Mirage of Police Reform: Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy

Assessing the effects of body‐worn cameras on procedural justice in the Los Angeles Police Department*

“…Arguably, the most serious events, such as violent crimes, would reduce officers’ use of procedural justice. Contrary to this expectation, Worden and McLean () found that violent crime and interpersonal conflict calls yielded higher levels of procedural justice, but suspicious circumstances were associated with significant reductions. A similar expectation of constrained discretion would be expected of encounters with citizens that happen during the busiest shifts.…”

“…Citizen initiation of encounters predicted higher levels of procedural justice in the latter study as well, but not in Mell's () analysis, and the measurement differed in the two other studies, in which only proactive or reactive mobilization was captured; the results of neither of which yielded significant variation in procedural justice. Citizen disrespect significantly increased procedural injustice in Worden and McLean's () research and reduced procedural justice in research by Mastrofski et al. ().…”

“…(). Passive resistance yielded higher levels of procedural injustice, and defensive resistance lowered levels of procedural justice in Worden and McLean's () study; none of the other researchers captured a measure of resistance. McCluskey and Reisig () measured defiance, a combination of resistance and disrespect, but it had no statistically reliable impact on procedural justice.…”

“…The application of SSO to the implementation of BWCs could draw on a new strength (Jonathan‐Zamir et al., ; McCluskey & Reisig, ; Mell, ; Worden & McLean, ), which is the refinement of third‐party measurement of police actions, consistent with the theoretical framework of procedural justice. More specifically, participation, neutrality, dignity and respect, and trustworthy motives have been shown to be amenable to definition and measurement within the SSO protocol.…”

“…Police decision‐making in these cases may be believed to require quick resolution of the presenting situation, therefore changing the calculus in terms of effort and thoroughness applied. Only Worden and McLean () controlled for shift, and their results indicated it had no impact on procedural justice.…”