An Integrative Assessment of Normative Expectations, Treatment Outcome, Procedural Justice, and Public Satisfaction with the Police

Although there is a heterogeneous determinant of satisfaction with the police, this current study adopts a position in which normative expectations of the police, process-based factors, and treatment outcome are assessed as predictors of satisfaction with the police. Specifically, this study points to the relevance of public satisfaction with the police in a context where order maintenance is achieved through coercion and a general disregard for the rule of law. It is argued that in contexts where order maintenance is achieved through non-normative methods, citizens may not believe in the morality of the law and may likely not be satisfied with the police. The results for this study confirmed this assertion, demonstrating that age, normative expectations, treatment outcome, and perceptions of procedural justice can shape satisfaction with police. This means that the public is concerned not only with what the police do, but how they do their work and treat citizens during encounters. The results also have implications for the way citizens expect the police to behave and to maintain social order in the community.