Online recruitment materials are often the first encounter for individuals considering a police career. Procedural justice (PJ) theory argues that how police officers treat the public is an important predictor for future citizen cooperation. Taking steps towards becoming a police officer is a unique form of organizational cooperation. This project examined job interest for a sample of 993 respondents in Amazon’s mTurk, experimentally manipulating whether the presented recruitment materials emphasized PJ policing or not (PJ content) in a quasi-experimental vignette design. The PJ content significantly increased two of the four job interest outcomes. PJ theory also argues fair and respectful treatment should impact all groups similarly, deemed the invariance thesis. The results largely showed groups being influenced in similar ways. This study’s findings largely support this extension of PJ theory, and are useful to practitioners interested in building their recruitment pool through economical changes in recruitment materials.
Aiello, M. F. (2014). Policing the masculine frontier: Cultural criminological analysis of the gendered performance of policing. Crime, Media, Culture, 10(1), 59–79.
2.
Aiello, M. F., & Lawton, B. A. (2018). Campus police cooperation and legitimacy: Extending the procedural justice model. Deviant Behavior, 39(10), 1371–1385.
3.
Aiello, M. F. (2020). Legitimacy invariance and campus crime: the impact of campus police legitimacy in different reporting contexts. Police Practice and Research, 21(3), 297–312.
4.
Aiello, M. F. (2019). Gendered messages in police recruitment: Understanding the impacts of descriptors and physical fitness requirements on potential applicants. Policing: An International Journal.
5.
AntrobusE.ThompsonI.ArielB. (2019). Procedural justice training for police recruits: Results of a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 15(1), 29–53. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-018-9331-9
6.
BazleyT. D.LerschK. M.MieczkowskiT. (2007). Officer force versus suspect resistance: A gendered analysis of patrol officers in an urban police department. Journal of Criminal Justice, 35(2), 183–192.
7.
BolgerP. C.WaltersG. D. (2019). The relationship between police procedural justice, police legitimacy, and people's willingness to cooperate with law enforcement: A meta-analysis. Journal of Criminal Justice, 60(C), 93–99.
8.
BottomsA.TankebeJ. (2012). Beyond procedural justice: A dialogic approach to legitimacy in criminal justice. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 102, 119.
9.
BuhrmesterM.KwangT.GoslingS. D. (2011). Amazon’s Mechanical Turk: A new source of inexpensive, yet high-quality, data?. Perspectives on Psychological Science : A Journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 6(1), 3–5. https://doi.org/10.1037/14805-009
10.
BrownK. L.ReisigM. D. (2019). Procedural injustice, police legitimacy, and officer gender: A vignette‐based test of the invariance thesis. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 37(6), 696–710.
11.
CambareriJ. F.KuhnsJ. B. (2018). Perceptions and perceived challenges associated with a hypothetical career in law enforcement: Differences among male and female college students. Police Quarterly, 21(3), 335–357. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611118760862
12.
CordnerG.CordnerA. (2011). Stuck on a plateau? Obstacles to recruitment, selection, and retention of women police. Police Quarterly, 14(3), 207–226. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611111413990
GrahamA.KuligT. C.CullenF. T. (2019). Willingness to report crime to the police: Traditional crime, cybercrime, and procedural justice. Policing: An International Journal, 43(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-07-2019-0115
15.
Here is Carless (2005): Carless, S. A. (2005). The influence of fit perceptions, equal opportunity policies, and social support network on pre-entry police officer career commitment and intentions to remain. Journal of Criminal Justice, 33(4), 341–352.
16.
HighhouseS.LievensF.SinarE. F. (2003). Measuring attraction to organizations. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 63(6), 986–1001. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164403258403
JetelinaK. K.JenningsW. G.BishoppS. A.PiqueroA. R.Reingle GonzalezJ. M. (2017). Dissecting the complexities of the relationship between police officer–civilian race/ethnicity dyads and less-than-lethal use of force. American Journal of Public Health, 107(7), 1164–1170. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303807
19.
KahnK. B.GoffP. A.LeeJ. K.MotamedD. (2016). Protecting whiteness: White phenotypic racial stereotypicality reduces police use of force. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 7(5), 403–411. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550616633505
20.
LevayK. E.FreeseJ.DruckmanJ. N. (2016). The demographic and political composition of Mechanical Turk samples. Sage Open, 6(1), 215824401663643.
21.
MacQueenS.BradfordB. (2015). Enhancing public trust and police legitimacy during road traffic encounters: Results from a randomised controlled trial in Scotland. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 11(3), 419–443. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-015-9240-0
MastrofskiS. D.Jonathan-ZamirT.MoyalS.WillisJ. J. (2016). Predicting procedural justice in police–citizen encounters. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 43(1), 119–139.
24.
MazerolleL.BennettS.AntrobusE.EgginsE. (2012). Procedural justice, routine encounters and citizen perceptions of police: Main findings from the Queensland Community Engagement Trial (QCET). Journal of Experimental Criminology, 8(4), 343–367. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-012-9160-1
25.
MietheT. D.VengerO.LiebermanJ. D. (2019). Police use of force and its video coverage: An experimental study of the impact of media source and content on public perceptions. Journal of Criminal Justice, 60, 35–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2018.10.006
26.
MurphyK. (2017). Challenging the ‘invariance’ thesis: Procedural justice policing and the moderating influence of trust on citizens’ obligation to obey police. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 13(3), 429–437. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-017-9298-y
27.
MurphyK.BarkworthJ. (2014). Victim willingness to report crime to police: Does procedural justice or outcome matter most?. Victims & Offenders, 9(2), 178–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2013.872744
28.
MurphyK.CherneyA. (2012). Understanding cooperation with police in a diverse society. British Journal of Criminology, 52(1), 181–201. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azr065
29.
MurphyK.MazerolleL. (2018). Policing immigrants: Using a randomized control trial of procedural justice policing to promote trust and cooperation. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 51(1), 3–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004865816673691
30.
PaolineI. I. I., E. A.GauJ. M.TerrillW. (2016). Race and the police use of force encounter in the United States. British Journal of Criminology, 58(1), azw089–74. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azw089
31.
Rabe-HempC. E. (2008). Female officers and the ethic of care: Does officer gender impact police behaviors?. Journal of Criminal Justice, 36(5), 426–434.
ReisigM. D.BrattonJ.GertzM. G. (2007). The construct validity and refinement of process-based policing measures. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34(8), 1005–1028. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854807301275
35.
ReisigM. D.FlippinM.MeškoG.TrinknerR. (2021). The effects of justice judgments on police legitimacy across urban neighborhoods: A test of the invariance thesis. Crime & Delinquency, 67(9), 1295–1318. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128720977435
36.
ReisigM. D.LloydC. (2009). Procedural justice, police legitimacy, and helping the police fight crime: Results from a survey of Jamaican adolescents. Police Quarterly, 12(1), 42–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611108327311
37.
ReisigM. D.MaysR. D.TelepC. W. (2018). The effects of procedural injustice during police–citizen encounters: A factorial vignette study. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 14(1), 49–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-017-9307-1
38.
RosenbaumD. P.LawrenceD. S. (2017). Teaching procedural justice and communication skills during police–community encounters: Results of a randomized control trial with police recruits. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 13(3), 293–319. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-017-9293-3
39.
RosslerM. T.ScheerC.SuttmoellerM. J. (2019). Patrol career interest and perceptions of barriers among African-American criminal justice students. Policing: An International Journal, 42(3), 421–440. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-06-2018-0078
40.
SaksA. M.AshforthB. E. (1997). A longitudinal investigation of the relationships between job information sources, applicant perceptions of fit, and work outcomes. Personnel Psychology, 50(2), 395–426. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1997.tb00913.x
SchuckA. M. (2014). Female representation in law enforcement: The influence of screening, unions, incentives, community policing, CALEA, and size. Police Quarterly, 17(1), 54–78. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611114522467
43.
SchuckA. M. (2014). Gender differences in policing: Testing hypotheses from the performance and disruption perspectives. Feminist Criminology, 9(2), 160–185. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085113520033
44.
SchuckA. M.Rabe-HempC. (2005). Women police: The use of force by and against female officers. Women & Criminal Justice, 16(4), 91–117.
45.
SkoganW.FrydlK. (2004). Fairness and effectiveness in policing: The evidence. The National Academies Press.
46.
SunshineJ.TylerT. R. (2003). The role of procedural justice and legitimacy in shaping public support for policing. Law Society Review, 37(3), 513–548. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-5893.3703002
47.
TabachnickB. G.FidellL. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics. Pearson.
48.
TodakN.BrownK. (2019). Policewomen of color: A state-of-the-art review. Policing: An International Journal, 42(6), 1052–1062.
49.
TylerT. R. (1990). Why people obey the law. Yale University Press.
50.
TylerT. R. (2005). Policing in black and white: Ethnic group differences in trust and confidence in the police. Police Quarterly, 8(3), 322–342. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611104271105
51.
TylerT. R.BladerS. L. (2003). The group engagement model: Procedural justice, social identity, and cooperative behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Review : An Official Journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc, 7(4), 349–361. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327957PSPR0704_07
52.
TylerT. R.FaganJ. (2008). Legitimacy and cooperation: Why do people help the police fight crime in their communities. Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, 6, 231.
53.
TylerT. R.HuoY. (2002). Trust in the law: Encouraging public cooperation with the police and courts. Russell Sage Foundation.
US Department of Justice. (2012). National crime victimization survey NCVS-1 basic screen questionnaire. Retrieved from https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/ncvs15_bsq.pdf
WolfeS. E.NixJ.KaminskiR.RojekJ. (2016). Is the effect of procedural justice on police legitimacy invariant? Testing the generality of procedural justice and competing antecedents of legitimacy. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 32(2), 253–282. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-015-9263-8
58.
WrightJ. E.HeadleyA. M. (2020). Police use of force interactions: Is race relevant or gender germane?. The American Review of Public Administration, 50(8), 851–864.
