Simone Lawson
Constitutional policing and legitimacy are two intertwined concepts that are essential to effective law enforcement. Constitutional policing refers to a set of organisational values and policies that uphold the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution, court decisions, laws, and regulations. It provides a framework for fair, impartial, and effective law enforcement, treating all individuals equally and respecting their civil liberties. Legitimacy policing, on the other hand, focuses on improving the respect-worthiness of the police by fostering trust, accountability, and transparency in their interactions with the community. It involves strategies that enhance community relations and perceptions of police legitimacy, aiming for the public to perceive the police as trustworthy and unbiased decision-makers. While constitutional policing sets the foundation for ethical practices, legitimacy policing ensures that these practices are respected and accepted by the communities they serve. Both concepts are crucial for maintaining law and order, as they build trust and encourage proactive collaboration between law enforcement and the public.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Upholds the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, state constitutions, and federal/state court decisions | Freedom of speech, privacy, and the rights of the accused |
| Provides a framework to ensure fair, impartial, and effective enforcement of the law | Consistency with constitutional principles, democratic values, and community expectations |
| Emphasizes treating all individuals fairly and impartially, regardless of personal characteristics | Respect and trust |
| Requires enhanced accountability and transparency practices | Co-creation with the community |
| Focuses on improving the "respect-worthiness" of the police | Trustworthiness and unbiased decision-making |
| Includes interventions to improve community relations and perceptions of legitimacy | Ongoing dialogues and engagement with the community |
| Promotes proactive crime prevention, conflict resolution, and collaboration with the community | Easier law enforcement and increased public cooperation |
| Ensures police use of force is legitimate, necessary, legal, and appropriate | Protection of civil liberties and equal protection under the law |
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What You'll Learn
Legitimacy policing strategies
Constitutional policing is a set of organisational values and policies that uphold and respect the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, state constitutions, and federal and state court decisions. It provides a framework to ensure fair, impartial, and effective enforcement of the law, consistent with constitutional principles, democratic values, and community expectations.
- Improving Community Relations: This includes having ongoing dialogues and active engagement with community members. Frontline police officers should be assigned to a community long enough to get to know its residents, their patterns of life, and the issues they face. Regular patrols, especially foot patrols, can facilitate these interactions.
- Procedural Justice: Ensuring that civilian interactions with police are perceived as fair and that civilians have the opportunity to be heard, regardless of the outcome. This means treating all individuals fairly and impartially, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or other personal characteristics.
- Diversionary Conferencing or Restorative Justice Conferencing: These are meetings facilitated by a police officer involving an offender, a victim, and other involved community members. They collectively discuss a lower-level or juvenile crime and agree on suitable restitution from the offender. This approach has been shown to improve compliance and cooperation and enhance ratings of police legitimacy.
- Focused Deterrence Strategies: These strategies address specific issues that are important to the community, such as drug markets. While these strategies may improve certain legitimacy measures, they might not completely eliminate negative perceptions of the police.
- Evidence-Based Policing: Recognising the importance of procedural justice and its impact on police legitimacy. This involves re-evaluating the definition of "good policing" and incorporating metrics beyond just crime-fighting statistics, such as how community members are treated.
While there is limited data on the direct impact of legitimacy policing strategies on residents' perceived legitimacy of the police, the potential for improving community relations and the demonstrated impact on cooperation and compliance make these strategies worth considering.
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Trust, accountability and communication
Trust, accountability, and communication are essential pillars of constitutional policing and legitimacy. Constitutional policing is a set of organisational values and policies that uphold and respect the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution, court decisions, laws, and regulations. It provides a framework for fair, impartial, and effective law enforcement that aligns with constitutional principles, democratic values, and community expectations. Legitimacy policing, on the other hand, focuses on improving the "respect-worthiness" of the police and enhancing community relations.
Trust is a foundational aspect of police-community relations. The public is more likely to obey and cooperate with law enforcement when they trust that those enforcing the laws have legitimate authority and act with procedural justice. Constitutional policing helps build this trust by ensuring that police officers respect and protect the rights of all citizens, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or other personal characteristics. It also promotes transparency and accountability, further strengthening trust in law enforcement agencies.
Accountability is vital to both constitutional policing and legitimacy. Police officers are accountable to the public they serve. They must uphold the law and respect the rights of individuals, ensuring that their actions are lawful, ethical, and protect civilians' civil rights. When police departments prioritise accountability, it helps to restore legitimacy and improve community relations.
Communication plays a critical role in bridging the gap between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Effective communication involves ongoing dialogues, active discussions, and engagement with community members. Diversionary conferencing or restorative justice conferencing, for example, brings together offenders, victims, and community members to collectively agree on suitable restitution. This type of intervention has been shown to improve compliance, cooperation, and perceptions of police legitimacy. Open and honest communication helps build trust, fosters collaboration, and ensures that policing efforts are aligned with community needs and expectations.
By prioritising trust, accountability, and communication, law enforcement agencies can enhance the legitimacy of their practices and build stronger relationships with the communities they serve. These principles are integral to constitutional policing and help create a foundation for ethical, lawful, and effective policing that upholds the rights and freedoms of all individuals.
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Lawful and ethical practices
Constitutional policing provides the foundation for ethical, lawful practices that aim to protect civilians' civil rights. It operates within the boundaries set by the U.S. Constitution, state constitutions, federal and state court decisions, and other legal requirements. These practices promote respect, confidence, and public buy-in for safety policies.
Constitutional policing upholds and respects the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. legal system, such as freedom of speech, privacy, and the rights of the accused. It emphasizes fair and impartial treatment of all individuals, regardless of personal characteristics like race, ethnicity, or religion. Police officers must exercise their authority within legal boundaries and respect citizens' rights, especially those suspected of crimes.
To ensure lawful and ethical practices, constitutional policing demands enhanced accountability and transparency. Police departments should continually scrutinize their practices to advance the broader constitutional goal of safeguarding civil liberties and providing equal protection under the law. This includes addressing critical areas like police use-of-force, stop-and-frisk procedures, racial bias, and interactions with individuals with mental health issues.
Legitimacy policing is a strategy to improve the "respect-worthiness" of the police and enhance their perceived legitimacy. This involves interventions to foster better community relations and perceptions of police legitimacy, as well as efforts to be perceived as trustworthy and unbiased decision-makers.
To increase legitimacy, police agencies should focus on improving procedural justice in interactions with the public and maintaining ongoing dialogues with the community. Diversionary conferencing or restorative justice conferencing, administered by police officers, can effectively improve compliance and cooperation in addressing lower-level or juvenile crimes.
Legitimacy is a fragile concept, as seen in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, which highlighted the tenuous legitimacy of some police agencies. Abuse of power, corruption, and a lack of transparency and accountability contribute to the erosion of legitimacy. However, this erosion does not necessarily lead to a complete collapse of legitimacy, as seen in New Zealand's successful efforts to improve police transparency and honesty.
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Police-community relations
Constitutional policing refers to a model of policing that upholds and is bound by the principles enshrined in a country's constitution, particularly those pertaining to protecting citizens' rights and freedoms. It involves a commitment to due process, equal protection under the law, and respect for individual liberties. Legitimacy, in this context, refers to the perception and acceptance by the public that the police have the authority and right to enforce the law. It entails a relationship based on trust, fairness, and the belief that police powers are being exercised appropriately and justly.
When it comes to police-community relations, the concept of constitutional policing, and legitimacy is crucial. Strong and positive relationships between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve are essential for effective policing and maintaining social order. Building and fostering these relationships requires a commitment to constitutional principles and legitimate policing practices.
Community engagement and collaboration are key aspects of constitutional policing. Police departments should actively involve community members in decision-making processes, seek their input on policies and strategies, and work together to identify and address local concerns. This collaborative approach helps to build trust, foster a sense of shared responsibility for community safety, and ensure that police practices are responsive to community needs and values.
Transparency and accountability are also vital pillars of constitutional policing. Police agencies should implement policies and procedures that promote transparency, such as providing clear information to the public about their practices, policies, and data related to police activities, including use-of-force incidents and complaint procedures. Additionally, mechanisms for holding officers accountable for their actions, such as robust internal affairs processes and citizen review boards, can help ensure that police powers are exercised responsibly and legitimately.
Respect for individual rights is another critical component of police-community relations. Police officers should be trained to respect the constitutional rights of all individuals, regardless of their background or circumstances. This includes protecting the rights of free speech, assembly, and equal treatment under the law. By demonstrating respect for these rights, police can build trust and legitimacy with communities, especially those that have historically been marginalized or over-policed.
To enhance police-community relations, it is also important to focus on procedural justice. This involves ensuring that police practices and interactions with the public are fair and impartial. When individuals perceive that they are being treated with dignity, respect, and fairness by police officers, their trust in the legitimacy of the police increases. Procedural justice practices include providing individuals with a voice during interactions, offering neutral and unbiased explanations for police actions, and demonstrating trustworthy motives.
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Procedural justice
Diversionary conferencing or restorative justice conferencing is another method to increase dialogue and improve relationships. These conferences, facilitated by a police officer, involve an offender, a victim, and other community members to collectively agree on restitution. This type of intervention has been shown to have positive effects on gaining compliance and cooperation and improving ratings of police legitimacy.
Overall, procedural justice is about ensuring that police interactions with the community are respectful, fair, and impartial. By focusing on these principles, police can improve community relations and be perceived as trustworthy and legitimate decision-makers. This, in turn, can lead to better collaboration and co-creation with communities to achieve public safety goals.
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Frequently asked questions
Constitutional policing is a set of organisational values and policies that uphold the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the US Constitution, state constitutions, and federal/state court decisions. It provides a framework for fair, impartial, and effective law enforcement, respecting civil liberties and ensuring equal protection under the law.
Constitutional policing emphasises treating all individuals fairly, regardless of personal characteristics. By respecting civil rights and liberties, police agencies build trust and improve their perceived legitimacy in the eyes of the public.
Legitimacy policing focuses on improving the "respect-worthiness" of the police. It involves strategies to enhance community relations, foster unbiased decision-making, and increase dialogue with the community. Police legitimacy increases when the public perceives police actions as respectful and procedurally just.
Community policing recognises the unique makeup of each community and aims to work collaboratively with community residents to identify problems and implement meaningful solutions. It complements constitutional policing by building trust and improving police-community relations, making law enforcement more effective.
Police agencies can increase legitimacy by improving accountability and transparency, addressing issues like racial bias and excessive use of force, and focusing on prevention work and victim-centred approaches. Diversionary conferencing, where police officers mediate discussions between offenders, victims, and community members, has also been shown to positively impact police legitimacy.
