Procedural Justice and Implicit Bias Training in Law Enforcement: An Examination of Training Surveys from the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice.

• In Event: Measuring Community Confidence in the Police and Efforts to Improve It: Early Findings from the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice Evaluation

Abstract

Enhancing police legitimacy is essential to improving citizen trust and willingness to recognize police officers authority figures in a democratic society. Research shows that in communities that view the police as legitimate, citizens are more likely to cooperate with police officers and obey the law. In police departments across the country, the training of officers in procedural justice (PJ) practices – respect, active listening, fair decision-making, and effectively communicating your actions to others – has been shown capable of increasing public trust in police officers. Attempting to expand respectful policing practices further, police departments have begun to address implicit bias (IB) – automatic associations that can influence behavior – in officer trainings. This presentation will examine pre- and post-test survey data of PJ and IB trainings in 6 police departments across the country – part of the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice (NI), funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). This presentation will examine (1) how officers’ perceptions of PJ and IB principles were impacted by department trainings, (2) if variation in responses occurred across NI sites and training, and (3) if training seemed to get stronger over time. Lastly, implications for research and practice will be discussed.

Authors

• Mathew Lynch, Urban Institute

• Jesse Jannetta, Urban Institute