The empirical study of procedural justice policing in Australia: Highlights and challenges

Abstract

This chapter provides a comprehensive survey of the Australian procedural justice policing scholarship, explores ways of measuring procedural justice, explains why police should be concerned with it, and outlines the challenges involved in undertaking empirical work of this nature. The chapter explains that procedurally just treatment in the policing context matters primarily because it promotes perceptions of legitimacy and fosters the belief that police and laws ought to be obeyed. The chapter is particularly interested in what motivates people to volunteer information and engage in other citizen-initiated contact with police, and the implications of this for police relations with vulnerable population groups and marginalised communities. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the future direction of procedural justice policing, including its importance for police interactions with vulnerable groups, such as those who experience domestic violence.