Abstract

The just behaviour of police officers in their interactions with citizens has been demonstrated as an antecedent of police legitimacy in Western democracies and beyond. As this paradigm gains prominence, the implementation of procedural justice interventions should be examined in order to better focus policy efforts in varied contexts. This article draws on a study of training in the Israeli Border Police to propose four factors that may influence the efficacy of procedural justice interventions in deeply divided societies: the perceptions of police officers regarding the minority group as deserving a relationship based on legitimacy; the depth of the existing deficit in legitimacy within that group; the paramilitary attributes of the police organisation; and high policing tasks, specifically protests, as discouraging dialogue. Highlighting these factors is of value to the successful delivery of interventions and advances understanding of police legitimacy in different contexts.