Specialized training of police officers leads to reduced crime, fewer arrests, and more positive interactions and community evaluations, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) finds.

The study, Reforming the police through procedural justice training: A multicity randomized trial at crime hot spots, was based on a randomized, controlled multiyear trial conducted in high-crime places by the National Policing Institute (NPI), George Mason University, Arizona State University, and the University of Pennsylvania, with joint support from Arnold Ventures and NPI. Conducted in Tucson, Arizona; Houston, Texas; and Cambridge, Massachusetts, the study found that training officers to operate according to the principles of procedural justice (PJ), which is based on four components of fairness and equality—giving people a voice, showing neutrality, treating people with respect, and showing trustworthy motives—changed officer behavior, reduced crime, and decreased the number of arrests.

The study found that residents of the PJ hot spots were significantly less likely to perceive police as harassing or using unnecessary force, though researchers did not find significant differences between PJ and standard condition hot spots in perceptions of procedural justice itself and police legitimacy. There was, however, a significant relative 14 percent decline in crime incidents in the PJ hot spots during the experiment.

“As our nation continues to grapple with the social impacts of the pandemic and a spike in homicides, it is critical that we build a body of evidence about what works to reduce community violence,” said Arnold Ventures vice president of criminal justice Walter Katz. “This research shows that public safety and policing that is respectful of all community members are interconnected goals. Police departments across the country should learn from these results and require high-quality procedural justice training as a core component of any hot spot crime reduction program.”

Original article: https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/specialized-training-of-police-officers-leads-to-reduced-crime