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Enhancing Police Legitimacy

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  • Tom R. Tyler

Abstract

This article makes three points. First, the police need public support and cooperation to be effective in their order-maintenance role, and they particularly benefit when they have the voluntary support and cooperation of most members of the public, most of the time. Second, such voluntary support and cooperation is linked to judgments about the legitimacy of the police. A central reason people cooperate with the police is that they view them as legitimate legal authorities, entitled to be obeyed. Third, a key antecedent of public judgments about the legitimacy of the police and of policing activities involves public assessments of the manner in which the police exercise their authority. Such procedural-justice judgments are central to public evaluations of the police and influence such evaluations separately from assessments of police effectiveness in fighting crime. These findings suggest the importance of enhancing public views about the legitimacy of the police and suggest process-based strategies for achieving that objective.

Suggested Citation

  • Tom R. Tyler, 2004. "Enhancing Police Legitimacy," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 593(1), pages 84-99, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:593:y:2004:i:1:p:84-99
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716203262627
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tom R. Tyler, 1997. "Procedural Fairness and Compliance with the Law," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 133(II), pages 219-240, June.
    2. Merelman, Richard M., 1966. "Learning and Legitimacy1," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(3), pages 548-561, September.
    3. Easton, David, 1975. "A Re-assessment of the Concept of Political Support," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(4), pages 435-457, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Crifasi, Cassandra K. & Williams, Rebecca G. & Booty, Marisa D. & Owens-Young, Jessica L. & Webster, Daniel W. & Buggs, Shani A.L., 2022. "Community perspectives on gun violence and safety: The role of policing in Baltimore City," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    2. Avital Mentovich & Guy Ben‐Porat & Natalie Levy & Phillip A. Goff & Tom Tyler, 2020. "Policing alienated minorities in divided cities," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(3), pages 531-550, July.
    3. Thomas J. Holt, 2018. "Regulating Cybercrime through Law Enforcement and Industry Mechanisms," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 679(1), pages 140-157, September.
    4. Teresa Greiwe & Ardavan Khoshnood, 2022. "Do We Mistake Fiction for Fact? Investigating Whether the Consumption of Fictional Crime-Related Media May Help to Explain the Criminal Profiling Illusion," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, April.
    5. Weerawardhana K.G.S.D & Wijewardhana B.V.N, 2024. "Community-Oriented Policing: A Theoretical Exploration and its Implications for Building Safer Communities," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(2), pages 15-21, February.

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