Policing Tactics and Perceptions of Police Legitimacy

Abstract

Community policing has aimed to restore the legitimacy of the police. Not only must the police have legitimacy to win public cooperation, but also a legitimate police institution fosters more widespread obedience of the law itself. Research indicates that community policing can improve citizen perceptions of the police. However, does community policing improve citizen perceptions of the police or is this improvement simply due to increased police visibility? Survey data from 1,347 residents from 41 South Carolina neighborhoods are used to determine whether policing tactics commonly associated with community policing influence resident perceptions of the police. Regression analysis indicates that police visibility results in improved resident perceptions.

Policing Diversity: Examining Police Resistance to Training Reforms for Transgender People in Australia

“…This idea is also supported by Hawdon et al, (2003) who state that frequent contact between police and minority groups will also increase minority group member's positive perceptions of police officers. Under SIT, intergroup contact may improve perceptions between in-groups and out-groups, since the hierarchical nature of where a group sits on a social structure (based on contact and experience) is an essential element in the development of a person's social identity.…”

Procedural Justice and Order Maintenance Policing: A Study of Inner‐City Young Men’s Perceptions of Police Legitimacy

“…Most have relied upon survey research or official crime data and have typically focused on adult citizens' general perceptions of disorder, crime, and fear (Bennett, 1991;Braga et al, 1999;Hawdon, Ryan, & Griffin, 2003;Katz, Webb, & Schaefer, 2001;Novak, Harman, Holsinger, & Turner, 1999;Sampson & Cohen, 1988). Quantitative data derived from adult samples, however, capture only a thin cross-section of society and overlook those who may be the very ones who have the most to say about the effectiveness and collateral consequences of order maintenance policing.…”

Untitled

“…"), and respectfulness ("Are the police respectful and fair in their interactions with residents?"). Conceptually, the former two aspects are consistent with Tyler's outcome-based dimension, and the latter two are aligned with procedural-based dimension (Hawdon et al, 2003).…”