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Seminar paper from the year 2022 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2,0, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel (Englisches Seminar), course: Seminar, language: English, abstract: This paper examines the public image of the police and two exemplary cases of police violence that raise the question of the extent to which such incidents undermine public trust in the police and the judiciary.
The police are an institution that plays a central role in society, as they are responsible for maintaining public safety and condemning injustice. This also includes crime investigation and prevention, for which police officers may also use force.
This results in a high responsibility for the police towards the population, which is, however, strongly dependent on the opinion of the citizens. The reason for this is that the police receive their legitimacy in particular through the consent of the population, just as is the case for institutions in democratic societies. Since it is not enough in democracies for the police to do their job effectively, the consent of the population is a decisive factor for the legitimacy of the police. It is important that the majority of the population believes that the police do their job in an acceptable manner. Thus, the opinion and trust of the population in the police are the central basis for a functioning relationship between society and the police on an equal footing.
