The British police service has notoriously been subjected to allegations of corruption and miscarriages of justice: allegations that would undoubtedly ruin their reputation as a legitimate service that maintains authority over everyone. Taking this into account, it calls into question why should society obey the police (Tankebe 2012). Ultimately, if legitimacy is a product of how the police treat the public, and how they make their decisions when they are exercising their regulatory authority (Tyler 2011), but reports suggest that the police are often guilty of treating individuals unfairly and unjust; then it would be fair to suggest that the police have no legitimacy. With this in mind, Harkin (2015) argues that the purpose of police legitimacy
…show more content…
Research claims, the loss of legitimacy can damage the relationship between the public and the police and the level of cooperation that the public provide for the police (Home office 2000). Furthermore, when the relationship between the public and police is fragile, then the self-legitimacy of the police may be undermined (Bradford and Quinton 2014); as successful policing is reliant on how the public support police duties (Tyler 2011). Without a relationship, police work would become rife with further difficulties; which ultimately can dampen the authority of the police as a law enforcement …show more content…
Thus, unsurprisingly, Murphy and Cherney (2012) found that often ethnic miniorities fail to believe that the police are legitimate because the laws they enforce, are often directed at these ethnic minorities. Jackson and Bradford (2009) identify that for ethnic minorities the police represent oppression, unfair priorities of a dominant social order and an interfering state. As often individuals deemed as part of the respectable society, call for policing responses to focus on low level disorder, and thus, are as a result calling for attention to be focussed on these specific ethnic groups (Taylor 1999; Jackson and Bradford 2014). In these cases, the police’s attempt to implement the full enforcement of the law can fail to increase the legitimacy of the police (Harkin 2015), such as the practice of thorough stop and searches in Brixton. However, importantly, this does not affect the authority the police have to enforce these
Research claims, the loss of legitimacy can damage the relationship between the public and the police and the level of cooperation that the public provide for the police (Home office 2000). Furthermore, when the relationship between the public and police is fragile, then the self-legitimacy of the police may be undermined (Bradford and Quinton 2014); as successful policing is reliant on how the public support police duties (Tyler 2011). Without a relationship, police work would become rife with further difficulties; which ultimately can dampen the authority of the police as a law enforcement …show more content…
Thus, unsurprisingly, Murphy and Cherney (2012) found that often ethnic miniorities fail to believe that the police are legitimate because the laws they enforce, are often directed at these ethnic minorities. Jackson and Bradford (2009) identify that for ethnic minorities the police represent oppression, unfair priorities of a dominant social order and an interfering state. As often individuals deemed as part of the respectable society, call for policing responses to focus on low level disorder, and thus, are as a result calling for attention to be focussed on these specific ethnic groups (Taylor 1999; Jackson and Bradford 2014). In these cases, the police’s attempt to implement the full enforcement of the law can fail to increase the legitimacy of the police (Harkin 2015), such as the practice of thorough stop and searches in Brixton. However, importantly, this does not affect the authority the police have to enforce these