new perspectives in policing - rightful policing

New Perspectives in Policing

National Institute of Justice

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5

Rightful Policing Tracey L Meares with Peter Neyroud

Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety This is one in a series of papers that will be published as a result of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety

Harvardrsquos Executive Sessions are a convening of individuals of independent standing who take joint responsibility for rethinking and improving societ yrsquos responses to an issue Members are selected based on their experiences their reputation for thoughtfulness and their potential for helping to disseminate the work of the Session

In the early 1980s an Executive Session on Policing helped resolve many law enforcement issues of the day It produced a number of papers and concepts that revolutionized policing Thir ty years later law enforcement has changed and NIJ and the Harvard Kennedy School are again collaborating to help resolve law enforcement issues of the day

Learn more about the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety at

ww wNIJgov key words ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo

w wwhkshar vardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo

Introduction

During the summer of 2009 the nation and the

world t rai ned t heir at tent ion on Ca mbr idge

Massachusetts a small northeastern cit y of about

100000 people abut t ing Boston a nd home to

Harvard University That summer a Cambridge

p ol ic e of f ic er a r re s t e d r enow ne d Ha r v a rd

Universit y A f r ica n A mer ica n St ud ies schola r

Henr y Louis Gates Jr who was attempt ing to

enter his home following a long trip abroad The

media were flooded w it h stories and accounts

of ldquoracial profilingrdquo the nature of t he problem

and the necessity for a national response Even

President Obama famously commented on the

incident1

To u n der s t a nd t h e c o n t r o v er s y fo l lo w i n g

Professor Gatesrsquos a r rest it is usef u l to have a

fact ua l contex t Sergea nt James Crowley t he

officer who arrested Professor Gates radioed that

he would go to the Gates residence after receiving

a dispatch at 1246 pm on July 16 2009 that a

possible breaking and entering was in progress

Crowley arrived to find Gates in his home and

from there the stories diverge Crowleyrsquos version

of t he event s is t hat Gates w a s yel l i ng a nd

Cite this paper as Meares Tracey L with Peter Neyroud Rightful Policing New Perspectives in Policing Bulletin Washington DC US Department of Justice National Institute of Justice 2015 NCJ 248411

2 | New Perspec tives in Policing

behav ing in a ldquotumultuousrdquo manner as Crowley

at tempted to ascer ta i n enoug h facts to ensure

t hat a crime was not occurring Gatesrsquos v iew on

the ot her hand is t hat Crowley disrespected him

by failing to respond when Gates asked Crowley

for his name and badge number Gates was also

upset t hat Crowle y suspec ted h i m mdash a sl ig ht

elderly ma n w it h a cane mdash to be a burg lar It is

important to emphasize t hat Sergeant Crowley

arrived at Gatesrsquos home in response to a 911 call as

opposed to an exercise of his ow n discretion This

point is critical because t he t y pical conception

of rac ia l prof i l i ng foc uses on it s lega l it y a nd

t he legalit y of police act ion is primarily framed

around placing constraints on when police decide

to engage people as opposed to how police engage

people Even though his experience fit somewhat

uneasily into the t y pical legal framework of racial

prof i l i ng P rofessor Gates ha s descr ibed h is

experience in exactly those terms

How t hen are we to understand t he disjuncture

bet ween Sergeant Crowleyrsquos insistence mdash as well

as t he conclusion of many mdash that he conducted

himself law f ully and Professor Gatesrsquos insistence

t h at he w a s u n fa i rl y t reate d a nd t herefore

racia l ly profi led

To find an answer it is necessar y to see how t wo

dominant ways of evaluat ing police leave litt le

room for considering how ordinar y people tend

to a ssess t hei r t reat ment by state aut hor it ies

E x per t s whet her t he y a re pol ic e of f icia ls or

scholars of policing tend to assess police action

eit her w it h respec t to it s law f u l ness or w it h

respec t to it s ef fec t iveness at reduc i ng c r i me

and i ncreasing public sa fet y Police fidelit y to

law especially constitutional law has long been

used as a criterion to distinguish good from bad

policing In add it ion to t he Fou r t h Fif t h a nd

Sixt h Amendments ot her bodies of law mdash such

as police agency administrative regulations civ il

lawsu its or t he ver y law t hat aut hor izes police

to act in t he first place substantive criminal law

mdash prov ide standards by which legal authorit ies

measu re and assess whet her or not policing is

carried out properly2

Effect iveness at cr ime fig ht ing has become t he

other primar y police evaluation met ric Promoted

initially by scholars this yardstick is newer t han

law fulness because for decades many including

police believed t hat law enforcement had litt le

impact on crime rates3 Dav id Bayley in his 1994

book Police for the Future summed up t his v iew

nicely

The police do not prevent crime That is

one of t he best kept secrets of moder n

life Experts k now it The police k now it

but t he public does not k now it Yet the

police pretend t hat t hey are societ yrsquos best

defense aga inst cr i me a nd cont inua l ly

a r g u e t h a t i f t h e y a r e g i v e n m o r e

resources especially personnel they w ill

be able to protect communities against

crime This is my th4

T h is is no longer t r ue Pol ic e exec ut ives a re

expected mdash and expect t hemselves mdash to reduce

Rightful Policing | 3

c r i me r at e s i n t he i r j u r i s d i c t ion s Pol ic i n g

schola rs devote t hemselves to f i nd i ng causa l

connect ions bet ween va rious pol ice pract ices

a nd c r i me st at ist ics t y pic a l l y by rely i ng on a

t heoret ica l model t hat assumes of fenders are

r at ion a l ac tor s w ho a re p er suaded t o desi st

f rom cr imina l behav ior when t he prospect of

for ma l pu nish ment out weig hs t he benef its of

that behav ior In arresting Professor Gates that

day Sergeant Crowley pursued t hese t wo aims

of policing simultaneously He was an assiduous

crime fighter and he acted in a way t hat was legal

Does t hat mean that Sergeant Crowleyrsquos conduct

was unambig uously right f ul

No it does not It does not because t here is a t hird

way in addition to law f ulness and effectiveness

t o e v a l u a t e p o l ic i n g mdash ldquor i g h t f u l p ol ic i n g rdquo

R ig ht f u l pol icing at tempts to accou nt for what

people say that they care about when they assess

i nd iv idua l of f icer behav ior a s wel l a s agenc y

conduct generally It differs from law ful policing

a nd ef fe c t i ve p ol ic i ng i n at lea st t w o w a y s

First r ig ht f ul policing does not depend on t he

law fulness of police conduct Rather it depends

primarily on t he procedural justice or fairness of

t hat conduct Second r ig ht f u l policing does not

depend on an assessment of police as ever more

effect ive crime fighters (although it turns out that

rightful policing of ten leads to more compliance

w ith t he law and t herefore lower crime rates) This

t hird way may well help us move toward police

governance that is substantively as opposed to

rhetorically democrat ic Finally rightful policing

is bet ter for cops on t he st reet Its precepts not

on ly encou rage t he people w hom pol ice dea l

w ith on a daily basis to comply w ith the law and

police directives they also encourage behav iors

in encounters that tend to keep police safe

Two Views More Law Or Less Crime

Before this paper delves into greater detail about

ldquoright ful policingrdquo it is useful to understand what

right f u l pol ici ng is not R ig ht f u l policing is not

confined simply to constitutional policing nor is

it subsumed ent irely by policing aimed at crime

reduction Rather it is about how to achieve both

by promot ing fairness and engendering trust in

police among t he public

Th is discussion began w it h a w idely publicized

ex a mple of what ma ny i nclud i ng t he per son

who was arrested Professor Henr y Louis Gates

bel ie ved to be r acia l prof i l i ng by pol ice New

York Cit y li ke Cambr idge has been embroi led

in its ow n racial profi ling cont roversy for more

t han a decade In New York t he cont roversy is

centered not on one hig h-profi le incident but

rat her on hu nd reds of t housa nds of stops a nd

f r isk s of na meless pr i ma r i ly you ng A f r ica n

American men The criticism of ldquostop and friskrdquo

leveled aga i n st t he pol ice i n Ne w York is not

limited to t hat cit y or t his countr y Philadelphia

for e x a mple h a s b e en i nv ol ve d i n a si m i l a r

cont roversy and London police have come under

fi re for implement ing what critics believe to be a

too-aggressive ldquostop and searchrdquo strateg y In each

of these cities there have been vocal complaints

about what critics claim is t he overbroad exercise

of s t ate p ow er i n t he for m of s e a rc he s a nd

sei zu res These cr it icisms usua l ly a re asser ted

in lega l ter ms and f ra med a rou nd precept s of

constitutional law The criticsrsquo preferred remedies

4 | New Perspectives in Policing

in turn are usually described using t he same set of

tools mdash t he architecture of law and rights

T h i n k i ng about pol ice law f u l ness i n ter ms of a

tradeoff bet ween the risk of arbit rar y or oppressive

enforcement a nd a n i nd iv idua lrsquos r ig ht to pr ivac y

a nd autonomy is a dom i na nt approach i n t he

literat ure5 Those who measure good policing w it h

reference to its law f ulness do not usually focus on

police effectiveness at reducing crime Rat her t he

law fulness met ric almost always casts police power

as a necessar y ev il as opposed to a welcome utilit y

or a potentially crit ical mechanism for empowering

communities to pursue t heir ow n democratica lly

chosen goals and projects According to t he ldquomore

law fulnessrdquo view police adherence to strict dictates

that constrain their discretion generally results in

less policing and more libert y for indiv iduals The

h ig her level of cr i me t hat m ig ht resu lt f rom less

pol ic i ng is si mply a pr ice c it i z ens pay for more

freedom in societ y6

Police executives who are committed to lowering

cr i me rates i n t hei r com mu n it ies do not ag ree

t hat less polici ng is an idea l t hey shou ld seek to

ach ieve In pu rsuit of accountabi lit y one of t he

fou r c or ner s tone s of t he ne w profes s iona l i sm

advocated by Stone a nd Trav i s7 mdash t he pr i ma r y

c omponent s of w h ich i nclude reduc i ng cr i me

a nd m a k i n g c om mu n it i e s s a f er c o n t r o l l i n g

cost s a nd conduc t i ng t hem selves w it h respec t

toward t he public whom they ser ve8 mdash police have

become much more concerned w it h effect iveness

consider i ng com m it ment to cr i me reduc t ion a

prime aspect of accountabilit y9 The quest ion is no

longer whether or not police can make a difference

Pol ic e exec ut ives i n stead ask ldquoHow much of a

difference i n cr i me rates ca n police ma kerdquo The

new literature on t he relationship bet ween crime

rates and policing is voluminous Criminological

research over the last couple of decades has show n

t hat deploy i ng pol ic e forces i n geog raph ic a l ly

fo c u s e d w a y s mdash ldquo hot s p ot p ol ic i n g rdquo mdash c a n

significantly reduce crime w ithout displacing it to

ot her a reas10 Ot her scholars have demonst rated

t hat st rategies such as problem-oriented policing

and communit y policing can be usef ul to address

crime andor t he fear of crime11 The advances in

statistical approaches are strik ing and useful but a

weak ness of the scholarship on police effectiveness

is t hat law fulness is largely irrelevant to it

Those who promote success at cr ime fight ing as

the best way to assess police effect iveness too of ten

fa i l to u nderst a nd t hat pol ice fa i lu re to ad here

to law is a proper lens t h roug h wh ich to v ie w

public perception of overbroad policing mdash in the

form of too-preva lent stop a nd f r isk w idespread

publ ic su r vei l la nce or ot her ever yday pol ic ies

a nd pract ices Com ments by bot h for mer Mayor

Bloomberg and former Police Commissioner Ray

Kelly in reaction to the federal court order strik ing

dow n New York Cit yrsquos prominent stop question and

frisk practice illustrate this attitude on the part of

pol ice agenc ies a nd publ ic of f icia ls Fol low i ng

Dist r ict Judge Sh i ra Sheind linrsquos order decla ring

t he pract ice in v iolat ion of bot h t he Fou r t h and

Fou r teent h A mend ment s as it operated at t he

t ime t he order was issued Bloomberg a nd Kel ly

cla i med t hat t he judge had imper iled t he cit y rsquos

safet y by limiting liberal use of the practice12 On

t he other hand t hose who promote law f ulness as

t he best met r ic to assess good polici ng too of ten


ignore t he fact that crime and predation among

i nd iv idua ls resu lt i n sig n ificant ly less f reedom

for residents of hig h-cr ime commu nit ies even

though private actors impose that constraint on

f reedom Residents of high-crime com munit ies

of ten see hig her levels of polici ng as a way to

achieve freedom as opposed to its const raint13

Rightful policing is attentive to both law fulness

a nd ef fec t iveness a nd it capt u res i mpor t a nt

d i mensions t hat neit her one of t he prev a lent

modes of evaluation does The notion of rightful

policing also includes a critique of a ldquoget-toughrdquo

approach to law enforcement which uses as its

principa l touchstone inst r u menta l t heor ies of

deterrence Deterrence w ithout t he balance of a

focus on legitimacy can be effective but its effects

often are shor t-lived and expensive to implement

Moreover c om m it ment to some met hods of

achieving deterrence such as stop and frisk can

predictably back fi re in communities that need

crime reduction most There is also strong reason

to believe that many heav y deterrence strategies

a re not pa r t ic u la rly ef fec t ive i n encou rag i ng

offenders to desist from crime

Rightful Policing Itrsquos About Legitimacy

Pol ice ac t ions such as stops a nd f r isks can be

costly even when they are law f ul constitutional

and short People do not automatically approve

of a stop just because an officer is legally entitled

to ma ke one T h i s rea l it y c r y st a l l i z es a ba sic

problem w it h foc u si ng on law f u l ness as t he

s i ng le y a rd s t ic k for r ig ht f u l p ol ic e c onduc t

Indeed research I have conducted w ith Tom Tyler

suggests t hat the public does not recognize law ful

police conduct when t hey see it14

If people do not focus on the law fulness of police

conduct what do t hey care about A lt houg h it

seems counterintuitive decades of research show

that people t y pically care much more about how

law enforcement agents t reat t hem t ha n about

t he outcome of t he contact Even when people

receive a negative outcome in an encounter such

as a speedi ng t icket t hey feel bet ter about t hat

incident t ha n about a n i ncident in which t hey

do not receive a t icket but a re t reated poorly15

I n add it ion to bei ng t reated w it h d ig n it y a nd

respect research demonstrates that people look

for behav ioral signals that allow t hem to assess

w het her a pol ice of f ic errsquos decision to stop or

arrest t hem was made fairly mdash that is accurately

and w it hout bias These t wo factors mdash qua l it y

of t reat ment a nd i nd icat ion s of h ig h-qua l it y

decision-mak ing mdash matter much more to people

than t he outcome of the encounter

Two add it iona l fac tors mat ter as wel l People

report higher levels of satisfaction in encounters

w it h aut hor it ies i f t he y feel t hat t he y have a n

opportunit y to explain t heir situation and t heir

perspective on it mdash ie to tell t heir stor y16 Fina lly

in t heir interactions w it h police people want to

believe t hat aut horities are acting out of a sense

of benevolence toward them They want to believe

that the aut horitiesrsquo mot ives are sincere and well-

intentioned and t hat the aut horities are t r y ing to

respond to peoplersquos concerns17 A ll four of these

factors mdash qualit y of treatment decision-mak ing

fa i r ness voic e a nd ex pec tat ion of benevolent


t reat ment mdash ma ke up what psycholog ists ca l l

ldquoprocedural justicerdquo

Procedura l just ice matters a g reat dea l in civ i l

societ y One impor ta nt consequence of peoplersquos

percept ions of procedural fairness according to

t hese ter ms is t hat t hey lead to popu lar beliefs

of leg it i mac y W hen soc ia l ps ycholog ist s use

t he ter m ldquoleg it i mac yrdquo t he y a re refer r i ng to a

ldquoproper t y t hat a r u le or a n aut hor it y has when

others feel obligated to voluntarily defer to that

r ule or aut hor it y A leg it imate aut horit y is one t hat

is regarded by people as entitled to have its rules

and decisions accepted and followed by ot hersrdquo18

Th is concept ion of leg it imac y is not normat ive

W hen ps ycholog i st s d i s c u ss leg it i mac y t he y

a re not ex plor ing in some philosophica l sense

whet her people ought to defer to legal aut horities

rather t hey are seek ing to determine whether in

fact people do defer Their approach is positive

a nd empi r ic a l T hu s when resea rchers have

soug ht to determ i ne why people obey t he law

t he leg it i mac y-based ex pla nat ion is d ist i nc t

f rom a n ex pla nat ion g rou nded i n fea r i ng t he

consequences of fa il ing to do so a nd f rom one

grounded in moralit y W hen people voluntarily

comply w ith rules and laws because they believe

aut hor it ies h av e t he r ig ht to d ic t ate pr op er

behav ior their compliance is leg itimacy-based

R ightf ul policing leverages t hese ideas

A robust body of socia l science ev idence f rom

around t he world shows t hat people are likelier

to obey t he law when t hey believe that authorities

have the right to tell t hem what to do19 Research

shows that people are mot ivated more to comply

w it h t he law by t he bel ief t hat t he y a re bei ng

t reated w it h d ig n it y a nd fair ness t ha n by fear

of pu n i sh ment I n fac t bei ng t reated fa i rly is

a more i mpor ta nt determ i na nt of compl ia nce

t han formal deterrence20 W hen police generate

good feelings in t heir ever yday contacts people

a re mot ivated to help t hem f ight cr i me A ll of

t his encourages desistance from offending law-

abiding and assistance to the police contributing

to lower crime rates

A lthough police are conceived and constituted by

and t hrough law focusing on t he law fulness of

police conduct can obscure onersquos abilit y to ident if y

and remedy policing behavior that t he public may

wel l v iew as problemat ic It is i mpor ta nt to see

t hat alt hough procedural justice can be related to

t he law fulness or legalit y of police conduct t hese

t wo va lences do not proceed in lock step One

way of t hink ing how t hese valences relate to one

anot her is to imagine points on a compass (see

figure) If we array law f ulness from west to east

w it h law f ulness to the east and unlaw fulness to

t he west t hen we wou ld ex pect police to be as

fa r east as possible Now imag i ne procedu ra l

just ice or legitimacy as r unning nort h and south

on the compass W hen police are respectf ul and

procedurally just they are headed nort h W hen

t he y a re not t hat behav ior i s c ategor i zed as

ldquorunning southrdquo Putting t he t wo parts toget her

one sees that t he best place for law enforcement

to be is in the northeast21 That is where one fi nds

rightful policing

Th is image however also reveals the sout heast

and t he northwest A primar y problem w it h street

pol icing i n urba n cit ies such as New York a nd

Chicago and i n many commu nit ies across t he


justice in encounters can change public Figure Rightful Policing as the Convergence of Lawfulness and Legitimacy

W

perceptions of policing agencies leading

N to lack of t r ust i l l-w i l l and u lt imately

Legitimacy less law-abiding22 Considering both the

law fulness and the legitimacy of police Rightful conduct allows both the police officer and Policing

the citizen stopped to be right in a way

that is not possible when one operates in Lawfulness E the single dimension of lawfulness The

possibility of both sides being right can

lead to fruit ful conversat ion about the

rightfulness of policing

Putting Legitimacy to Work S

T his arg u ment ra ises t he quest ion for Source Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54 Wm amp mary L rev 1865 police of how t hey can put t hese ideas 1879 (2012)

into practice A focus on the procedural

globe is that too often such policing comprises

behavior I would locate in the southeast police

conduc t t hat is ver y l i kely law f u l but t hat

citizens in many encounters perceive as deeply

illegitimate using t he term as defined here In

t he f ig ure for example if one ask s a law yer

what const it utes racia l prof i l ing t hat person

t y pic a l l y w i l l a ns wer ldquoIt is pol ice behav ior

solely or perhaps partially motivated by racerdquo

however t he rev iew earlier in this essay of t he

events connected to Professor Gatesrsquos arrest in

the summer of 2009 should make clear that many

who believe themselves to have been profiled

care little about the legal determinants of their

encounters with police

T he bot tom l i ne i s c lea r r eg a rd le s s of t he

lawfulness of police behavior lack of procedural

justice of encounters can help policing

a ge nc i e s id e nt i f y b e h a v ior t a c t i c s

and strateg ies that many members of minorit y

communities find problematic and that lead to

disaffection even t hough t hey may be law f ul

and considered in isolat ion appear effective

Second a focus on t he psycholog ica l aspects

of leg it i mac y i n i nd iv idua l enc ou nters may

have i mpor ta nt cr i me cont rol benef its when

incor porated into tact ics a nd st rateg ies Two

case studies illustrate this The first is a strateg y

for v iolence reduction in Chicago Illinois which

has been running since 200223 The second is an

experiment conducted in Queensland Australia

on road traffic enforcement24 I have deliberately

chosen t wo ver y dif ferent examples to show

that legitimacy-based approaches have a wide

application across different aspects of the police


mission These t wo initiatives however are not

unique Lorraine Mazerolle and her colleag ues

recent ly completed a meta-analysis of legitimac y

policing inter vent ions and concluded that ldquopolice

can achieve positive changes in citizen attitudes

to pol ice t hroug h adopt i ng procedu ra l just ice

d ia log ue as a component pa r t of a ny t y pe of

police inter ventionrdquo25

W hen t he Chicago init iat ive sta r ted t he cit y rsquos

hom ic ide r at e hovere d ne a r 2 2 p er 10 00 0 0

Crime is often concentrated by geography and

i n C h ic a go t he nei g hb or hood s on t he c it y rsquos

west a nd sout h sides drove t he cit y rsquos hom icide

rate The h ig hest crime a rea on t he west had a

hom ic ide rate of 72 per 10 00 0 0 Usi ng f u nd s

prov ided by a billion-dollar nationw ide federal

initiative to combat g un crime called Project Safe

Neighborhoods (PSN)26 United States Attorney

Patrick Fitzgerald proposed a strateg y modeled

a f t e r P r oje c t E x i l e i n R ic h mo n d V i r g i n i a

target ing ex-offenders i n t he h ig h-cr i me a reas

w it h federa l pena lt ies for g u n possession a nd

ot her g u n of fenses Fi zgera ld bel ieved f rom

crime analysis t hat ex-offenders were primarily

responsible for the gun v iolence in Chicago This

approach is entirely consistent w it h the t y pical

ldquoget-toughrdquo deterrence-based t hin k ing around

crime control mdash a crackdow n on potent ially high-

harm offenders27

In dev ising t he pa r t icu la rs of t he st rateg y t he

programrsquos architects suggested to t he task force

that t he proposed strateg y should be w rapped in

t he t heor y of leg it imac y The resu lta nt st rateg y

wou ld st i l l t a r get t he g roup t he US At tor ney

t houg ht most v ulnerable to g u n offendi ng but

the communication strateg y to t his group would

emphasize aspects that research indicated clearly

most people care about when determining that

law enforcement is fair A lthough offenders would

be broug ht in a nd a ler ted to t he consequences

that would follow should they pick up a g un they

would also receive information about ser v ices to

help t hem turn away from a life of crime

Modeled after Operation Ceasefi re in Boston28

hour-long roundtable-st yle meetings were the

center piece of t he new st rateg y Each of t hese

for ums gathered no more than 20 offenders who

sat around a table w ith representat ives from state

and local law enforcement and the communit y

Instead of simply confronting the offenders w it h

t he pu n it ive con sequences of t hei r behav ior

emph a si s w a s pl ac e d on t he qu a l it y of t he

interact ion mdash less a t ribunal and more a dialogue

bet ween citizens mdash and the potential rewards of

law-abiding which is consistent w ith attempting

to achieve legit imac y-based compliance

Legit imacy-based law enforcement focuses more

on persuasion t ha n punish ment To persuade

aut hor it ies mu st create t he nec essa r y soc ia l

capital t hat engenders trust bet ween governors

and t he governed Simply emphasizing rewards

and punishments does not automatically lead to

t r ust because such a n approach assumes t hat

a l l i ndiv idua ls ca re about is t he bot tom line mdash

an assumption t hat is contrar y to t he t heor y of

procedural justice and much empirical ev idence

The notion that compliance is t y pically created

on l y by t h reat s of c o er c ion bac k e d up w it h


punishment is f undamenta l ly inconsistent w it h

trust for such a stance assumes t hat indiv iduals

cannot be counted on to defer to and comply w ith

the law voluntarily

St at i s t ic a l a s s e s s ment s of t he i mp ac t of t he

Ch icago prog ra m a re st r i k i ng Papach r istos

Me a r e s a n d Fa g a n a s s e s s e d t h e i m p a c t o f

Chicagorsquos forums on neighborhood-level crime

rates and g un violence compared w ith the impact

of t hree other components of PSN mdash increased

federal prosecut ions for conv icted felons carr ying

or using g uns the imposition of longer sentences

associated w it h federa l prosecut ions a nd t he

removal of guns from t he street29 Their analysis

demon s t r at e s t hat a lt hou g h a l l t e s t ed P SN

initiatives were associated w it h a decrease in t he

homicide rate the forums had t he largest effect

Compa r i ng t he relat ive ef fec t s of t he for u ms

and federal g un prosecutions shows that a unit

increase in forum participation (or approx imately

45 new offenders) among t hose eligible is roughly

85 t imes more powerful than a unit increase in

federal prosecutions in reducing homicide rates30

Furt her research suggests that the forums make

a difference at an individual level as well Those

who at tended were sig n ifica nt ly more li kely to

stay out of prison t han those who did not all other

things being equal31

I n t he second e x a mple I sh i f t f rom t ac k l i ng

s er iou s i n ner-c it y v iolenc e t o t he re duc t ion

of ro ad deat h s b y t r a f f ic en forc ement T he

Q ueen s l a nd C om mu n it y E nga gement Tr ia l

(QCET)32 used a randomized field trial to test the

appl icat ion of leg it i mac y i n how Queensla nd

police enforced t he drink driv ing laws

P o l ic e of f ic er s ac r o s s A u s t r a l i a ad m i n i s t er

t hou s a n d s of b r e a t h t e s t s t o d r i v er s u n der

leg islat ion t hat empowers t hem to ca r r y out

r a ndo m r o ad s id e b r e at h-t e s t i n g T he t e s t s

tend to be ad min istered at test sites ident i fied

a s hot sp ot s of d r i n k d r i v i n g a nd c ol l i s ion s

causing serious injur y These police actions are

justifiable as bot h legal and evidence-based The

researchers at t he Australian Research Council

Cent re of Excellence in Policing and Securit y in

partnership w it h Queensland police set out to

see whet her t hey could significant ly enhance the

impact of t he test ing reg ime so that t he testing

not only checked for alcohol on the driverrsquos breath

but also increased public confidence in t he police

and support for the enforcement of drink driv ing

legislat ion

I n Q C E T t he t e s t i n g s i t e s w e r e r a ndom l y

allocated either to a cont rol mdash t he standard police

procedure mdash or to a ldquolegitimacy treatmentrdquo In t he

cont rol drivers were stopped given a short legal

wa rn ing a nd required to prov ide a breat h test

The legal minimum process and time were taken

to prov ide a test In contrast in t he ldquolegitimacy

treatmentrdquo t he drivers were taken through a five-

stage procedure t hat emphasized five dimensions

of procedu ra l just ice dec i sion neut ra l it y to

ex plain that t hose drivers stopped had not been

singled out but that t he test was being prov ided

to dr ivers at ra ndom t r ust wor t hy mot ives to

prov ide context about the reasons for the test site

and t he testing campaign cit izen participation

includ ing cri me prevent ion adv ice a nd deta i ls

of loca l Cr i mestopper s nu mber s red ress a nd

feedback or an opportunit y to raise any issues of


concern and dignity and respect which included

thanks to the drivers for their cooperation

There was a ver y small difference in the t ime

taken for the two approaches (around a minute

ex t ra for t he leg it i mac y t reat ment) yet t he

dr iversrsquo percept ions of t he process were ver y

different Drivers who experienced the legitimacy

t reat ment ldquore por te d s ig n i f ic a nt l y s t ronger

generalized perceptions of police fairness police

respect [a nd] hig her sat isfact ionrdquo w it h how

police do their job33 The caveat on these interim

findings is t hat researchers could not see from

this trial a w ider increase in t he respondentsrsquo

genera l con f idence i n t he pol ice or a w ider

tendency toward compliance with the law Given

that the encounter even in the longer legitimacy

treatment only lasted 1 minute and 37 seconds

this may not be surprising However the study

sug gest s t hat t he deploy ment of leg it i mac y

approaches in day-to-day police interactions with

citizens can have a significant and measurable

benefit over an approach t hat simply relies on

the letter of the law It also makes the point that

such approaches a re not on ly releva nt i n t he

critically difficult relationships between police

and minorit y communities but should also be

considered as an important part of wider police

operations

Conclusions and Implications for Policing

If legitimacy is as impor tant as I have argued

t hen it ra ises t he quest ions of how t he police

should incorporate this approach and what the

obstacles are to implementation I think we can

make progress on answering these questions by

considering three issues

Training M u c h p o l i c e t r a i n i n g d e s p i t e

improvements over t he last 20 yea rs retains

a st rong bias i n favor of lea r n i ng t he r u les

particularly legislat ion procedure (especially

c o n s t i t u t i o n a l c r i m i n a l p r o c e d u r e) a n d

depar tmental policies Such training does not

apply only at the initial recruitment phase In the

United Kingdom for example the key gateway for

promotion for all first-line managers is to pass a

set of examinations in the law and procedures

for cr ime roads policing genera l dut ies and

ev idence and procedure34 This k ind of reliance

on law and procedure as t he qualificat ion for

recr uits a nd ma nagers is t y pica l across most

jurisdictions As Janet Chan and her colleagues

show procedurallegal training is now frequently

suppor ted by prog ra ms to add ress behav iors

a nd prac t ic a l sk i l ls but a l most ne ver by a n

educational approach that provides officers with

the means and material to understand the social

science ev idence for what works in policing or

how approaches such as legitimac y make t heir

practice more effective35 Indeed Chan and her

colleag ues demonstrate how t he legal valence

of f ront line cu lt ure can u nder mi ne even t he

attempts to inject some ldquosocial contex trdquo Peter

Ne y r oud ha s re c om mende d a muc h more

fundamental shift in the framework of training

for recr u its specia l ists a nd managers so t hat

police training in the United Kingdom would be

governed by a new professional body and start

with a prequalification that emphasizes learning

about ev idence-based practice36 Without such a

Right ful Policing | 11

radical shift it seems likely from studies like that

of Chan and colleagues that police training will

continue to underpin a legalistic way of think ing

about problems and t heir solutions There are

promising signs of change however Chicago

Pol ic e Super i ntendent Ga r r y Mc Ca r t hy ha s

instituted a day-long training in police legitimacy

and racial reconciliation for the entire force To

date more than 8000 officers and leaders have

been trained37 Early assessments of the program

are extremely positive38 In the United Kingdom

extensive practical training on procedural justice

in pa r t icu la r sit uat ions is a lso becomi ng t he

norm39

Strategies and tactics Too often compelled by

the ever-present demand to bring crime statistics

down (especially in big cities) police executives

foc us on st rateg ies a nd tac t ics desig ned to

reduce violence in too-cramped ways If this is

r ig ht t hen pol ice execut ives shou ld consider

problem-solving in more holistic ways that w ill

y ield approaches t hat a re desig ned not on ly

to quel l v iolence but a lso to en ha nce sa fet y

by changing t he att itudes and disposit ions of

those alienated from them in ways that sustain

voluntar y compliance I have in mind here hot

spot policing that is not only deterrence-based but

also legitimacy-based Braga Welsh and Schnell

recently found in a rev iew of broken w indows

pol ici ng st rateg ies a dist inct brea k bet ween

t he ef fec t iveness of ag g ressive deter renc e-

focused broken w indows approaches such as

stop and frisk in New York Cit y and other more

leg it i mac y-based approaches Only t he lat ter

group produced large and statistically significant

impacts on crime40 Moreover commitment to

legit imacy can also help police increase safet y

and by implication quell violence at the incident

level by encouraging officers to engage in tactics

that defuse violent incidents41

Democracy and communit y participation I agree

w it h Loader when he notes t hat ldquoT he pol ice

in shor t are bot h m i nders a nd reminders of

community mdash a producer of significant messages

about t he k i nd of place t hat com mu nit y is or

aspires to berdquo42 Policing makes communit y It is

no accident that an iconic symbol of England itself

is the Bobbyrsquos hat43 In the United States policingrsquos

symbolic valence is not so positive At least one

scholar has located t he genesis of A mer ica n

policing not in the benevolent image of a kindly

communit y protector but in t he more sinister

for m of t he slave pat rol ler44 T he procedu ra l

justice literature rev iewed above makes clear

the ways in which this dark histor y can and likely

does undermine trust in police in the modern era

And yet this same literature provides a roadmap

for a more posit ive relat ionsh ip t hat not only

benefits those who need help from the police but

also potentially supports t heir par t icipation in

democratically led government It is important

for people to feel t hat if t hey call on t he police

(a nd ot her lega l actors a nd inst it ut ions) not

only w ill t heir securit y be protected but t hey

w i l l a lso be t reated w it h respect t hei r r ig hts

w ill be recognized and they w ill be subject to

fair decision-making The fact that most people

i n a com mu nit y ra rely ca ll on t he pol ice for

ser v ices does not change this because police

and other legal actors are in the background in


ever y communit y and shape what people t hink

feel and do People want to feel comfort not fear

when the police are present and to anticipate that

they w ill receive help and professional t reatment

when they need it W hen they do t hey become

invested in the communities in which t hey live

Research on popular legitimacy to which police

contribute suggests t hat when people evaluate

t hei r pol ice a nd cou r t s ystems as procedura l ly

fair t hey identif y more w it h their communities

and engage in them socially by trust ing neighbors

p ol i t ic a l l y b y v o t i n g a nd e c onom ic a l l y b y

shoppi ng a nd goi ng to enter t a i n ment venues

within that communit y45

Police play a critical role in teaching the people

w it h whom t hey interact (and t hose who obser ve

t hose interactions) what it means to be a citizen46

Writing recently in t he Annals Justice and Meares

a rg ue t hat t he cr i mi na l just ice system offers a

cu r ricu lum of lessons on what it mea ns to be

a cit i zen much as public schools do The over t

cu r r icu lu m of policing fou nd most obv iously

in t he tex t of t he Un ited States Const it ut ion is

designed to convey concern for rights Peoplersquos

i nt er e s t s i n a u t o n om y p r i v a c y a n d b o d i l y

integrit y ought not to be subject to the whim of

an indiv idual police officer We are a government

of laws designed to restrain state power against

t he indiv idual Education theorists explain t hat a

hidden curriculum is often taught alongside the

over t cu rr icu lu m t y pica l ly fou nd in tex tbook s

a nd of f ic i a l r ubr ic s I n sc ho ol s t he h idden

curriculum may be found in adultstudent and

studentst udent interact ions in t he enforcement

of school discipli ne policies a nd behav ior codes

in the deeply buried assumptions and narratives

of h i s t or y t e x tbo ok s i n a s c hoolrsquos c hoic e of

mascot in who gets to sit where in the cafeteria or

in t he musical select ions at t he prom The hidden

curriculum of policing similarly is a function of

how people a re t reated i n i nteract ions a nd t he

ways in which groups derive meaning regarding

t heir status in t he eyes of legal aut horit y result ing

f r o m t h at t r e a t m e n t To o of t e n t he h id d e n

curriculum of policing strateg ies sends certain

cit izens clear signals t hat they are members of a

special dangerous and undesirable class mdash t he

m ir ror image of t he posit ive over t cur r icu lum

People do not necessa r i ly lea r n t hese lessons

W hat is learned depends i n pa r t on t he deg ree

and frequency of exposure and on indiv idual and

com mu nit y resilience A s Just ice a nd Meares

note

[T]he hidde n c ur r ic u lum f lour i s he s

i n t hose contex ts where democrac y is

d i s l o c a t e d I n h i g h -p er fo r m i n g

publ ic a nd pr i v at e s c ho ol s t e ac her s

a n d s t u de nt s w or k t o g e t he r t o w a rd

c om mon goa l s t hat honor t he s oc ia l

c o n t r a c t b e t w e e n t he s c h o ol t he

student the family and t he communit y

punishment is appropr iate and mercif ul

a nd of fers forg iveness i nter per sona l

i nter ac t ion s enc ou r age suc c e s s a nd

rea f f i r m belong i ng t r u st i s endem ic

Remove t he confluence of interests t he

accountabilit y of those w ith aut horit y to

those under it the fundamental sense of

legit imacy and t he hidden cur riculum

eats away at the over t47


Com m it ment to r ig ht f ul policing can help but

executives cannot be sanguine about its potential

impact The approach requires broadly conceived

a nd c oord i n ate d ef for t s a mon g a v a r ie t y of

c o n t e x t s mdash c r i m e r e d u c t i o n c o m m u n i t y

relations and importantly internal discipline48

mdash to effect real change

Endnotes

1 See Nicholas Gra ham Obama on Skip Gates

Arrest Police Acted ldquoSt upidlyrdquo Hu ffi ngt on

Post Aug 22 2009 httpw w whuffi ngtonpost

c o m 2 0 0 9 0 7 2 2 o b a m a - o n - s k i p - g a t e s -

arres_n_243250ht ml (last v isited Nov 13 2014)

2 Rachel A Harmon The Problem of Policing 110

Mich L Rev 761 (2011)

3 Christopher Stone amp Jerem y Tr avis Toward

a Ne w Professiona l ism in Policing (2 011)

httpw w wnijgovpubs-sum232359htm (last

v isited Nov 13 2014)

4 Dav id H Bay ley Police for the Fu tur e 3

(1994)

5 For one e x a m p l e c r i t ic i z i n g t he p ol ic e -

law f ulness tradeoff consider t he discussion by

Meares and Kahan of the legal struggle regarding

searches for g uns in Chicago public housing See

Tr acey L Me a r es amp Da n M K a h a n Urgen t

T i m es Pol ici ng a n d R igh ts i n I n n er Ci t y

Communities (1999)

6 See id at 18ndash22

7 Stone amp Tr avis supra note 3 at 1 (noting that

accountabilit y is a critical aspect of what t hey call

t he ldquonew professionalismrdquo along w ith legitimac y

innovat ion and nat iona l coherence)

8 See id at 12 (ldquoThe best chiefs speak confident ly

about lsquot he t h ree Crsquos cr ime cost and conduct

Police departments today are accountable for all

t hreerdquo)

9 Id at 12ndash15

10 See A n t hon y Br aga amp Dav id Weisbu r d

Policing Problem Pl aces Cr ime Hot Spots

and Effective Prevention (2010)

11 See National Research Council Fair ness

and Effectiveness in Policing The Evidence

297 (Wesley Skogan amp Kathleen Fr ydl eds 2004)

A nt hony A Braga Bra ndon C Wel sh amp Cor y

Schnel l Can Policing Disorder Reduce Crime

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis J R es

Cr i m e amp D e l i nq (For t hc om i n g ) A n t hon y

A Br aga Probl em-Or ien ted Policing a n d

Crime Prevention (2d ed 2008)

12 See Tra nscr ipt Bloomberg Vows to Appeal

Fed eral Judgersquos Ruling Th at Stop -and-F ri sk

Policy Violated Civil Rights in Press Conference

NY Da i ly Ne ws Aug 12 20 03 ht t pw w w

nyd a i l y ne w scomne w spol it ic s bloomber g-

vow s-appea l-fe der a l-judge-r u l i ng-stop-stop-

and-f r isk-pol ic y-ar t icle-11424630 (last v isited

Nov 13 2014) John Eterno amp Eli Silverman Mike

Bloombergrsquos Fact-Free Defence of Stop-and-Frisk


T h e Gua rdi an S e pt 11 2 013 ht t pw w w

t heguardiancomcommentisfree2013sep11

stop-a nd-f r isk-m ichael-bloomberg (last v isited

Nov 13 2014)

13 See Tracey L Meares amp Dan M Kahan Law

and (Norms of) Order in Inner Cit y 32 L aw amp Socrsquoy

Rev 805 830ndash32 (1998) (discussing communit y

empowerment through law enforcement)

14 Tr acey L Mear es et al Lawful or Fair

How Cops and L aypeople View Good Policing

(Social Science Research Net work) (2012) http

papersssrncomabst ract=2116645 (last v isited

Nov 13 2014)

15 See Tom R Tyler amp Jeffrey Fagan Legitimacy

and Cooperation Why Do People Help the Police

Fight Cr ime in Their Communit ies 6 O h io

St J Cr i m L 231 262 (20 08) Tom R Ty ler amp

Cher yl Wakslak Profiling and Police Legitimacy

Procedural Justice Attributions of Motive and

Acceptance of Police Authority 42 Cr iminology

253 255 (2004) Tom R T yler Trust in the Law

Encour aging Public Cooper ation With the

Police and Courts (2002) Ray mond Paternoster

et a l Do Fair Procedures Matter The Effect of

Procedural Justice on Spouse Assault 31 L aw amp

Socrsquoy R ev 163 (1997)

16 See Tom R Tyler Enhancing Police Legitimacy

593 A nnals A m Aca d Pol amp Soc Sci 84 94

(2004)

17 See id

18 National Research Council supra note 11

at 297

19 See generally L egi t i m ac y a n d Cr im ina l

Justice International Perspectiv es (A nt hony

Braga et al eds 2007) (exploring the impact of

percept ions of leg it i mac y i n c r i m i na l just ice

systems across t he globe)

20 Tom R T y ler Wh y People Obey the L aw

(repr i nt 2006)

21 See Tracey L Meares The Good Cop Knowing

the Difference between Lawful or Effective Policing

and Rightful Policing mdash And Why It Matters 54

Wm amp Mary L Rev 1865 1879 (2012) (prov iding

this illust rative fig ure)

22 See eg Tracey L Meares Inaugural Barrock

Lecture on Criminal Law The Legitimacy of Police

Among Young Af rican American Men 92 M a rq L

R ev 651 (2009)

23 See A ndrew V Papachristos Tracey L Meares

amp Jef f re y Faga n Attention Felons Evaluating

P roje ct S afe Ne ighb orh oo d s in Chi c ag o 4 J

Empirical Legal Stud 223 (2007)

24 Lorraine Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice

Rout ine Enc ounters an d Cit izen Perc ept ion s

of Police Main Findings f rom the Queensland

C o m m un i t y E n g ag e m e n t Tr i a l (Q C ET) 8

J E x pe r i m e n ta l C r i m i nol o g y 3 4 3 (2 01 2)

[hereinafter Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice]

L o r r a i ne M a z er o l le e t a l Sh aping C it i z en

Perceptions of Police Legitimacy A Randomized

Field Trial of Procedural Justice 51 Criminology

33 (2013) [herei na f ter Ma zerol le et a l Shaping

Citizen Perceptions]


25 See Mazerolle et al Procedural Justice supra

note 24

2 6 Se e Papac h r i s to s et a l supra not e 2 3

(describing the federal initiative)

27 See Eva luating Gun Policy Effects on

Cr ime a nd Violence (Jens Ludw ig amp Ph il ip

J Cook ed Brook ings Institution Press 2003)

(evaluating Project Ex ile)

28 See David M Kennedy Deterrence and

C r i me Pr e v e n t ion R e c o n s i de r ing t he

P ro s pe c t of S a nc t ion (Ro u t l e d g e 2 0 0 8)

(describing the inter vention) For an analysis

of the crime control impacts of this and similar

prog ra ms see A nt hony A Braga amp Dav id L

Wei sbu rd The Ef fects of Focused Deterrence

Strategies on Crime A Systematic Review and

Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence 49 J Res

Crime amp Delinq 323 (2011)

29 See Papachristos et al supra note 23 at 223


31 S e e A n dr e w V Pa pa c h r i s t o s e t a l

Desi s ta nc e a n d L e gi t i m ac y T h e I m pac t

of Of f e n de r No t i f ic at ion M e e t i ngs on

R ec i di v ism A mong H igh R i sk Of f e n de r s

(Social Science Research Network 2013) http

papersssrncomabstract=2240232 (last visited

Nov 13 2014)

32 L or r a in e M a zerol l e Sa r a h Ben n et t

Emm a A n t robus amp E liz a bet h Eggi ns K ey

Fi ndi ngs of t h e Qu eensl a nd Commu nit y

Engagement Trial (Austl Res Council Centre

of Excellence in Policing and Securit y Briefing

Paper Series No 8 2011)

33 See id at 7

34 P et er W Ne y rou d R ev i e w of Pol ice

Lea dership a nd Tr a ining (Repor t to Home

Secrsquoy 2011)

3 5 Se e Ja n e t BL C h a n e t a l Fa i r C op

Lear ning the Art of Policing (Universit y of

Toronto Press 2003)

36 See Neyroud supra note 34

37 See Pam Grimes amp Gay nor Hall Respectful

Policing in Chicago Changing the Us vs Them

Mentality (WGN-TV television broadcast Sept 9

2013) httpwgntvcom20130909respectful-

policing-in-chicago (last visited Nov 13 2014)

38 Wesley G Skogan The 2013 Officer Training

Experiment (Oct 2014) (unpublished manuscript)

h t t p w w w s k o ga n o r g f i l es E x e c u t iv e _

Summar y_2013_Training _Experimentpdf (last

visited Nov 13 2014)

39 Lev in Wheller Paul Quinton A listair

F i l d e s amp A n d y M i l l s T h e G r e a t e r

M a nch est e r Pol ice P rocedu r a l Just ice

T r a i n ing E x pe r im en t T ech n ic a l R e port

(2013) ht t pl ibra r ycol legepol iceu k docs

college-of-policingTechnical-Reportpdf (last


40 See Anthony Braga Brandon Welsh amp Cor y

Schnell Broken Windows Policing to Reduce

C r i me i n Neig hb orho od s Fi nd i ng s f rom a


Campbell Collaborat ion Systemat ic Rev iew and

Meta-A na lysis (Paper presented at t he annua l

meeting of the A merican Societ y of Criminolog y

Chicago IL Nov 22 2013)

41 John D McClusk ey Police R equests for

Compliance Coercive and Procedur ally Just

Tactics (2003)

4 2 I a n L o a d e r Policing Re c og nit ion and

Belonging 605 A nna ls A m Aca d Pol amp Soc

Sci 202 211 (2006) (citation omitted) (c it i ng

Neil Walker Policing and the Supranational 12

Policing amp Socrsquoy 307 315 (2002))

43 See Ian Loader amp Aogaacuten Mulcahy Policing

a n d t h e C on di t ion of E ngl a n d M e mor y

Politics and Culture (2003) Another primar y

iconic sy mbol is t he red telephone box not to be

conf used w it h the blue police box

44 Mar kus Dirk Dubber The Police Pow er

Patriarchy and the Foundations of American

Government (2005)

45 Tom R Tyler amp Jonat ha n Jack son Popular

Legitimacy and the Exercise of Legal Authority

Mot ivat ing C omp li an c e Coop e rat i on an d

Engagement 20 Ps ychol P u b Polrsquoy amp L 78

(2014)

46 Benja mi n Just ice amp Tracey L Mea res How

the Criminal Justice System Educates Citizens 651

Annals Am Acad Pol amp Soc Sci 159 (2014)

47 Id at 175

48 Bernard K Melek ian Values-Based Discipline

T h e Ke y t o O r g a n i z a t ion a l Tr a n s fo r m a t ion

Wit hin Law Enforcement Agencies (July 24 2012)

(u npubl i s he d Ph D d i s s er t at ion Un iv er sit y

of Sout hern Ca l i for n ia) (on fi le w it h t he Pr ice

School of Publ ic Polic y Universit y of Sout her n

California)

Author Note

Tr ac e y L Me a re s i s Wa lton Ha le Ha m i lton

P rofessor of L aw a nd Di rec tor of t he Just ic e

Collaborator y at Yale Law School Peter Ney roud

CBE QPM who is Affi liated Lecturer and Resident

Scholar at t he Jerr y Lee Centre for Experimental

Crim inolog y Inst it ute of Crim inolog y Universit y

of Cambridge cont ributed to an earlier version

of t his paper

Findings and conclusions in this publication are t hose of t he author and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice

NCJ 248411

Members of the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety

Chief Edward Flynn Milwaukee Police Department Colonel Rick Fuentes Superintendent New Jersey State Police District Attorney George Gascoacuten San Francisco District Attorneyrsquos Office Mr Gil Kerlikowske Director Office of National Drug Control Policy Professor John H Laub Distinguished University Professor Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice College of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Maryland and former Director of the National Institute of JusticeChief Susan Manheimer San Mateo Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy Chicago Police DepartmentProfessor Tracey Meares Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law Yale Law School

Dr Bernard K Melekian Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (retired) United States Department of JusticeMs Sue Rahr Director Washington State Criminal Justice Training CommissionCommissioner Charles Ramsey Philadelphia Police Department

Professor Greg Ridgeway Associate Professor of Criminology University of Pennsylvania and former Acting Director National Institute of JusticeProfessor David Sklansky Yosef Osheawich Professor of Law University of California Berkeley School of Law Mr Sean Smoot Director and Chief Legal Counsel Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois Professor Malcolm Sparrow Professor of Practice of Public Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Mr Darrel Stephens Executive Director Major Cities Chiefs Association Mr Christopher Stone President Open Society FoundationsMr Richard Van Houten President Fort Worth Police Officers AssociationLieutenant Paul M Weber Los Angeles Police DepartmentProfessor David Weisburd Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice Faculty of Law The Hebrew University and Distinguished Professor Department of Criminology Law and Society George Mason UniversityDr Chuck Wexler Executive Director Police Executive Research Forum

Commissioner Anthony Batts Baltimore Police DepartmentProfessor David Bayley Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) School of Criminal Justice State University of New York at Albany Professor Anthony Braga Senior Research Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University and Don M Gottfredson Professor of Evidence-Based Criminology School of Criminal Justice Rutgers UniversityChief Jane Castor Tampa Police DepartmentMs Christine Cole (Facilitator) Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management John F Kennedy School of Government Harvard University Commissioner Edward Davis Boston Police Department (retired)Chief Michael Davis Director Public Safety Division Northeastern UniversityMr Ronald Davis Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services United States Department of JusticeMs Madeline deLone Executive Director The Innocence ProjectDr Richard Dudley Clinical and Forensic Psychiatrist

Learn more about the Executive Session at

wwwNIJgov keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo wwwhksharvardedu keywords ldquoExecutive Session Policingrdquo

US Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs


8660 Cherry Lane

Laurel MD 20707-4651

Official BusinessPenalty for Private Use $300

PRESORTED STANDARDPOSTAGE amp FEES PAID

DOJNIJGPOPERMIT NO G ndash 26

NCJ~248411

Cite this paper as Meares Tracey L with Peter Neyroud Rightful Policing New Perspectives in Policing Bulletin Washington DC US Department of Justice National Institute of Justice 2015 NCJ 248411


behav ing in a ldquotumultuousrdquo manner as Crowley

at tempted to ascer ta i n enoug h facts to ensure

t hat a crime was not occurring Gatesrsquos v iew on

the ot her hand is t hat Crowley disrespected him

by failing to respond when Gates asked Crowley

for his name and badge number Gates was also

upset t hat Crowle y suspec ted h i m mdash a sl ig ht

elderly ma n w it h a cane mdash to be a burg lar It is

important to emphasize t hat Sergeant Crowley

arrived at Gatesrsquos home in response to a 911 call as

opposed to an exercise of his ow n discretion This

point is critical because t he t y pical conception

of rac ia l prof i l i ng foc uses on it s lega l it y a nd

t he legalit y of police act ion is primarily framed

around placing constraints on when police decide

to engage people as opposed to how police engage

people Even though his experience fit somewhat

uneasily into the t y pical legal framework of racial

prof i l i ng P rofessor Gates ha s descr ibed h is

experience in exactly those terms

How t hen are we to understand t he disjuncture

bet ween Sergeant Crowleyrsquos insistence mdash as well

as t he conclusion of many mdash that he conducted

himself law f ully and Professor Gatesrsquos insistence

t h at he w a s u n fa i rl y t reate d a nd t herefore

racia l ly profi led

To find an answer it is necessar y to see how t wo

dominant ways of evaluat ing police leave litt le

room for considering how ordinar y people tend

to a ssess t hei r t reat ment by state aut hor it ies

E x per t s whet her t he y a re pol ic e of f icia ls or

scholars of policing tend to assess police action

eit her w it h respec t to it s law f u l ness or w it h

respec t to it s ef fec t iveness at reduc i ng c r i me

and i ncreasing public sa fet y Police fidelit y to

law especially constitutional law has long been

used as a criterion to distinguish good from bad

policing In add it ion to t he Fou r t h Fif t h a nd

Sixt h Amendments ot her bodies of law mdash such

as police agency administrative regulations civ il

lawsu its or t he ver y law t hat aut hor izes police

to act in t he first place substantive criminal law

mdash prov ide standards by which legal authorit ies

measu re and assess whet her or not policing is

carried out properly2

Effect iveness at cr ime fig ht ing has become t he

other primar y police evaluation met ric Promoted

initially by scholars this yardstick is newer t han

law fulness because for decades many including

police believed t hat law enforcement had litt le

impact on crime rates3 Dav id Bayley in his 1994

book Police for the Future summed up t his v iew

nicely

The police do not prevent crime That is

one of t he best kept secrets of moder n

life Experts k now it The police k now it

but t he public does not k now it Yet the

police pretend t hat t hey are societ yrsquos best

defense aga inst cr i me a nd cont inua l ly

a r g u e t h a t i f t h e y a r e g i v e n m o r e

resources especially personnel they w ill

be able to protect communities against

crime This is my th4

T h is is no longer t r ue Pol ic e exec ut ives a re

expected mdash and expect t hemselves mdash to reduce





















































































































































































































































































rightful policing







W













































































harm offenders27












































the law voluntarily
















































legislat ion















































operations























































norm39














































































































note


























Endnotes







Mich L Rev 761 (2011)






(1994)







Communities (1999)









t hreerdquo)

9 Id at 12ndash15


























Nov 13 2014)









Nov 13 2014)
















(2004)

17 See id


at 297







(repr i nt 2006)









R ev 651 (2009)


















note 24

























Nov 13 2014)







33 See id at 7



Secrsquoy 2011)



Toronto Press 2003)





























Tactics (2003)













Government (2005)





(2014)




47 Id at 175







California)

Author Note








of t his paper


NCJ 248411











8660 Cherry Lane





NCJ~248411





















































































































































































































































































rightful policing







W













































































harm offenders27












































the law voluntarily
















































legislat ion















































operations























































norm39














































































































note


























Endnotes







Mich L Rev 761 (2011)






(1994)







Communities (1999)









t hreerdquo)

9 Id at 12ndash15


























Nov 13 2014)









Nov 13 2014)
















(2004)

17 See id


at 297







(repr i nt 2006)









R ev 651 (2009)


















note 24

























Nov 13 2014)







33 See id at 7



Secrsquoy 2011)



Toronto Press 2003)





























Tactics (2003)













Government (2005)





(2014)




47 Id at 175







California)

Author Note








of t his paper


NCJ 248411











8660 Cherry Lane





NCJ~248411



W













































































harm offenders27












































the law voluntarily
















































legislat ion















































operations























































norm39














































































































note


























Endnotes







Mich L Rev 761 (2011)






(1994)







Communities (1999)









t hreerdquo)

9 Id at 12ndash15


























Nov 13 2014)









Nov 13 2014)
















(2004)

17 See id


at 297







(repr i nt 2006)









R ev 651 (2009)


















note 24

























Nov 13 2014)







33 See id at 7



Secrsquoy 2011)



Toronto Press 2003)





























Tactics (2003)













Government (2005)





(2014)




47 Id at 175







California)

Author Note








of t his paper


NCJ 248411











8660 Cherry Lane





NCJ~248411






























harm offenders27












































the law voluntarily
















































legislat ion















































operations























































norm39














































































































note


























Endnotes







Mich L Rev 761 (2011)






(1994)







Communities (1999)









t hreerdquo)

9 Id at 12ndash15


























Nov 13 2014)









Nov 13 2014)
















(2004)

17 See id


at 297







(repr i nt 2006)









R ev 651 (2009)


















note 24

























Nov 13 2014)







33 See id at 7



Secrsquoy 2011)



Toronto Press 2003)





























Tactics (2003)













Government (2005)





(2014)




47 Id at 175







California)

Author Note








of t his paper


NCJ 248411











8660 Cherry Lane





NCJ~248411





the law voluntarily
















































legislat ion















































operations























































norm39














































































































note


























Endnotes







Mich L Rev 761 (2011)






(1994)







Communities (1999)









t hreerdquo)

9 Id at 12ndash15


























Nov 13 2014)









Nov 13 2014)
















(2004)

17 See id


at 297







(repr i nt 2006)









R ev 651 (2009)


















note 24

























Nov 13 2014)







33 See id at 7



Secrsquoy 2011)



Toronto Press 2003)





























Tactics (2003)













Government (2005)





(2014)




47 Id at 175







California)

Author Note








of t his paper


NCJ 248411











8660 Cherry Lane





NCJ~248411





























operations























































norm39














































































































note


























Endnotes







Mich L Rev 761 (2011)






(1994)







Communities (1999)









t hreerdquo)

9 Id at 12ndash15


























Nov 13 2014)









Nov 13 2014)
















(2004)

17 See id


at 297







(repr i nt 2006)









R ev 651 (2009)


















note 24

























Nov 13 2014)







33 See id at 7



Secrsquoy 2011)



Toronto Press 2003)





























Tactics (2003)













Government (2005)





(2014)




47 Id at 175







California)

Author Note








of t his paper


NCJ 248411











8660 Cherry Lane





NCJ~248411















norm39














































































































note


























Endnotes







Mich L Rev 761 (2011)






(1994)







Communities (1999)









t hreerdquo)

9 Id at 12ndash15


























Nov 13 2014)









Nov 13 2014)
















(2004)

17 See id


at 297







(repr i nt 2006)









R ev 651 (2009)


















note 24

























Nov 13 2014)







33 See id at 7



Secrsquoy 2011)



Toronto Press 2003)





























Tactics (2003)













Government (2005)





(2014)




47 Id at 175







California)

Author Note








of t his paper


NCJ 248411











8660 Cherry Lane





NCJ~248411






















































note


























Endnotes







Mich L Rev 761 (2011)






(1994)







Communities (1999)









t hreerdquo)

9 Id at 12ndash15


























Nov 13 2014)









Nov 13 2014)
















(2004)

17 See id


at 297







(repr i nt 2006)









R ev 651 (2009)


















note 24

























Nov 13 2014)







33 See id at 7



Secrsquoy 2011)



Toronto Press 2003)





























Tactics (2003)













Government (2005)





(2014)




47 Id at 175







California)

Author Note








of t his paper


NCJ 248411











8660 Cherry Lane





NCJ~248411









Endnotes







Mich L Rev 761 (2011)






(1994)







Communities (1999)









t hreerdquo)

9 Id at 12ndash15


























Nov 13 2014)









Nov 13 2014)
















(2004)

17 See id


at 297







(repr i nt 2006)









R ev 651 (2009)


















note 24

























Nov 13 2014)







33 See id at 7



Secrsquoy 2011)



Toronto Press 2003)





























Tactics (2003)













Government (2005)





(2014)




47 Id at 175







California)

Author Note








of t his paper


NCJ 248411











8660 Cherry Lane





NCJ~248411





Nov 13 2014)









Nov 13 2014)
















(2004)

17 See id


at 297







(repr i nt 2006)









R ev 651 (2009)


















note 24

























Nov 13 2014)







33 See id at 7



Secrsquoy 2011)



Toronto Press 2003)





























Tactics (2003)













Government (2005)





(2014)




47 Id at 175







California)

Author Note








of t his paper


NCJ 248411











8660 Cherry Lane





NCJ~248411



note 24

























Nov 13 2014)







33 See id at 7



Secrsquoy 2011)



Toronto Press 2003)





























Tactics (2003)













Government (2005)





(2014)




47 Id at 175







California)

Author Note








of t his paper


NCJ 248411











8660 Cherry Lane





NCJ~248411








Tactics (2003)













Government (2005)





(2014)




47 Id at 175







California)

Author Note








of t his paper


NCJ 248411











8660 Cherry Lane





NCJ~248411

NCJ 248411











8660 Cherry Lane





NCJ~248411

new perspectives in policing - rightful policing

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