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Real Policing: An Exploration In Police Legitimacy

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Abstract

The police require legitimacy in order to function. It is argued that this legitimacy can be attained through procedural justice; that is, fairness. An ethnographic study of street-level policing was undertaken to explore this idea. From this study issues embedded in policing emerged (discretion, threat, and cynicism). Broader issues also emerged. For example, officers function as street-level bureaucrats. However, officers suffer from extreme stress and suicide. Also, officers feel they handle society’s “dirty work.” In employing procedural justice, officers do not usually impose their will on citizens. Rather, they negotiate an acceptable outcome in most situations. However, outside influences impinge on the police.

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Notes

  1. The researcher collected this data while serving as a part-time police officer. The researcher observed, or was involved in, all of these incidents. Therefore, one might say that this is a study of “real policing.”

  2. The author was not present when the incident occurred. However, afterwards, the author discussed it with those who were involved. It is described below.

  3. Much of the police literature focuses on “police culture.” The author, who was originally trained as an anthropologist, finds such a notion to be wrong-headed. Police researchers, who are trained social scientists, should know better. Culture can be defined as the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, and customs acquired by member of a society. Or, simply, the lifeway of a people (Voget 1973, p. 2-3; Durbin 1973, p. 449). The Inuit (Eskimo) of the Arctic, are a culture or a people. The Zulu of southern Africa, are a culture or a people. The Gururumba of New Guinea, are a culture or a people. The police, however, are not a culture or a people. Rather, they are a subculture of American (U.S.) society.

  4. Early in his career, an officer was in a quandary about when to issue traffic citations for speeding. He asked his training officer for advice. The training officer said: “If they are going 5 miles over the limit, I usually give them a pass. If they are 10 miles over the limit, I listen to their story. If they are 15 miles over, I write everybody.”.

    “I like that,” the officer said, “it’s fair.”.

  5. Van Maanen (1978) quotes one officer as saying that his job consists of “asshole control.”.

  6. Van Maanen (1978) describes patrol officers as “clerks in a patrol car.” They deal with an “infinite set of activities.” This includes dog catching, first-aid, assisting elderly citizens, breaking up family fights, finding lost children, directing traffic, and pursuing fleeing felons. In interacting with civilians, officers place people into three categories:

    • “suspicious persons” (who may have committed serious offenses);

    • “know nothings” (in Belleville, these people were derisively called, “citizens”);

    • “assholes” (those people who defy police authority).

  7. These are the officer’s words, but the author’s acronym (Klein 2006, p. 152).

  8. Critics of the police, including the author, point out that from 2014 until 2023, police officers killed between 1,000 and 1,250 persons per year. However, this is in response to an estimated 240 million calls (NENA 2023; The Washington Post 2019; Mapping Police Violence 2023; Klein 2019, 2023).

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The author received no funding for this research or the publication of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oakton Community College, Des Plaines, Illinois, USA

    George Charles Klein

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  1. George Charles Klein
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Correspondence to George Charles Klein.

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This research was conducted while the author served as a police officer. Therefore, informed consent is not applicable.

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Klein, G.C. Real Policing: An Exploration In Police Legitimacy. J Police Crim Psych (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-024-09676-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-024-09676-9

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