Promoting trust in police: findings from a randomised experimental field trial of procedural justice policing

Abstract

This paper reports findings from the world's first randomised experimental field trial of procedural justice policing. We tested whether or not procedural justice could be used by police agencies during short, routine traffic stops to increase public trust and confidence in police. Using survey data from 2762 Australian drivers who had been exposed to either a procedural justice script (experimental condition) or a standard police procedure (control condition), it was found that trust and confidence in police was higher in the experimental condition. This was even the case after respondents' demographic background and general perceptions of police were taken into account. Similar effects were not found for drivers' obligation to obey police, nor their willingness to cooperate with police. Importantly, however, trust in police did predict both obligation to obey police and the willingness to cooperate with police. The findings have important implications for procedural justice research and policing practice.