Procedural justice and police legitimacy have become a focal point of discussion for law enforcement throughout the United States.  Many concepts have developed over the past decades and various approaches have been created and utilized to strengthen collaborative working partnerships with law enforcement and the communities they serve.

One of the four main goals developed during the update of the POST Strategic Plan was Enhance Law Enforcement’s Ability to Serve Their Communities.  Under this goal was Strategic Plan Strategy D.1.2, Provide online resources for agencies on Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy. 

POST staff worked with subject matter experts from all relevant disciplines and amassed a large amount of information to assist agencies in locating or developing their own training and resources to assist in the development of local policy. This information was compiled on a Procedure Justice webpage accessible from the main POST Website.

POST recognizes that effective law enforcement is the cornerstone of a free and safe society, and is committed to a vision of the future that ensures quality, integrity, accountability, and collaborative relationships between agencies and the communities they serve.  POST programs and services have historically included training in community-based-policing, racial and cultural diversity, fair and impartial policing, persons with developmental disabilities or mental illness, and a full spectrum of other training designed to help law enforcement build those relationships while, at the same time, decrease the emergence of racial animosities.

The Procedural Justice webpage links law enforcement to twenty-four contemporary articles on Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy by several authors and organizations including Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), COPS Office – United States Department of Justice, University of Albany, University of Akron, New York Times, and Community Oriented Policing Services.

The webpage also links to recent case law decisions, and video presentations by experts from John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Yale Law School, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, and others, and provides a list of training presenters and available curriculum.

The Procedural Justice webpage can be accessed at https://www.post.ca.gov/procedural-justice-and-police-legitimacy.aspx. A copy of the webpage is also included as Attachment A.

Since the first of June over 1100 users have visited the site. 

This website will be continually updated by POST staff to ensure the most current information and resources are available to the law enforcement community.

Staff recommends the Commission approve the deletion of Strategic Plan Strategy D.1.2., Provide online resources for agencies on Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy, as completed.