Police Legitimacy in Ethnic–Racially and Economically Stratified Democracies

Abstract

The issue of police legitimacy has increasingly occupied the attention of criminologists in the new millennium. Yet the study of police legitimacy is not without some controversies. This article provides a critical examination of some of the key themes emerging from the scientific literature on police legitimacy, specifically confidence in the police and procedural justice. In doing so, it juxtaposes democratic policing theory to the study of police legitimacy. Among other things, it is posited that the issue of race/ethnicity remains understudied in criminological research in both Canada and the United States. This is particularly true with respect to differential treatment within the criminal justice system across race/ethnic groups. One of the hallmarks of democratic policing is its even-handedness and the fairness of law enforcement interventions. The root cause of ethnic–racial animosity must be explained if we want to understand police legitimacy fully in a society that has formally adopted a multicultural identity. It is concluded that police legitimacy should be understood within the tension between the tall order of democratic principles and the reality of social and ethnic–racial stratification.