015
The Impact of Psychological Science on Policing in the United States: Procedural Justice, Legitimacy, and Effective Law Enforcement

Yale Law School - December 2015
Professor Tracey Meares on Procedural Justice and The Justice Collaboratory

WESA- Pittsburgh - December 2015
Pittsburgh Police Share Plan To Build Trust With, Protect City’s Muslim Population

DNAinfo - December 2015
Improving Police-Community Relations One Improv at a Time

San Diego Union-Tribune - November 2015
SDPD’s drive to get back to community policing

MPR News - November 2015
Minneapolis police getting training on ‘procedural justice’

State of California, Office of the Attorney General - November 2015
Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Kicks Off First-of-its-Kind Law Enforcement Training on Implicit Bias & Procedural Justice

New York Times - October 2015
The Disproportionate Risks of Driving While Black

New York Daily News - October 2015
NYPD recruits will be required to learn the ‘realities of racism’ by watching ‘Anne & Emmett’

Los Angeles Daily News - October 2015
LA County Sheriff aims to recruit deputies with strong moral compass

NJ.Com - October 2015
More than 150 N.J. cops get bias training at NAACP conference

San Jose Inside - October 2015
County to Bolster ‘Implicit Bias’ Training for Sheriff’s Deputies

NBC 29- Virginia - October 2015
VA Attorney General Outlines Impartial Policing Initiative

Lawrence Journal-World - October 2015
Lawrence police train public on ‘Fair and Impartial Policing’

Today's Ozy - October 2015
Why Are So Many Queer Girls in Juvie?

Charleston Post and Courier - September 2015
Charleston Leaders Announce Effort to Build Police Trust

CBC News- Manitoba - September 2015
Winnipeg Officers Get ‘fair policing’ Training to Cut Bias, Racism at Work

Norwood Transcript and Bulletin - September 2015
Police Chiefs Release Plan to Increase Trust

Minnesota Daily - September 2015
Minneapolis targeting police interactions

Norwood Transcript and Bulletin - September 2015
Police chiefs release improvement plan

MinnPost - August 2015
The professors and the police: How a Minneapolis project may change the way cops everywhere relate to the public

Police Chief Magazine - August 2015
From CompStat to RespectStat: Accountability for Respectful Policing

Greater Good - August 2015
Can Police Departments Reduce Implicit Bias?

Talk Radio News Service - July 2015
AG Lynch: DOJ Is Working Towards Racial Reconciliation

WNDU - July 2015
Police and the Public – Part 3: Lessons, advice from Gary and Kalamazoo

WNDU - July 2015
Police and the Public – Part 2: Gary Police partners with Department of Justice

WNDU - July 2015
Police and the Public – Part 1: Traffic study transforms Michigan department

AL.com - June 2015
Birmingham teen tells it straight to U.S. Attorney General: ‘We’re taught young to hate the police’

Star Tribune - June 2015
Minneapolis police training aims to help officers recognize biases

WVTM13 - June 2015
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch speaks in Birmingham

AL.com - June 2015
Attorney General Loretta Lynch to bring community policing tour to Birmingham

Real Estate Rama - May 2015
Community Meeting Thursday On National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - May 2015
Pittsburgh meeting part of attempt to boost police-community ties

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - May 2015
What does good policing look like?

Baltimore Sun - May 2015
Why Freddie Gray ran

NPR - April 2015
Fear Of The Black Man: How Racial Bias Could Affect Crime, Labor Rates

PBS News Hour - April 2015
How the biases in the back of your mind affect how you feel about race

PBS - March 2015
Tavis Smiley: Center for Policing Equity Pres. Phillip Atiba Goff, Ph.D.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - March 2015
Pittsburgh named pilot site for federal initiative to build trust with law enforcement

NPR News - March 2015
U.S. Attorney General Holder Denounces Police Shootings In Missouri

MSNCB Nerding Out with Dorian Warren - March 2015
Code of conduct: what’s missing from OU and police departments?

Procedural Justice

Procedural justice focuses on the way police and other legal authorities interact with the public, and how the characteristics of those interactions shape the public’s views of the police, their willingness to obey the law, and actual crime rates. Mounting evidence shows that community perceptions of procedural justice can have a significant impact on public safety.

Procedural justice is based on four central principles: "treating people with dignity and respect, giving citizens 'voice' during encounters, being neutral in decision making, and conveying trustworthy motives." Research demonstrates that these principles contribute to relationships between authorities and the community in which 1) the community has trust and confidence in the police as honest, unbiased, benevolent, and lawful; 2) the community feels obligated to follow the law and the dictates of legal authorities, and 3) the community feels that it shares a common set of interests and values with the police.

Procedurally just policing is essential to the development of good will between police and communities and is closely linked to improving community perceptions of police legitimacy, the belief that authorities have the right to dictate proper behavior. Research shows that when communities view police authority as legitimate, they are more likely to cooperate with police and obey the law. Establishing and maintaining police legitimacy promotes the acceptance of police decisions, correlates with high levels of law abidingness, and makes it more likely that police and communities will collaborate to combat crime.

A key component of the research is that the public is especially concerned that the conduct of authorities be fair, and this factor matters more to them than whether outcomes of particular interactions favor them. This means that procedurally just policing is not consonant with traditional enforcement-focused policing, which typically assumes compliance is a function primarily of emphasizing to the public the consequences—usually formal punishment—of failing to follow the law. Policing based on formal deterrence encourages the public’s association of policing primarily with enforcement and punitive outcomes. Procedurally just policing, on the other hand, emphasizes values that police and communities share—shared values based upon a common conception of what social order is and how it should be maintained—and encourages the collaborative, voluntary maintenance of a law-abiding community. Research indicates that this latter approach is far more effective at producing law-abiding citizens than the former. This makes intuitive sense— people welcome being treated as equals with a stake in keeping their communities safe, as opposed to being treated as subjects of a capricious justice system enforced by police who punish them for ambiguous, if not arbitrary, reasons.

Taking measures to enhance procedural justice within law enforcement agencies is becoming increasingly possible. Professor Tracey Meares and Professor Tom Tyler of Yale Law School have worked with the Chicago Police Department and others to create a one-day training for line officers and command staff that teaches them how to apply powerful procedural justice principles to their routine contacts with the public. The officers reportedly like it and evaluate it positively, as it improves not only public safety but their own. Indeed, there are many good reasons to cultivate a respectful relationship between police and communities, but the most important is that communities in which police are considered legitimate are safer and more law-abiding.

Research

Tyler, T., & Fagan, J. (2008). Legitimacy and Cooperation: Why Do People Help the Police Fight Crime in Their Communities?. 6 Ohio State J. Crim. L. 231.

Bradford, B., Sergeant, E., Murphy, K., & Jackson, J. (2015). A Leap of Faith? Trust in the Police Among Immigrants in England and Wales. Br J Criminol 2017; 57 (2): 381-401. doi: 10.1093/bjc/azv126.

Meares, T. (2009). The Legitimacy of Police Among Young African-American Men. Marquette Law Review, 92(4) 651-666

Bradford, Ben. (2014). Policing and Social Identity: Procedural Justice, Inclusion and Cooperation Between Police and Public. Policing and Society, 24:1, 22-43, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2012.724068

Meares, T.L., Tyler, T.R. & Gardener, J. (in press).The two different worlds we live in: Lawfulness and perceived police misconduct.

Kohler-Hausmann, I. (2014). Managerial justice and mass misdemeanors. Stanford Law Review, 66(3), 611-692.

The Sentencing Project. Disproportionate minority contact.

Tyler, T.R. & Jackson, J. (2014). Popular Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority: Motivating Compliance, Cooperation and Engagement. Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 20, 78-95.

David Von Drehle, Alex Altman (2014, September 1). Inside the Tragedy of Ferguson. Time Magazine.

Lee, C.G., Cheesman, F., Rottman, D., Swaner, R., Lambson, S., Rempel, M. & Curtis, R. (2014). A Community Court Grows in Brooklyn: A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Red Hook Community Justice Center Final Report. Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts.

Kates, Graham (2014, September 6). The crisis of confidence in police-community relations. The Crime Report.

Jackson, Jonathan, Bradford, Ben, Kuha, Jouni and Hough, Mike (2014) Empirical legitimacy as two connected psychological states in Mesko, G. and Tankebe, J., (eds.) Improving Legitimacy of Criminal Justice in Emerging Democracies. London: Springer.

Durrant, M.B. (January 27, 2014). 2014 State of the judiciary address: Utah State Courts.

Elijah Anderson (2014, August 13). What caused the Ferguson riot exists in so many other cities, too. The Washington Post.

Kates, Graham (2014, September 5). Melekian: Give beat cops a voice in community policing. The Crime Report

Meares, T.L. (2014, August 22). Ferguson’s schools are just as troubling as its police force. New Republic.

Rosenfeld, R., Fornango, R. (2014). The Impact of Police Stops on Precinct Robbery and Burglary Rates in New York City, 2003-2010. Justice Quarterly, 31, 132–158.

Tyler, T.R. (March, 2014). Legitimacy and procedural justice: A new element of police leadership. Police Executive Research Forum.

Anderson, Elijah (2014, August 13). What caused the Ferguson riot exists in so many other cities, too. Washington Post.

Tyler, T.R., Fagan, J. & Geller, A. (2014). Street stops and police legitimacy: Teachable moments in young urban men’s legal socialization. New Haven: Yale Law School.

United States Department of Justice (June 12, 2013). Statement of interest of the United States in Floyd v. City of New York. In United States District Court, Southern District of New York.

Levin Wheller, Paul Quinton, Alistair Fildes & PC Andy Mills. (2013). The greater Manchester Police procedural justice training experiment. UK: College of Policing.

Wemmers, J.M. (2013). Victims’ experiences in the criminal justice system and their recovery from crime. International Review of Victimology, 19, 221–233.

Reisig, M.D., Tankebe, J. & Mesko, G. (2013). Compliance with the law in Slovenia: The role of procedural justice and police legitimacy. European Journal of Criminal Policy Research, 20(2), 259-276.

Goldstein, J. (August 12, 2013). Judge Rejects New York’s Stop-and-Frisk Policy. The New York Times.

Murphy, K. (2013). Does procedural justice matter to youth? Policing and Society, 25(1), 53-73.

Mazerolle, L., Bennett, S., Davis, J., Sargeant, E. & Manning, M. (2013a). Procedural justice and police legitimacy: A systematic review of the research evidence. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 9(3), 245-274.

Mazerolle, L., Bennett, S., Davis, J. Sargeant, E. & Manning, M. (2013b). Legitimacy in policing: A systematic review. Oslo, Norway: The Campbell Collaboration

Listwan, S.J., Sullivan, C.J., Agnew, R., Cullen, F.T. & Colvin, M. (2013). The pains of imprisonment revisited: The impact of strain on inmate recidivism. Justice Quarterly, 30(1), 144-168.

Kopenovich, S., Yanos, P., Pratt, C. & Koerner, J. (2013). Procedural justice in mental health courts: Judicial practices, participant perceptions, and outcomes related to mental health recovery. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 36, 113-120.

Jackson, J., Bradford, B., Stanko, B. & Hold, K. (2013). Just authority?: Trust in the police in England and Wales. London: Routledge.

Jackson, J., Huq, A.Z., Bradford, B. & Tyler, T.R. (2013). Monopolizing force? Police legitimacy and public attitudes toward the acceptability of violence. Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 19(4), 479-497.

Floyd et al v. The City of New York, Opinion and Order, 08 Civ. 1034 (SAS) U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. August 12, 2013.

Kohler-Hausmann, I. (2013). Misdemeanor justice: Control without conviction. American Journal of Sociology, 119, 351-393.

Statement of Interest of the United States. Floyd v. The City of New York, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Filed June 12, 2013.

Vickrey, W.C., Denton, D.G. & Jefferson, W.B. (2013). Opinions as the voice of the court: How state Supreme Courts can communicate effectively and promote procedural fairness. Harvard: Kennedy School.

Watson, A.C. & Angell, B. (2012). The role of stigma and uncertainty in moderating the effect of procedural justice on cooperation and resistance in police encounters with persons with mental illnesses. Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 19(1), 30-39.

Tatar, J.R., Kaasa, S.O. & Cauffman, E. (2012). Perceptions of procedural justice among female offenders: Time does not heal all wounds. Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 18, 268-296.

Stott, C., Hoggett, J. & Pearson, G. (2012). Keeping the peace: Social identity, procedural justice and the policing of football crowds. British Journal of Criminology, 52, 381-399.

Rosenbaum, D.P., & Lawrence, D.S. (2012). Teaching respectful police-citizen encounters and good decision making: Results of a randomized control trial with police recruits. Chicago: National Police Research Platform.

Papachristos, A.V., Meares, T.L., Fagan, J. (2012). Why do criminals obey the law? Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 102 (2), 397-440.

Myhill, A. & Bradford, B. (2012). Can police enhance confidence in improving quality of service? Policing and Society, 22(4), 397-425.

Murphy, K. & Cherney, A. (2012). Understanding cooperation with police in a diverse society. British Journal of Criminology, 52, 181-201.

Levi, M., Tyler, T.R. & Sacks, A. (2012). The reasons for compliance with law. In R. Goodman, D. Jinks & A. Wood (Eds.), Understanding Social Action, Promoting Human Rights. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Kochel, T.R. (2012). Can police legitimacy promote collective efficacy? Justice Quarterly, 29(3), 384-419.

Hohl, K., Stanko, B. & Newburn, T. (2012). The effect of the 2011 London disorder on public opinion of the police and attitudes towards crime, disorder, and sentencing. Policing, 7(1), 12-20.

Jackson, J., Bradford, B., Hough, M., Myhill, A., Quinton, P. & Tyler, T.R. (2012). Why do people comply with the law? Legitimacy and the influence of legal institutions. British Journal of Criminology, 52, 1051-1071.

Mazerolle, L., Bennett, S., Antrobus, E. & Tyler, T.R. (2012). Shaping citizen perceptions of police legitimacy: A randomized field trial of procedural justice. Criminology, 51, 1-31.

Tatar, J.R., Kaasa, S.O. & Cauffman, E. (2012). Perceptions of procedural justice among female offenders. Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 18(2), 268-296.

Taylor, R.B. & Lawton, B.A. (2012). An integrated contextual model of confidence in local police. Police Quarterly, 15(4), 414-445.

Tomkins, A.J., Bornstein, B., Herian, M.N., Rosenbaum, D.I. & Neeley, E.M. (2012). Improving appearance rates. Court Review, 48, 96-106.

Mentel, Z. (2012). Racial Reconciliation, Truth Telling and Police Legitimacy. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, US Department of Justice.

Tyler, T.R. (2011). Why people cooperate. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Myhill, A. & Quinton, P. (2011). It’s a fair cop? Police legitimacy, public cooperation and crime reduction. London, UK: National Policing Improvement Agency.

Leben, S. (2011). Considering procedural fairness concepts in the courts of Utah. Paper Presented at the educational conference for the Utah State Courts, Midway, Utah.

Komarovskaya, I., Maguen, S., McCaslin, S.E., Metzler, T.J., Madan, A., Brown, A.D., Galatzer-Levy, I.R., Henn-Haase, C. and Marmar, C.R. (2011). The impact of killing and injuring others on mental health symptoms among police officers. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 45(10), 1332-1336.

Judicial Council of California (2011). Procedural fairness in California: Initiatives, challenges, and recommendations. San Francisco, CA: Center for Court Innovation.

Kennedy, D. M. (2011). Don’t shoot: One man, a street fellowship, and the end of violence in inner-city America. New York, NY: Bloomsbury USA.

Jonathan-Zamir, T. & Weisburd, D. (2011). The effects of security threats on antecedents of police legitimacy: Findings from a Quasi-experiment in Israel. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 50 (1), 3-32.

Ward, J.T. (2011). Caught in their own speed trap: The intersection of speed enforcement policy, police legitimacy, and decision acceptance. Police Quarterly, 14, 251-276.

Hasisi, B. & Weisburd, D. (2011). Going beyond ascribed identities: The importance of procedural justice in airport security screening in Israel. Law and Society Review, 45(4), 867-892.

Wylie, L., Gibson, C., Brank, E.M., Fondacaro, M.R., Smith, S., Brown, V.E., & Miller, S.A. (2010). Assessing school and student predictors of weapons reporting. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 8, 351-372.

Peffley, M. & Hurwitz, J. (2010). Justice in America: The separate realities of Blacks and Whites. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Missed Opportunities, Shared Responsibilities: Final Report of the Cambridge Review Committee (2010, June 15).

Kubrin, Charis E., Steven F. Messner, Glenn Deane, Kelly McGeever, Thomas D. Stucky (2010), Proactive Policing and Robbery Rates Across U.S. Cities. Criminology, 48(1): 57-97.

Wales, H.W., Hiday, V.A. & Ray, B. (2010). Procedural justice and the mental health court judge’s role in reducing recidivism. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 33, 265-271.

Hough, M., Jackson, J., Bradford, B., Myhill, A., & Quinton, P. (2010). Procedural justice, trust, and institutional legitimacy. Policing, 4(3), 203-210.

Alexander, M. (2011). The New Jim Crow. New York: The New Press.

Bayley, D. & Nixon, C. (2010). The changing environment for policing, 1985-2008. New Perspectives in Policing. Harvard Kennedy School Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management.

Tyler, T.R. (2009). Legitimacy and criminal justice: The benefits of self-regulation. Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, 7, 307-359.

Tankebe, J. (2009). Self-help, policing, and procedural justice: Ghanaian vigilantism and the rule of law. Law and Society Review, 43(2), 245-270.

Reisig, M.D. & Mesko, G. (2009). Procedural justice, legitimacy and prisoner misconduct. Psychology, Crime and Law, 15(1), 41-59.

Murphy, K., Tyler, T.R., & Curtis, A. (2009). Nurturing regulatory compliance: Is procedural justice effective when people question the legitimacy of the law? Regulation and Governance, 3(1), 1-26.

Hinds, L. (2009). Youth, police legitimacy and informal contact. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 24(1), 10-21.

Hinds, L. & Murphy, K. (2007). Public satisfaction with police: Using procedural justice to improve police legitimacy. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 40(1), 27-42.

Norman, J. (2009). Seen and Not Heard. Young People’s Perceptions of the police. Policing, 3(4), 364-372.

Reisig, M.D. & Lloyd, C. (2009). Procedural justice, police legitimacy, and helping the police fight crime. Police Quarterly, 12(1), 42-62.

Mazerolle, L., Bennett, S., Davis, J., & Manning, M. (2009). Legitimacy in policing. Research Preview. Brisbane, Queensland: ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security.

Stuart, J., Fondarcaro, M., Miller, S.A., Brown, V. & Brank, E.M. (2008). Procedural justice in family conflict resolution and deviant peer group involvement among adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37(6), 674-684.

Murphy, K., Hinds, L. & Fleming, J. (2008). Encouraging public cooperation and support for police. Policing and Society, 18(2), 136-155.

Murphy, K. & Tyler, T.R. (2008). Procedural justice and compliance behaviour: The mediating role of emotions. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38(4), 652-668.

Tyler, T.R. & Fagan, J. (2008). Legitimacy And Cooperation: Why do people help the police fight crime in their communities? Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, 6, 231-275.

Murphy, K., Hinds, L., & Fleming, J. (2008). Encouraging public cooperation and support for police. Policing & Society, 18(2), 136-155.

Tyler, T. R., & Fagan, J. (2008). Legitimacy and cooperation: Why do people help the police fight crime in their communities. Ohio St. J. Crim. L., 6, 231-275.

Abuwala, R. & Farole, D.J. (2008). The effects of the Harlem housing court on tenant perceptions of justice. New York: NY Center for Court Innovation.

Tyler, T. R. (Ed.). (2007). Legitimacy and Criminal Justice: An International Perspective. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Tyler, T.R., Sherman, L.W., Strang, H., Barnes, G.C. & Woods, D.J. (2007). Reintegrative shaming, procedural justice, and recidivism: The engagement of offenders’ psychological mechanisms in the Canberra RISE drinking-and-driving experiment. Law and Society Review, 41(3), 553-586.

Lentz, S.A. & Chaires, R.H. (2007). The invention of Peel’s principles: A study of policing “textbook” history. Journal of Criminal Justice, 35(1), 69-79.

Hinds, L. (2007). Building police-youth relationships: The importance of procedural justice. Youth Justice, 7(3), 195-209.

Farole, D.J. (2007). The New York State Residents Survey:Public perceptions of New York’s courts. New York: Center for Court Innovation.

Horowitz, J. (2007). Making every encounter count: Building Trust and Confidence in the Police, National Institute of Justice Journal, 256, 8-11.

Papachristos, A. V., Meares, T. L., & Fagan, J. (2007). Attention Felons: Evaluation Project Safe Neighborhoods in Chicago. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 4(2), 223-272.

Justice in focus: The strategic plan for California Judicial Branch, 2006-2012 (2006). San Francisco, CA: Judicial Council of California.

Tyler, T.R. (2006b). Psychological perspectives on legitimacy and legitimation. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 375-400.

Tyler, T.R. (2006). Why people obey the law. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Tyler, T. R. (2006). Psychological perspectives on legitimacy and legitimation. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 57, 375-400.

Shute, S., Hood, R. & Seemungan, F. (2005). A fair hearing?: Ethnic minorities in the criminal courts. UK: Willan.

MacCoun, R.J. (2005). Voice, Control, and Belonging: The Double-Edged Sword of Procedural Fairness, Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 1, 171-201.

Resources

A Tactical Mindset: Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy (PJ2) Facilitators Guide

The goal of this course is to reintroduce the principles of procedural justice, gain a deeper understanding of the core concepts of police legitimacy, and build better relationships within the communities that we serve via the use of visual and scenario-based training. Read More

Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy (PJ1) Facilitators Guide

The goal of this course is for law enforcement officers to understand and employ the core concepts of police legitimacy and procedural justice in order to build better relationships with the communities they serve. Read More

Procedural justice and pretextual stops

One focus of procedural justice is how police act when they engage with the community, but why they engage could matter even more. Jonathan Blanks, writing in the Case Western Reserve Law Review, argues that certain types of legal police engagement, no matter how friendly or polite, may still undermine procedural justice. Blanks explains this concept through the example of the pretextual stop, which he says fundamentally violates trust and good faith between police and community. Read More

Principled Policing

Justice from Within: The Relations between a Procedurally Just Organizational Climate and Police Organizational Efficiency, Endorsement of Democratic Policing, and Officer Well-being

Tom Tyler, Phillip Atiba Goff, and Rick Trinkner have a new paper in press with Psychology, Public Policy and Law titled “Justice from Within: The Relations between a Procedurally Just Organizational Climate and Police Organizational Efficiency, Endorsement of Democratic Policing, and Officer Well-being.” The paper demonstrates that police officers’ experiences of procedural justice within their departments is associated with a number of positive outcomes, including increased support of the department itself and of general democratic approaches to policing. Read More

Fines and Fees Resource Guide

The Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs has developed a document to assist in the understanding of issues related to fines, fees, and other financial obligations.The guide contains links to various other publications to serve as case studies, reform guidance, and more. Read More

Strengthening Community-Police Relationships: Training as a Tool for Change

Issue Brief: Procedural Justice

The COPS Office and the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice have provided overview briefs on topics important to building community safety by improving police legitimacy. Procedural Justice focuses on the way police and other authorities interact with the public and how those interactions can shape the public view of police. Read More

How to Serve Diverse Communities

How to Increase Cultural Understanding

The Impact of Psychological Science on Policing in the United States: Procedural Justice, Legitimacy, and Effective Law Enforcement

In the past several years, incidents between community members and the police have highlighted what many have been feeling for a long time – a lack of a sense of police legitimacy. This comprehensive report, published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, reviews findings from psychological science highlighting the positive impacts of police legitimacy on police-community relations. Read More

Strengthening the Relationship Between Law Enforcement and Communities of Color

Racial Reconciliation, Truth-Telling, and Police Legitimacy

This report discusses issues raised at an executive session hosted by the COPS Office and the National Network for Safe Communities in Washington, D.C. on January 11, 2012. Read More

Procedural Justice 2 Training Deck (Template)

Procedural Justice 1 Training Deck (Template)

Enhancing Police Responses to Children Exposed to Violence: A Toolkit for Law Enforcement

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (The IACP) and the Yale Child Study Center (Yale), with support from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, has launched the Enhancing Police Responses to Children Exposed to Violence: A Toolkit for Law Enforcement. This new toolkit provides practical tools and resources to assist law enforcement agencies in building or enhancing effective operational responses to children exposed to violence (with or without a mental health partner). This toolkit contains tools targeted to police leaders and frontline officers.

IACP Communities of Color Toolkit

Executive Summary

Leveraging Community Voices in Violence Prevention

Click here to download a PDF of the presentation and below for the video.

Law Enforcement and the Transgender Community: A Training Video

Webinar: The Importance of Enhancing Procedural Justice in Interactions with Juveniles

This webinar describes recent research demonstrating the particular salience of procedural justice to juveniles, a group that has frequent contact with the criminal justice system and whose orientation toward the law is still being established. Presenters discussed how criminal justice actors can use the insights of this research to improve their legitimacy in the eyes of young people in their communities.

Click here to view the webinar and download the webinar handouts: https://ojjdptta.adobeconnect.com/_a1110525827/p2nf6cnuvd0/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal

Street Stops and Police Legitimacy in New York

Police-initiated citizen encounters in American cities often are non-neutral events. As a crime detection and control strategy central to the “new policing,” these encounters often are unproductive and inefficient. They rarely result in arrest or seizure of contraband, and often provoke ill will between citizens and legal authorities that discourages citizen cooperation with police and compliance with law. In Street Stops and Police Legitimacy in New York, Tracey L. Meares and Tom Tyler from the Justice Collabatory at Yale Law School and Jeffrey Fagan from Columbia Law School describe the range of potentially adverse reactions or harms that SQF or ‘street’ policing may produce; link those harms to a broader set of concerns that connect dignity, harm and police legitimacy; and review the evidence that connects citizen views of police – as well as their experience with police – to their perceptions of the legitimacy of the police and criminal legal institutions generally.

Reducing the gap in perceptions of legitimacy of victims and non-victims

Crime victims are a unique subgroup who evaluate the police and police legitimacy more harshly than those who have not been victimized. This could be explained by their victimization, and their special needs from and expectations of the police. Reducing the gap in perceptions of legitimacy of victims and non-victims finds that procedural justice operates similarly for victims and non-victims, but that police performance plays a much more important role as an antecedent for victims.

System contact and procedural justice policing: Improving quality of life outcomes for victims of crime

Victims of crime often feel re-victimised when they come into contact with criminal justice professionals. Police, as first responders to many victimisation experiences, therefore need to be particularly sensitive to the way in which they treat victims if they wish to reduce the occurrence of such secondary victimisation. System contact and procedural justice policing seeks to explore the role that procedural justice policing can play in improving the wellbeing and quality of life of crime victims after system contact.

Procedural Injustice, Risky Lifestyles, and Violent Victimization

Participation in risky lifestyles is a well-established predictor of victimization. Several variables have been identified as key predictors of risky activities (e.g., low self-control) but there may be additional sources not considered in the literature to date. Procedural Injustice, Risky Lifestyles, and Violent Victimization argues that perceptions of procedural unfairness represent a break in social control, thereby opening the door for participation in risky lifestyles that are conducive to victimization. The study demonstrates that police procedural injustice was positively associated with risky lifestyles, which partially mediated the relationship between procedural injustice and violent victimization.

Ethnic Identity, Procedural Justice, and Offending: Does Procedural Justice Work the Same for Everyone?

Ethnic Identity, Procedural Justice, and Offending examines the interaction between procedural justice and ethnic identity on two measures of offending, self-report and number of arrests, in a longitudinal study of serious juvenile delinquents.

Arrestees Perceptions of the Police: Exploring Procedural Justice, Legitimacy, and Willingness to Cooperate With Police Across Offender Types

Arrestees’ Perceptions of the Police: Exploring Procedural Justice, Legitimacy, and Willingness to Cooperate With Police Across Offender Types explores the relationship between procedural justice, police legitimacy, and willingness to cooperate with police among adults who have recently been arrested. Findings indicate that procedural justice is strongly associated with views of police legitimacy, and perceptions of police legitimacy do not vary by offender type. Procedural justice and legitimacy perceptions are powerful predictors of willingness to cooperate with the police.

NNSC National Conference 2015: Applying Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy

This panel from the National Network for Safe Communities' conference discusses the ways law enforcement entities around the country have begun to integrate the principles of community trust, procedural justice, and legitimacy into recruit and in-service training and practice with the aim of improving relationships between law enforcement and the communities it serves. Panelists address how to introduce these concepts into law enforcement organizations, build buy-in, and sustain the practices. Moderated by Megan Quattlebaum, Program Director for the Yale Justice Collaboratory, this panel features Tom Tyler, Macklin Fleming Professor of Law at Yale University; Greg Berman, Executive Director of the Center for Court Innovation; Bruce Lipman, Lieutenant (ret.) at the Chicago Police Department; Ronal Serpas, Superintendent (ret.) of the New Orleans Police Department; and Daniela Gilbert, Deputy Director of the California Partnership for Safe Communities.

NNSC National Conference 2015: Karol V. Mason

Karol V. Mason, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs, delivers the keynote address of the National Network for Safe Communities' National Conference 2015.

NNSC National Conference 2015: Truth-Telling, Reconciliation, and the National Initiative

NNSC National Conference 2015: Police and Communities in Motion

Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Victims | A Joint Effort of the Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police

IACP’s Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Victims (ELERV) includes the following resources:

21st Century Strategy
Implementation Guide
Resource Toolkit
Training Supplement

Interim Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing

Download and read the full report.

Tracey Meares: The Legitimacy of Police Among Young African-American Men

In this video of the Inaugural George and Margaret Barrock Lecture, Professor Tracey Meares of Yale Law School speaks at Marquette Law School on police legitimacy among African-American men.

Tracey Meares: Understanding Deterrence and Legitimacy in Law

In this series of short videos, Professor Tracey Meares of Yale Law School discusses the theories of deterrence and legitimacy of law that underpin Project Safe Neighborhoods.

Stockton, California

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Gary, Indiana

Fort Worth, Texas

Birmingham, Alabama

The Evolution of Policing and a Return to Principles

National Initiative Assists Pittsburgh and Minneapolis in Building Police-Community Trust

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of six cities of the National Initiative, has proven particularly successful in its work with the Youth-Police Advisory Committee (PGHYPAC), an organization co-founded by Chief Cameron McLay of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and students from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. This organization promotes "reconciliation" between students (grades 6-12) and law enforcement representatives, involving participants from the Mayor's Office, District Attorney's Office, and US Attorney's Office. National Initiative Assists Pittsburgh and Minneapolis in Building Police-Community Trust. Minneapolis, Minnesota, another of the National Initiative’s pilot sites, has announced several changes to the Minneapolis Police Department’s (MPD) use-of-force policy to begin repairing the broken relationship between law enforcement and communities of color. - Read More

A Word from the National Initiative on Recent Events

The National Initiative would like to take this moment to offer a word of support to all of our law enforcement and community partners. - Read More

National Initiative Research Roundtable Report

On November 19 and 20, 2015, the National Initiative held a rountable discussions hosted by the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School. - Read More

Procedural Justice Training Kickoff in Six Pilot Sites

The Department of Justice’s National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice has announced that on February 1, 2016 it will launch a three-day procedural justice training in its six pilot sites, a component of its plan to strengthen the relationship between the criminal justice system and the communities it serves and protects. The pilot sites sent officers to receive training on an innovative procedural justice curriculum in October of 2015. These officers will now deliver the curriculum to the rank-and-file of their departments in an effort to improve the quality of interaction with the public. - Read More

A judge in Newark takes an innovative approach to fostering procedural justice.

Procedural justice, one of the key pillars of the National Initiative, has been in the spotlight recently thanks to coverage of Judge Victoria Pratt’s court in Newark, New Jersey. - Read More

Procedural Justice: Increasing Trust to Decrease Crime

Improving procedural justice holds great potential to increase trust between authorities and communities and decrease serious crime. Megan Quattlebaum of Yale Law School's Justice Collaboratory writes at OJP Diagnostic Center to explain this pillar of the National Initiative. - Read More

Drugs, Race, and Common Ground: Reflections on the High Point Intervention

At the 2008 National Institute of Justice Conference, David Kennedy talked about his work to combat drug markets and promote police-community reconciliation, especially within the High Point Intervention, an innovative program now being replicated in many sites nationally under the Drug Market Intervention. - Read More

Getting Beyond Ferguson

In the News

Fox - June 2018
Minneapolis Police Chief hopes new department position creates better community relations

The New York Times - May 2018
Opinion: A Better Solution for Starbucks

CBS - May 2018
Minneapolis PD Says Use Of Force Dropped By Half In Last Decade

Berkeleyside - May 2018
Berkeley police stops show racial disparities — but what does that mean?

The Stockton Record - April 2018
Town hall on officer-involved shootings brings together law enforcement, south Stockton leaders

The Nation - March 2018
A Crop of Reform-Minded Mayors Is Trying to Fix Policing and Fight Mass Incarceration

NI Newsletter - February 2018
Procedural Justice: More Than Just Being Nice

CityLab - January 2018
What Happened to Crime in Camden?

Steelers.com - December 2017
Working together as one: The Steelers and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police continue to grow their relationship.

NI Newsletter - December 2017
2017 National Initiative Status Reports

Governing Magazine - November 2017
A Better Way to Deal With Intimate-Partner Violence

The Hill - October 2017
Tackling history of race and policing starts with well-informed officers

ACLU Blog - September 2017
The Minneapolis Police Department Is Sharing Data on Police Stops. Other Departments Should Follow.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - September 2017
Pittsburgh’s new multicultural unit will help communication — in Arabic, Chinese, Nepali, Spanish and Swahili

NI Newsletter - July 2017
The Process of Trust Building

CBS Pittsburgh - July 2017
Pittsburgh Police Zone Five Working To Improve Community Relations

YouTube - June 2017
Reducing Harm: Shifting Police Culture and Practice

WFAA - May 2017
Details on Fort Worth Police Department’s Community Procedural Justice Initiative

The Stanford Daily - April 2017
Q&A: Stockton Police Chief aims to regain community’s trust

Star Tribune - April 2017
Female police officers’ de-escalation skills changing tone in Minneapolis

AL.com - April 2017
‘We all need to do this together’: Birmingham police tries to build trust during community walk

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - April 2017
Pittsburgh focuses ‘community policing’ on 18 neighborhoods

Stockton Record - March 2017
Stockton summit highlights strategies for law enforcement

The Stockton Record - March 2017
Stockton Police reach out to clarify role, assure Latino community

The Stockton Record - March 2017
Stockton community member: Getting ‘a seat at the table’

The Stockton Record - March 2017
Listening in a new way

PA Times - February 2017
A Tale of Six Cities

Cleveland.com - December 2016
13 Places that Saw Bail Reform in 2016

Minneapolis Post - November 2016
Working together to ensure public safety in 21st-century Minneapolis

Stockton Record - November 2016
Stockton Police Department Making Progress on Community Policing

Minneapolis Star Tribune - November 2016
Minneapolis detective draws on deep community roots

Seattle KUOW - November 2016
Expert: Research Suggests Body Cameras Have “Civilizing Effect”

The Pitt News - November 2016
McLay resigned, but his reforms should remain

The Birmingham Times - November 2016
Birmingham’s Playbook for Community Policing

Huffington Post - October 2016
Can Empathy Improve Policing?

- October 2016
City of Pittsburgh Joins White House-Driven Police Data Initiative

WalletHub - October 2016
Should Police Wear Body Cameras? Experts Pick Sides

Minneapolis Star Tribune - August 2016
Minneapolis police reveal changes to use-of-force policy

The New York Times - August 2016
Barriers to Reforming Police Practices

The New York Times - July 2016
A Strategy to Build Police-Citizen Trust

Star Tribune - July 2016
Minneapolis expands diversion programs for misdemeanor offenses

Recordnet.com - July 2016
A matter of trust: Community officer serves, guides, befriends, respects

California Police Chiefs - July 2016
Principled Policing

New York Times - July 2016
Policing the Police on Stop-and-Frisk

KSTP - July 2016
New Minneapolis Program Gives First-Time Offenders of Obstruction a Second Chance

Crain's - July 2016
Chicago should be commended for police reforms, not dissed

Kokomo Perspective - April 2016
Gary police already implementing change

The Crime Report - April 2016
Let’s Train Cops For ‘Compassionate Policing’

The Crime Report - April 2016
Why Chicago’s Black Youth Distrust Cops

The Crime Report - March 2016
A Police Chief’s Apology for the Drug War

Politico - March 2016
Justice Department touts success in charging fewer but more serious drug cases

Long Beach Gazette - March 2016
Long Beach’s Diversion Program Offers Choices For Youth

New York Times - March 2016
A Federal Judge’s New Model for Forgiveness

VICE News - March 2016
There’s a New Way for People Arrested in NYC to Avoid Jail

The Crime Report - March 2016
Why Cops Need to Support Justice Reforms

United States Department of Justice - March 2016
Fines and Fees Resource Guide

New York Times - March 2016
Justice Dept. Condemns Profit-Minded Court Policies Targeting the Poor

The Texas Tribune - March 2016
Conviction Integrity Units Expand Beyond Texas Roots

California Partnership for Safe Communities - March 2016
Strengthening Community-Police Relations: Training as a Tool for Change

Daily Herald - March 2016
How Kane County mental health court reshaped 3 lives

Southwest Journal - March 2016
Police and community take a hard look at implicit bias

Minneapolis Post - March 2016
Avoiding ‘lawful but awful’: How Minneapolis and St. Paul police officials are looking to change when officers use deadly force

ABC 57 - March 2016
South Bend Police Chief answers community questions

Gothamist - March 2016
The NYPD Will Stop Making Arrests For Most Low-Level Offenses In Manhattan

Office of Justice Programs - March 2016
Office for Victims of Crime Resource Guide

The Crime Report - February 2016
Reinventing America’s Police Forces

Rockford Register Star - February 2016
Rockford cops aim to cut violent crime, improve community policing with new programs

Vera Institute of Justice - February 2016
The Human Toll of Jail

Christian Science Monitor - February 2016
Chicago attempts to recruit more diverse police candidates

New York Times - February 2016
Woman Exonerated After Serving 10 Years for Manslaughter Conviction

Star Tribune - February 2016
In Minneapolis, a time for change on policing and race

WBAL TV Baltimore - February 2016
Baltimore Police Department to undergo major changes

ABC 5 Minneapolis - February 2016
Minneapolis Police Training Looks to Transform Police, Resident Interaction

FOX 9 Minneapolis - February 2016
Minneapolis part of Dept. of Justice initiative to build trust between community, police

Stockton Record - February 2016
‘Café con los Policias:’ Stockton police reach out to Latino community

ABC 5 Minneapolis - February 2016
National Pilot Program on Police-Community Relations Gets Underway in Mpls.

John Jay College News - February 2016
American Justice Summit Draws Leading Voices on Criminal Justice Reform

MSR News Online - January 2016
Pilot project seeks ways to build police-community trust

KRON 4- San Francisco - January 2016
SFPD officers make pledge against racism

New York Times - January 2016
Massachusetts Chief’s Tack in Drug War: Steer Addicts to Rehab, Not Jail

Chicago Tribune - January 2016
Former Chicago officer returns to advise department on civil rights reform

Star Tribune - January 2016
New Minneapolis diversion program swaps fines, jail time for conversation with an officer

Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration - January 2016
Over 70 Top Police Chiefs and Prosecutors Urge Congress to Pass Criminal Justice Reform

Center for Court Innovation - January 2016
Race, Data, and Procedural Justice: A Conversation with David Slayton

Criminal Justice and Behavior - January 2016
Arrestees Perceptions of the Police: Exploring Procedural Justice, Legitimacy, and Willingness to Cooperate With Police Across Offender Types

PBS - January 2016
How NYC is tackling 1.4 million open arrest warrants for ‘quality-of-life’ crimes

Stockton Record - January 2016
Stockton Crime Rate at 15-Year Low

Chicago Reader - January 2016
Cook County’s most unconventional judge takes justice beyond the bench

The Marshall Project - January 2016
Philly’s Retiring Police Commissioner on Facing Corruption and What People Get Wrong about Police Shootings

Hudson Valley News Network - December 2015
Newburgh Police Crave Community Connection

Albany Times Union - December 2015
Albany police get $70,000 for diversion program manager

New York Times - December 2015
Fight Crime Sensibly, Not Hysterically

Houston Chronicle - December 2015
Feds release new guidance to prevent gender-bias policing

SanJoaquin.com-Blog - December 2015
First in series of youth forums “to educate … about rights and responsibilities when encountering police”

New York Magazine - December 2015
Smart Policing and the NYPD

Association for Psychological Science - December 2015
The Impact of Psychological Science on Policing in the United States: Procedural Justice, Legitimacy, and Effective Law Enforcement

Washington Post - December 2015
Creating guardians, calming warriors

Yale Law School - December 2015
Professor Tracey Meares on Procedural Justice and The Justice Collaboratory

The News and Observer- Raleigh, NC - December 2015
Raleigh chief hopes “Face-to-Face” meetings will build community relationships

WESA- Pittsburgh - December 2015
Pittsburgh Police Share Plan To Build Trust With, Protect City’s Muslim Population

Reconciliation

Reconciliation is a method of facilitating frank engagements between minority communities, police and other authorities that allow them to address historical tensions, grievances, and misconceptions, and reset relationships. Respect, collaboration, and effective working relationships between police and the communities they serve are central to both community safety and effective policing. However, in many communities where serious crime is concentrated, mutual mistrust and misunderstanding prevent police and communities from working together.

The reconciliation process recognizes the very real American history of abusive law enforcement practices toward minority communities, beginning with slavery. It also respects—without endorsing—the sometimes damaging narratives each side has about the other. Many people in minority communities affected by high levels of violent crime and disorder genuinely believe that police are using drug laws and other law enforcement as a means to oppress them. Their alienation is fueled by the history of slavery, Jim Crow, and other legal oppression of minorities; high levels of intrusive police tactics like arrest and stop-and-frisk; and disrespectful behavior by police. When these communities are furious with the police, they are not inclined to work with the criminal justice system or speak out publicly against violence and crime. Serious offenders may wrongly believe that their own communities tolerate or even support their behavior.

Conversely, some in law enforcement genuinely believe that troubled minority communities are broadly tolerant of—and even complicit in—crime and violence. In fact, both research and national field experience clearly show that high-crime minority communities are the least tolerant of crime and disorder,1 and that in the most apparently dangerous communities the overwhelming majority of people do not behave violently.2 However, where police believe otherwise, they are more inclined to treat entire communities as criminal and employ aggressive and intrusive tactics.

The process of racial reconciliation addresses these deeply troubled relationships through engagement between law enforcement and community members about the long American history of legal abuse of minorities; the fact that traditional law enforcement has sometimes been both ineffective and caused unintentional damage to individuals, families, and communities; how police have often treated minority individuals and communities with disrespect; and the sincere desire of law enforcement to act differently and do better. There is, in turn, an engagement about the central importance, if there is to be community safety, of clear and powerful community norms against violence and other serious crime, and an effective working relationship with law enforcement.

The aim of racial reconciliation is that communities and law enforcement come to see that 1) they misunderstand each other in important ways, 2) both have been contributing to harms neither desires, 3) in crucial areas, both want fundamentally the same things, and 4) there is an immediate opportunity for partnership that can concretely benefit both the community and the authorities that serve it. The process reveals real common ground, shows police that communities reject violence and want to work with them in new ways, and facilitates communities in expressing strong and meaningful norms against violence and for good behavior.

This racial reconciliation approach was originally developed as part of the National Network for Safe Communities’ Drug Market Intervention, which has been effective in addressing crime and disorder in particularly troubled neighborhoods nationally.3 Some high-level police executives have been willing to make powerful public statements acknowledging history and seeking to foster reconciliation efforts. Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy has embraced these ideas and is setting a national standard for speaking about them publicly. Said McCarthy in a 2013 interview with WBEZ Chicago:

I understand the historical divide between police and communities of color – it’s rooted in the history of this country. The most visible arm of government is a police force, and the institutionalized governmental programs that promoted racist policies that were enforced by police departments in this country are part of the African American history in this country. And we have to recognize it because recognition is the first step towards finding a cure towards what is ailing us. Over the years we’ve actually done a lot of things wrong and I’m willing to admit that.

The National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice will seek to build on existing reconciliation practices, employ them on a wider geographic scale in cities, and adapt them to different racial and ethnic communities, youth, victims of crime, and the LGBQTI community.

Research

The Sentencing Project. Disproportionate minority contact.

Tyler, T.R. & Jackson, J. (2014). Popular Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority: Motivating Compliance, Cooperation and Engagement. Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 20, 78-95.

Kates, Graham (2014, September 6). The crisis of confidence in police-community relations. The Crime Report.

Tyler, T.R. (March, 2014). Legitimacy and procedural justice: A new element of police leadership. Police Executive Research Forum.

Crimesolutions.gov (2014). Program Profile: High Point Drum Market Intervention.

Anderson, Elijah (2014, August 13). What caused the Ferguson riot exists in so many other cities, too. Washington Post.

Tyler, T.R., Fagan, J. & Geller, A. (2014). Street stops and police legitimacy: Teachable moments in young urban men’s legal socialization. New Haven: Yale Law School.

Mentel, Z. (2012). Racial Reconciliation, Truth Telling and Police Legitimacy. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, US Department of Justice.

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (2012). Strengthening the Relationship Between Law Enforcement and Communities of Color. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

Tyler, T.R. (2011). Why people cooperate. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Kennedy, D. M. (2011). Don’t shoot: One man, a street fellowship, and the end of violence in inner-city America. New York, NY: Bloomsbury USA.

Hough, M., Jackson, J., Bradford, B., Myhill, A., & Quinton, P. (2010). Procedural justice, trust, and institutional legitimacy. Policing, 4(3), 203-210.

Kennedy, D. M. (2010). Practice Brief: Norms, Narratives, and Community Engagement for Crime Prevention. New York: John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Alexander, M. (2011). The New Jim Crow. New York: The New Press.

Mazerolle, L., Bennett, S., Davis, J., & Manning, M. (2009). Legitimacy in policing. Research Preview. Brisbane, Queensland: ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security.

Papachristos, A. V. (2009). Murder by Structure: Dominance Relations and the Social Structure of Gang Homicide. American Journal of Sociology, 115(1), 74-128.

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, US Dept of Justice, & United States of America. (2009). Disproportionate Minority Contact.

Tyler, T.R. & Fagan, J. (2008). Legitimacy And Cooperation: Why do people help the police fight crime in their communities? Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, 6, 231-275.

Kennedy, D. M. (2008). Drugs, Race and Common Ground: Reflections on the High Point Intervention. National Institute of Justice Journal, 262, 12-17.

Murphy, K., Hinds, L., & Fleming, J. (2008). Encouraging public cooperation and support for police. Policing & Society, 18(2), 136-155.

Tyler, T. R., & Fagan, J. (2008). Legitimacy and cooperation: Why do people help the police fight crime in their communities. Ohio St. J. Crim. L., 6, 231-275.

Tyler, T. R. (Ed.). (2007). Legitimacy and Criminal Justice: An International Perspective. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Horowitz, J. (2007). Making every encounter count: Building Trust and Confidence in the Police, National Institute of Justice Journal, 256, 8-11.

Cabaniss, E. R., Frabutt, J. M., Kendrick, M. H., & Arbuckle, M. B. (2007). Reducing disproportionate minority contact in the juvenile justice system: Promising practices. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 12(4), 393-401.

Papachristos, A. V., Meares, T. L., & Fagan, J. (2007). Attention Felons: Evaluation Project Safe Neighborhoods in Chicago. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 4(2), 223-272.

Tyler, T.R. (2006). Why people obey the law. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Tyler, T. R. (2006). Psychological perspectives on legitimacy and legitimation. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 57, 375-400.

Tyler, T. R. (2005). Policing in black and white: Ethnic group differences in trust and confidence in the police. Police Quarterly, 8(3), 322-342.

Sunshine, J., & Tyler, T. R. (2003). The role of procedural justice and legitimacy in shaping public support for policing. Law & Society Review, 37(3), 513-548.

Tyler, T.R. & Huo, Y.J. (2002). Trust in the law. New York: Russell-Sage.

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

Tyler, T. R. (2001). Trust and law abidingness: A proactive model of social regulation. Boston University Law Rev., 81, 361-406.

Sampson, R. J., & Bartusch, D. J. (1998). Legal Cynicism and (Subcultural?) Tolerance of Deviance: The Neighborhood Context of Racial Differences. Law and Society Review, 32(4), 777-804.

Tyler, T. R. (1988). What is procedural justice-criteria used by citizens to assess the fairness of legal procedures. Law & Society Review, 22(1), 103-136.

Resources

Reconciliation Process Overview

This document describes the principal elements we have identified as essential to the reconciliation process, and identifies a process and key steps. It is focused on police/community relations, while recognizing that the framework presented here may ideally be extended to other criminal justice institutions. Read More

Principled Policing

Issue Brief: Reconciliation

The COPS Office and the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice have provided overview briefs on topics important to building community safety by improving police legitimacy. Reconciliation focuses on a method of engaging minority communities and police or other authorities in order to repair relationships. Read More

How to Serve Diverse Communities

How to Increase Cultural Understanding

Strengthening the Relationship Between Law Enforcement and Communities of Color

Racial Reconciliation, Truth-Telling, and Police Legitimacy

This report discusses issues raised at an executive session hosted by the COPS Office and the National Network for Safe Communities in Washington, D.C. on January 11, 2012. Read More

IACP Communities of Color Toolkit

Executive Summary

Webinar: Fostering Processes of Reconciliation

This webinar describes the National Initiative's implementation efforts in its six pilot sites and gives background on the concepts and practices of reconciliation. In many communities where public trust in law enforcement has been compromised, a deliberate process of reconciliation is necessary before law enforcement and communities can work together to improve public safety. The presenter, David Kennedy, described the developing practices associated with reconciliation, how they can improve public trust and collaboration with law enforcement, and how this will be carried out in the National Initiative's six pilot sites.

Click here to view the full webinar: https://ojjdptta.adobeconnect.com/_a1110525827/p6pteavmg2a/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal

NNSC National Conference 2015: Karol V. Mason

Karol V. Mason, Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs, delivers the keynote address of the National Network for Safe Communities' National Conference 2015.

NNSC National Conference 2015: Truth-Telling, Reconciliation, and the National Initiative

NNSC National Conference 2015: Police and Communities in Motion

Interim Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing

Download and read the full report.

Tracey Meares: The Legitimacy of Police Among Young African-American Men

In this video of the Inaugural George and Margaret Barrock Lecture, Professor Tracey Meares of Yale Law School speaks at Marquette Law School on police legitimacy among African-American men.

Tracey Meares: Understanding Deterrence and Legitimacy in Law

In this series of short videos, Professor Tracey Meares of Yale Law School discusses the theories of deterrence and legitimacy of law that underpin Project Safe Neighborhoods.

Stockton, California

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Gary, Indiana

Fort Worth, Texas

Birmingham, Alabama

The Evolution of Policing and a Return to Principles

National Initiative Assists Pittsburgh and Minneapolis in Building Police-Community Trust

A Word from the National Initiative on Recent Events

The National Initiative would like to take this moment to offer a word of support to all of our law enforcement and community partners. - Read More

National Initiative Research Roundtable Report

On November 19 and 20, 2015, the National Initiative held a rountable discussions hosted by the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School. - Read More

William J. Bratton Remarks at NOBLE Friday, March 13, Atlanta, GA

On March 13, at the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement (NOBLE) William R. Bracey CEO Symposium, New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton delivered a powerful message about the state of policing in New York City and across the nation. He addressed historical wrongs the police have done; acknowledged tensions, both past and recent; and presented a vision for the NYPD to “set right” relations with the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods by hearing their input and providing improved public safety. - Read More