Hotspots of Police Legitimacy

• In Event: Crime and Place: Police at the Micro Level

Abstract

Evidence on police legitimacy suggests that negative attitudes toward police can reduce overall engagement with police as well as willingness to cooperate with police. It has often been found that attitudes toward police are less positive in communities with higher rates of crime. However, we do not have a good understanding of how police attitudes vary among smaller micro places. Using data from a randomized controlled experiment, this study seeks to examine and compare attitudes and police legitimacy in both crime hot spots and non-crime hot spots in a large suburban county.

Authors

• Julie Hibdon, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

• Cynthia Lum, George Mason University