Procedural justice
Although the police are, logically, associated mainly with instrumental compliance (see previous page),
they can also have a significant role in generating normative compliance. In fact, any contact that
individual has with ‘authority’ can play an important role here. Research demonstrates that the way people
are treated when they come into contact with the law, and with the police, can influence their future
behaviour.
For our purposes, this means that drivers who have ‘procedurally just’ (that is fair and legitimate) interactions with
the police, or hear about the positive experiences of others, are more likely to comply with what the law and the
police want them to do¹. We also know the roads policing is the most likely reason for an individual to experience
policing attention in the role of offender² (what we might call an ‘unsolicited’ encounter, rather than a ‘solicited’ one
where they are a victim or witness), so it’s important to get these encounters right.
Procedurally just experiences have the following characteristics:
Neutrality
Police officers should be seen to act in fair and neutral ways, rather than targeting any
particular individual or group.
Consistency Similar circumstances should result in similar experiences for the individuals involved.
Respect
Police officers should be seen to treat all individuals with dignity and respect, regardless of
the reason for their interaction with that individual.
Politeness Individuals should be treated with politeness in the course of their interactions with the police.
Trust
Police officers should show that they can be trusted and be seen to care for individuals by
explaining the reasoning for their involvement with an individual.
Voice
Police officers should be seen as allowing individuals to voice their opinions and express
their own views on a matter.
A driver is more likely to accept a ‘telling off’, or even punishment, and to obey the law in future, if their experience
is procedurally just 3 . The alternative is that procedurally unjust encounters make individuals less likely to see the
police as fair, as legitimate, and in turn less likely to comply with their requests (to obey the law) in future.
¹ Sunshine, J. and Tyler, T.R. (2003). The role of procedural justice and legitimacy in shaping public support for policing. Law & society review, 37(3), pp.513-
548.
² Corbett, C. (2003). Car Crime. Devon:Willan.
³ Bradford, B., Hohl, K., Jackson, J. and MacQueen, S. (2015). Obeying the rules of the road: Procedural justice, social identity, and normative compliance.
Journal of contemporary criminal justice, 31(2), pp.171-191.
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