Procedural justice in police stop and search encounters: A comparative analysis of crime contexts and police versus public assessments

Research on police stop and search has traditionally focused on who is targeted, with less attention to how encounters are conducted and experienced. Drawing on procedural justice theory, this study examines the quality of police behaviour during stop and search encounters and the extent to which such behaviour varies across contexts and audiences. Using systematic analysis of 140 stop and searches captured on police body-worn video in England, the study makes two key contributions. First, it compares levels of procedural justice – as assessed by police raters – across high-crime and low-crime areas. Second, it offers a rare direct comparison of how police supervisors and members of the public evaluate the same encounters. The findings show that officers in low-crime areas exhibit significantly higher levels of procedural justice, particularly in relation to neutrality, respect, and trustworthy motives, while no significant difference is observed for voice. In addition, police supervisors rate encounters more critically than members of the public, especially on voice and trustworthy motives. This suggests that different groups apply distinct evaluative frameworks when judging police behaviour. However, both groups produced similar ratings on respect and neutrality, indicating agreement on these dimensions. These findings reveal procedural justice as a context-dependent and strategically enacted feature of police–citizen encounters.