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.