In an earlier article, I shared research from around the world that establishes how “procedural justice” reduces crime and increases public safety — key measures of effective policing. To recount, the four pillars of “procedural justice are:
- Voice: People are given a chance to tell their side of the story.
- Respect: Everyone is treated with respect and dignity.
- Neutrality: Decisions are unbiased and the reasoning is transparent.
- Trustworthy: Decisions are made with a concern about the well-being of those impacted.
I ended that article with the question of how do we teach recruits and officers this skill?
My goal was to share training materials in this article to do just that — and I will. But I think it’s worth noting that free resources for training cops in procedural justice are difficult to come by. That surprised me given how much the profession — and outsiders — are touting the importance of such training.
It seems the profession — and outsiders — would do well to remember, if they want procedural justice to change policing, they must reach small departments with their limited resources. Nearly half of all local police departments have fewer than 10 officers. Three in 4 of the departments have no more than two dozen officers. And 9 in 10 employ fewer than 50 sworn officers. A smaller tax base in rural and small towns means less funding for crucial resources. This leaves many departments with limited budgets for personnel, let alone specialized training.
The disproportionate focus of procedural justice research, studies, pilot programs and training for large, urban police forces seems to have largely ignored the thousands of smaller departments. I can’t imagine a Sergeant in a small department spending the hours into days I did trying to find some free ready-to-use lesson plans, curriculum, instructor outlines, PowerPoints, videos, scenario training and evaluations for procedural justice training — and coming up with so little.
That said, here’s hoping to save you the time I spent finding the following so you can use it to begin or supplement procedural justice training for recruits and officers.
1. DOJ’s COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) Training Portal offers a five-part video series and accompanying Presenter’s Guide for roll call training. This material is designed to reinforce concepts through short, repetitive sessions.
The videos cover topics such as:
- Police legitimacy and the “Community Bank Account.”
- Building legitimacy through positive interactions.
- Internal procedural justice, such as demonstrating respect during internal matters.
Note: You may have to log in or set up an account at https://copstrainingportal.org/project_category/procedural-justice-resource/. I had no problem doing so.
In addition to the Presenter’s Guide, the videos provide real-life scenarios. From my perspective as an adjunct instructor at a DPS Training Academy for over 20 years, these materials could also be used for training recruits.
2. Prepared by the Chicago PD’s Education and Training Division, DOJ’s National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice project provides a facilitator’s guide for a curriculum titled A Tactical Mindset: Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy. It’s listed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police as a resource.
This program focuses on integrating procedural justice principles into officers’ daily tactical decision-making. It is formatted as an 8-hour training and comes with a PowerPoint presentation that includes videos and templates for tailoring the presentation with your academy or agency photos and logos.
The guide helps trainers lead discussions and exercises on connecting tactical actions with citizen perceptions of justice and fairness.
3. California Peace Officers Standards and Training (CA POST) has a series of videos for trainers and training participants available on YouTube.
Note: CA POST uses the term Principled Policing rather than Procedural Justice but the four principles governing officers’ interactions with citizens are the same.
4. San Jose Police Department (SJPD) Fair and Impartial Policing (FIP).
The SJPD’s FIP and Procedural Justice lesson plan addresses the realities of implicit bias and its impact on officer interactions.
Topics covered include:
- Understanding human bias, including implicit and explicit biases.
- Analyzing scenarios through a “Fair and Impartial” lens.
- Using effective communication skills to minimize negative impacts.
Approach: The curriculum uses videos and case studies to challenge officers’ preconceived notions and encourage analytical thinking.
- PowerPoint presentation — FIP and Procedural Justice
- PowerPoint presentation — FIP Officer Training
5. World’s Greatest Deputy Sheriff Elton Simmons video.
I showed this to DPS recruits during Criminal & Constitutional Law training to make the point that people care more about how officers treat them than the outcome of the encounter. Deputy Simmons’ 20 years of traffic enforcement and over 25,000 tickets issued without a single complaint demonstrate that. His secret? He treats people like he would want to be treated, even while writing them a ticket. And they end up smiling and thanking him.
6. The Importance of Mindset in Policing – Captain Chip Huth’s TED Talk.
I showed this video to DPS recruits during my training. Chip and the work he did turning around the most-complained against unit in the Kansas City PD foresaw the impact of procedural justice. The secret? Treating people like you’d want to be treated.
If you want to dive deeper to inform your training, I recommend Chip’s and Jack Cowell’s book “Unleashing the Power of Unconditional Respect: Transforming Law Enforcement and Police Training.”
I hope my efforts provide a start for that overtasked, small department sergeant in charge of training, amongst other duties. And I hope the profession wakes up to the needs of small departments for free, ready-to-go procedural justice instructional materials.
