Supervisors from the Reading Police Department will gather during the month of June for an eight-hour United States Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services training on procedural justice: Procedural Justice for Law Enforcement Agencies: Organizational Change through Decision Making and Policy. This training is sponsored in partnership with the Center for Public Safety and Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The goal of the training is to promote positive organizational change, uphold police legitimacy in the community, and enhance officer safety.
Developed by the Center for Public Safety and Justice in collaboration with key researchers and law enforcement executives, the course introduces law enforcement supervisors to the four key pillars of procedural justice – 1) fairness in processes, 2) transparency in actions, 3) opportunity for voice, and 4) impartiality in decision making – and provides practical steps for application throughout the department.
Recently endorsed by the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing and long-embraced by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Office, the philosophy of procedural justice aims at the core of a law enforcement organization’s culture and provides a structure for positive continuous organizational transformation. Research indicates that efforts to ensure a procedurally just environment within the organization helps officers embrace these same principles as they interact with the public.
The Reading Police Department sees this training as an opportunity to identify and implement best practices in law enforcement which will continue to strengthen trust among its officers and the community of Reading.
