Improving community relations in the police through procedural justice – an action learning initiative

ABSTRACT Police forces in England and Wales have faced ongoing difficulties of engagement with minority communities leading to a loss of confidence and trust in policing. The paper reports on the results of a project to improve relations with communities with Humberside Police, UK by implementing key ideas relating to procedural justice that consider how fairness in interactions between the police and others can promote the perception of police legitimacy. An Action Learning Research project was set up during the Covid Pandemic to apply procedural justice. Two groups of front line officers worked with a researcher/facilitator over five meetings with the support of senior officers. Data provided from the meetings and written logs were analysed to show how procedural justice works towards relationship development and more positive opinion of the police in interactions. It is suggested that police forces can tackle difficult issues such as engagement with communities by more use of action learning research in collaboration with researchers.