Accountability and transparency as levers to promote public trust and police legitimacy: findings from a natural experiment
Policing: An International Journal
ISSN: 1363-951X
Article publication date: 4 August 2021
Issue publication date: 22 October 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing's recommendation that police promote trust and legitimacy by creating a culture of transparency and accountability.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a panel survey of 841 Chicago residents that was interrupted between the waves by a momentous local policing event that proved to be known to virtually every participant. The reinterview period encompassed this event, its political repercussions and subsequent efforts to hold Chicago Police accountable and increase transparency. The authors examine whether these events and reform efforts improved African Americans' assessments of police legitimacy and trust relative to other respondents.
Findings
Trust in Chicago Police improved by 21%, and trust in neighborhood police increased 30% among Black residents. In contrast, views of Whites became more negative, declining by 62% in their assessments about Chicago Police and by 39% regarding neighborhood police.
Originality/value
Events occurring between the waves of a panel survey created an opportunity to examine the impact of events on residents of a large and diverse city. The authors discuss why reforms promoting transparency and police accountability can alter levels of trust in the police but in different and politically consequential ways.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding was provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Citation
Kochel, T.R. and Skogan, W.G. (2021), "Accountability and transparency as levers to promote public trust and police legitimacy: findings from a natural experiment", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 44 No. 6, pp. 1046-1059. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-04-2021-0062
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited