Police Legitimacy Paper

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Police legitimacy is defined as obligation to obey and moral alignment (Crawford, Huckleby, Rutledge, 2010). How does the public perceive the police? Do they trust the police? How much power should they have? Perceptions of police legitimacy are shaped by whether police are seen as exercising their authority fairly and lawfully (Tyler, 2010). Traditionally, police think about crime fighting strategies in terms of whether or not the strategies are legal and if they successfully reduce crime (Kennedy, 2011). Therefore, damaged legitimacy could make policing more difficult for law enforcement. Treating a community as if it is the problem is not only an inefficient use of police resources, it also loses the goodwill of the community. Police should …show more content…

Her most recent interaction was a week prior to the interview. “My friend had to file a police report. She called the police to ask about what she needed to do. We went down to the police department. A cop was there that greeted us and he was friendly. He had to dispatch another cop to take down the report. We waited for about 10 minutes. The cop who took the report was very nice and helpful. He gave her helpful tips.” The positive experience for Erica of course left her with a positive perception of the police. “I was actually very surprised and very satisfied. A lot of times officers can be rude, but these cops were very nice. It made me surprise to know that there are cops out there that are actually nice and patient.” I noticed Erica’s perception of municipal cops were favorable when I asked if the municipal police are best able to decide how to deal with crime where she lived. She agreed with the …show more content…

All of the participants reacted in a negative way when they didn’t agree with the cop. Angel agreed with the statement about disobeying the police being seldom justified. This is shown through her actions when she fled from the cops. The other participants’ demeanor wasn’t extreme. They rolled their eyes, but they still obeyed the cops. The participants agreed that they should accept the decision made by municipal police, even when they think they are wrong. The similarities with their demeanor towards police show that they would accept the decisions made by municipal

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