Improving Police-Community Relations through the EPJETS Model

• In Event: Institutional Trust, Cultural Framing, and Community Relations

Abstract

Police-community relations have been strained in recent years due to high-profile use-of-force incidents. To address the issue, agencies are exploring ways to improve their relations with the community through enhanced interaction techniques. The Enhancing Procedurally Just Encounters Through Substantiation (EPJETS) model has been developed to offer an effective interaction protocol to enhance their relations with the community. The model, at its core, aims to strengthen police-community relations during short interactions by promoting transparency, accountability, and data-driven strategies. The EPJETS model was tested in a Randomized Controlled Trial involving 1,423 drivers who were stopped by two police agencies in New Jersey: the Atlantic City Police Department and the Pleasantville Police Department. Over 20 months, 145 speed control operations (SCO) were conducted, and a survey was offered to drivers following the stop. We found that the protocol significantly improved drivers' trust and confidence in the police, as well as their perceptions of Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs). Drivers who received the experimental protocol rated the ‘cooperation’ item higher compared to those assigned to the control. The findings also suggest that the driver’s race and age moderate the relationship between the protocol and its impact on perceptions of the police.

Authors

• Nusret Sahin, Stockton University

• Joel Caplan, Rutgers University

• Manish Madan, Stockton University

• Rob Voigt, Northwestern University