In their own voices: an examination of substantive justice on satisfaction with the police

Substantive justice in policing focuses on the fairness of citizen-police encounter outcomes. Yet, much remains unknown about how substantive justice affects satisfaction with the police. This study provides the first quantitative examination of how substantive justice shapes public satisfaction with the police. The findings not only affirm the importance of substantive justice as the most influential factor in citizen satisfaction with the police but also uncover an additional dimension: substantive justice serves as a key mechanism underlying the differential levels of satisfaction with the police reported by Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. It is concluded that Indigenous people’s lower satisfaction reflects not only their marginalised social position but also persistent differential treatment by some police officers. This pattern of unequal treatment, resulting from what is termed the residual effect of “rotten apples,” warrants further investigation in other social and institutional contexts.