Influence of Procedural Justice Training on Police Perceptions of Interactions With Racial Minority Citizens

Relationships between police and racial minority communities continue to be strained as traditional cultural diversity training for police struggles to equip officers with the skills needed to interact with and build trusting relationships with racial minority citizens. Previous quantitative research indicated that when the police treat citizens according to procedural justice, citizens are more likely to report a positive experience. However, there was a lack of qualitative research aimed at understanding the lived experiences of officers who have been trained in procedural justice and their perceptions of how that training influenced their ability to build trusting relationships with racial minority citizens. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of police officers trained in procedural justice and their perceptions of how that training influenced their ability to interact with and build trusting relationships with racial minority citizens. The theoretical framework was Tyler’s procedural justice theory. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with 12 patrol officers trained in procedural justice from a large Midwest U.S. police department serving a racial minority population of over 35%. The process of explication and thematic analysis was used to interpret the data. Findings indicated that when police learn about the historical impact of police mistreatment of racial minorities, they become more equipped to implement the tenets of procedural justice, resulting in most people cooperating with the police regardless of the outcome of the encounter. Findings may inform police policymakers regarding the best way to train officers in implementing procedural justice with the goal of positive social change by improving police–community relationships.