Common use of Trustworthiness Clause in Contracts

Trustworthiness. People react favorably when they believe the police are benevolent, caring, and sincerely trying to do what is best.* Legitimacy flows from procedural justice. When community members feel that the police are treating them in a procedurally just manner, they are more likely to view the police as a legitimate authority and a trusted partner. When that happens, residents are more inclined to accept and follow police directions and also to assist and partner with the police in community policing and problem-solving efforts. That is why the dual concepts of procedural justice and legitimacy are so fundamental to the practice of community policing. “In essence, legitimacy and procedural justice are measurements of the extent to which members of the public trust and have confidence in the police, believe that the police are honest and competent, think that the police treat people fairly and with respect, and are willing to defer to the law and to police authority.”† Community members make their own judgments about whether officers’ actions, including their uses of force, are “legitimate.” Police agencies must understand and acknowledge these judgments, because the success of an agency depends in large part on the public’s willingness to cooperate and work with the police. These principles should be evident in policy, department systems and processes, and training. It is important that agencies ensure their policies and training are consistent with one another and that both are reinforced in daily practice. This is especially important with regard to police encounters with persons with behavioral health issues and police use of force. Ideally, policies will include language that enables the department to create indicators and mechanisms for assessing community policing performance. Personnel evaluations, for example, should be based on the community policing activities that are expected of an officer. First-line supervisors should establish clear expectations for community interactions and problem solving on a daily basis. Officer performance measurement systems should include indicators of activities that support community policing such as the time an officer spends working with community members to remedy a problem that facilitates crime or that detracts from quality of life in a neighborhood. A useful resource when exploring policy and procedure changes is the community oriented policing checklist. Two leading researchers in the field of community policing developed a checklist to assist departments in gauging progress and effectiveness of community policing initiatives. The checklist includes questions related to values and mission, ethics, management and top command, the role of line officers, information management, and more. This checklist can be used as a point of reference to gauge current actions and as ideas for additional efforts.‡ * ▇▇▇ ▇. ▇▇▇▇▇, “Enhancing Police Legitimacy,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 593, no. 1 (May 2004), 84–99, doi: 10.1177/0002716203262627.