ABSTRACT
Our analysis in the book has thus far provided empirical support for the idea that day-to-day aspects of neighbourhood social order are important in understanding individual-level and neighbourhood-level heterogeneity in public trust and police legitimacy. It matters where people live. Individuals who live in orderly areas, in areas that have a sense of shared values and a sense that local people can (and will) act upon those values to regulate behaviour and enforce social norms, also tend to believe that the police are trustworthy, and also tend to believe that the police are a legitimate authority. It is as if people evaluate the strength of formal social control mechanisms from the strength of informal social control mechanisms (Jackson and Sunshine 2007). Trust and legitimacy may emerge partly as the result of the strength of social control mechanisms. A sense that the community is able to protect itself against disruptive social behaviour may generate a sense that the police impose their authority and legitimacy on the community. A crucial justification for police power may be effective social regulation, and people seem to feel a loss of moral alignment or identification when the police are seen to be failing to impose themselves as a source of moral authority and discipline.
