ABSTRACT
This book is about the bond between the police and the public. Why do people trust the police? Why do they grant legitimacy to officers and the institution? Why do they cooperate with the police and criminal courts? These are important questions because they speak to the vital nature of policing by consent. First, the public deserve and desire a police force that is legitimate, just, effective and restrained in its use of power. Second, the police depend upon trust, legitimacy and the cooperation of the public to function in an effective and fair manner. Third, contacts between police and public – for example through stop-and-search – have the potential to catastrophically damage people’s trust in police, thus eroding the legitimacy of the law and the right of legal authorities to command common support.
