Police reform and the problem of trust

TLDR

Police reform is common in developing and post‑authoritarian countries, yet the lack of public trust makes policing by consent difficult and endangers public safety. The study investigates how the absence of public trust in police shapes reform efforts and explores strategies for building trustworthy police forces. The authors analyze trust in policing by linking it to governance, examining structural and performance factors, and considering both process and substantive improvements, while also addressing how to institutionalize distrust. The article concludes that trust‑building is constrained by the broader environment and the necessity of trusting the tools employed to foster trust.

Abstract

Police reform is widely undertaken in developing and post-authoritarian countries. The starting point for analysis of this phenomenon, it is suggested, is the absence of public trust in police that characterizes police-community relations in these countries. Without public trust in police, ‘policing by consent’ is difficult or impossible and public safety suffers. The nature of trust is examined in general terms and related to the problem of trust in governance. Then, the problematic nature of trust of the police is considered; structural features as well as performance aspects are invoked to explain distrust of police. In the penultimate section, the question of how to build trustworthy police forces is examined in the light of what has been learnt about the difficulties of maintaining or establishing trust in police. Process as well as substantive improvements each play a role here. In addition to building trust, ways of institutionalizing distrust are needed. The article concludes by pointing to some inherent limits or constraints upon trust-building, including the impact of the wider environment in which policing occurs, and the need to trust the tools we use for building trust.