Understanding Fairness, Equality, and Police Legitimacy

Abstract

For decades, research on minority predisposition to comply or cooperate with the police has evolved, as citizens' encounter and experiences with the police can affect their sense of self-belonging in societies. However, less attention has been given to the issues of police act and behaviour in accordance with the laid down principles of policing in their interaction with citizens. For instance, some of the difficulties of the police in fostering its' legitimacy are the events in Totteham, London in the UK in 2011, and the USA in 2014, 2015 and 2016. This introduction analyses how the police engage with minorities and treat them fairly in order to improve their legitimacy and how violence, brutality and racial profiling has been utilized in police practices. The result revealed a perceived unjust policing and a high level of violence across many societies in the world. Finally, we have tried in this book to identify how police, courts and the penal system officials can improve and facilitate a fair, equal and understanding in their practices in general towards minorities.