Federal Consent Decree and Procedural Justice Applied

Federal Consent Decree and Procedural Justice Applied
Name
University Of Phoenix
AJS/544: Ethics In Justice And Security
Professor
Due date
Federal Consent Decree and Procedural Justice Applied
What is procedural justice?
Procedural justice denotes what fairness looks like in the interaction processes with police officers and legal authorities when interacting with the public. Also, it determines how the said interactions shape the public's view of police officers and how they push people to obey laws and affect the rate of crimes. Procedural justice in policing follows the principles of fairness in the process, transparency in actions taken, having the opportunity to voice one's opinion, and impartiality when making decisions. According to Nagin and Telep (2020, pp. 765-766), procedural justice is essential in building trust and legitimizing law enforcement authority in communities. Thus, the police have to work diligently to uphold a dignified position. For example, after the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed civilian by a Ferguson police officer, force policies were instituted. Police officers' actions of demeaning, harassing, disrespecting, and escalating situations through threats and deadly force were replaced. The officers had to treat all involved parties with respect, have a conversation with them to get the whole picture, employ fairness in judgment and handling cases, and deescalate their use of forces on civilians, especially African Americans. (Wood et al., 2020, pp. 9815-9819).
What are federal consent decrees?
According to the Los Angeles Police Department (2022), federal consent decrees are agreements between two parties submitted in writing to a court to resolve a dispute without either party taking the blame. In policing, the decrees are utilized to force police departments to change their policing practices such as corruption, police brutality, racial profiling, and mistreatment of suspects. Its utilization allows the Justice Department or the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to force the police departments to identify systemic failures. Through monetary compensations and restructuring, comprehensive changes are achieved (Rhodes et al., 2019, pp. 218-220). For example, In November 2000, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) signed a federal consent decree with the DOJ after discovering the department's use of excessive force, unreasonable searches and seizures, and false arrests of civilians. The degree lasted five years in which the LAPD focused on the management and supervision of measures that promote Civil Rights, following critical incident procedures and investigation, training on response to persons with mental illnesses, and integrity audits (Los Angeles Police Department, 2022). Also, in 2016, Ferguson, Missouri, signed a consent decree that forced police departments in the area to change their practices of utilizing deadly force and collecting exaggerated fines and fees from low-income citizens to fund the city's budget.
Positive impacts of the federal consent decree on the principle of procedural justice
Federal consent decrees positively influence the principle of procedural justice by upholding police legitimacy and better relationship with the public. Accordi...