Police Legitimacy: Procedural Justice, Community Policing, Service

This essay delves into the multifaceted concept of police legitimacy, analyzing how procedural justice, community policing, and customer service impact public trust and perception of law enforcement. It examines the influence of institutional setups and legal frameworks on police actions, using examples like immigration policies to illustrate the importance of fair procedures. The essay explores the role of community policing in building relationships and addressing the challenges of active policing, while also highlighting the significance of customer service in mitigating negative impacts and fostering a positive image. It underscores how these three elements – procedural justice, community policing, and customer service – are interconnected and essential for maintaining a legitimate and effective police force, especially in an era of evolving crime and technological advancements. The essay concludes by emphasizing the importance of these factors in building public trust and ensuring the police force's ability to serve the community effectively.

Police legitimacy in the society and the role of procedural justice, community policing and
customer service

Introduction
The legitimacy of a police force in any given society is dependent on many factors; most of these
factors are not under their control because they are required to abide by a given constitution.
Most of the countries also implement a police code attached to the constitution. This police code
defines the intentions of the sovereign and its policies. History is evident; the perception of the
legitimacy of the police often divides society into many segments (Gau, 2013). If the policies of
the sovereign are inclined towards a particular group of people or ethnicity then legitimacy of the
police becomes uneven for different groups. However, the set of laws ruling a particular land is
of prime importance. They are the primary deciding factors for a chunk of population to decide
the legitimacy of the police force (Finnane, 1968). However, there is another layer associated
with legitimacy. This layer is related to the fact that how police forces are dealing with the
common people. The current essay is an attempt to figure out the impact of legitimacy of the
police force in any given setup from the purview of factors like procedural justice, community
policing and customer service (Geller, 2014).
Procedural justice, institutional setup, and legitimacy of Police force
When we check the legitimacy of the police force under an institutional setup then we can
scrutinize the provision of procedural justice (Goff, 2014). We can understand it with the help of
a recent example. President Donald Trump changed a few policies about the immigrants that are
living in USA. One of the changes forced the local US police to adopt the techniques of active
policing. Immigrants were forced to stay in government asylums until they prove their
citizenship in USA. The legitimacy of the police action against the immigrants, especially the
black population is justified; police force is carrying out an order which supports the law,
however, the legitimacy of the police can be judged on the next step when it becomes a right for
a prisoner to seek for legal aide (Granot et al, 2014).
In a recent development, US authorities took resort in a legal provision while dealing with these
immigrants. The law says that immigrants can call for legal aides; however, police can prevent
lawyers to meet them. In the wake of new orders, the prisons started using a different kind of
arrangement, under this arrangement immigrants were not able to talk with complete freedom

because of the presence of a policeman. This institutional arrangement brought the legitimacy of
the police under the scanner because they are abiding by the law however, they are violating
human rights.
This is one example; the legitimacy of police on the levels of the perception is heavily dependent
on the flow of the procedures. The expert in the field of the “policing studies” defines
“obligation to follow the law” and the “trust” of the people are two important factors that should
be imbibed in the procedural course of justice. In the case of US prisons we can see that
obligation to abide by the law and trust are important factors, they are following the law however
the social situations associated with face to face encounters are telling a different story and
presenting a hindrance in the dispense of the procedural justice. It is true that face to face
encounter and social behavior of the police has the power to add to the legitimacy of the police
however, a rightful approach towards the dispersion of procedural justice is important.
Community policing is the second most important factor that can define the legitimacy of a
police force. A police uniform awards a set of powers along with responsibilities to a person. It is
a misconception that police personals are demigod or they are gifted to detect criminals among
the commoners. However, they are extra agile and trained to believe in the suspicions very
strongly. This is an inherent characteristic that is required in a policeman (Hardin, 2002).
When we judge the legitimacy of the police force solely on the merits of “trust” and “social
encounters.” We often end up with disappointing results, we can attribute it to the nature of the
job that they are doing. The moment command line dictates that active policing is needed during
the course of community policing, this dictum prevails. Policemen are designed to detect the odd
people from society, sometimes it becomes essential for them distrust everyone because
criminals are sharp-minded. We can also describe them as the agent of the change in society
(Deakin, 2012). The motor vehicle acts of various countries demand consistent changes in
accordance with a change in technology. Speed limits, security provisions, and emission norms
are the common field. Authorities are changing these norms very rapidly and every time
community policing forces are coming under a burden where they need to implement active
policing (Charles et al, 2012). The legitimacy of the police force on the scale of community

policing suffers when individuals show a reluctance to change. It creates animosity in society
and sometimes shrewd criminals take advantage of this animosity (Dasgupta, 2012).
Most of the experts in the field of “policing studies believe that “customer service” given by the
police forces can act as a leveler in this case. Customer service can act as a domain where police
personals can mitigate the impact of their misdoings. It is very important to understand certain
provisions of the “right to the investigation” in this particular case. While cracking a case or
examining a suspicious subject at a public place sometimes a policeman is duty-bound to cross
the line. This is a prerogative at their part because they are dealing with a greater security
concerns where society and crowd are also playing the role of a stakeholder. The legitimacy of
the police can be judged with the help of one more provision; this provision is related to their
primary duty. A policeman is duty-bound to show aggressive behavior because he is working
with an intention to prevent the crime. At the turn of this century the authorities in the USA came
up with an exclusionary law, the provisions of this law were discouraging the overzealous
behavior of Police people during the course of evidence collection. The law made it mandatory
for them to rightfully collect the evidence (Bollen et al, 2011).
Now let’s see this law from the perspective of the legitimacy of the police force and the clause of
customer service. This law says that if a policeman collects evidence by violating the human
rights of a citizen then that particular evidence will not be admissible in the court. It seems that
this clause facilitates procedural justice; however, it also brings an impact over the customer
service given by the police. It keeps policemen under control and mitigates the chances of unruly
or aggressive behavior while providing customer service. Many experts believe that looking at
the services offered by the police under the lens view of the customer-client relationship is
justified in present times when criminals are getting smarter with each passing days and
intelligence levels of the gizmos and supportive tools of the crime are increasing
(Beetham,2011).
Under a situation like this customer service can act as the face of the police force, they can act as
a PR agency and mitigate the wrongdoings of the main force which is implementing dirty tasks
or dangerous tasks (Bauer, 2014). The recent developments in the field of technology can be
utilized to ensure better customer service. Apart from it, this technology can also be utilized to
bring in transparency in the work of the police. We should never forget the fact that letter P in

the abbreviation of Police, stands for “polite.” It is not possible for policemen to act polite all the
time, however, the customer service department can adopt the approach of soft policing and
increase the legitimacy of Police functions by winning the trust of the individuals in the
corresponding societies.
Conclusion
On the lines of conclusion, an expert can attach community policing, customer service and
procedural justice under a chain of events and apply them as a means to increase the legitimacy
of the Police force. After the mishap of nine eleven, US officials also followed the same path. A
policeman standing at a checkpoint was given all the rights of investigation and satiates all his
reasonable suspicions. The second layer or the customer service ensured a soft stance to mitigate
the wrongdoings if they occur during the course of the scanning. The procedural justice is the
final destination where the trust of a common in the legitimacy can be restored.

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