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6 Ohio St. J. Crim. L. 231 (2008-2009)
Legitimacy and Cooperation: Why Do People Help the Police Fight Crime in Their Communities

handle is hein.journals/osjcl6 and id is 233 raw text is: Legitimacy and Cooperation:
Why Do People Help the Police Fight
Crime in Their Communities?t
Tom R. Tyler* and Jeffrey Fagan**
Past research indicates that legitimacy encourages compliance with
the law. This study extends consideration of the influence of legitimacy
by exploring its impact on cooperation with the police and with
neighbors to combat crime in one's community. It uses a panel study
design and focuses upon the residents of New York City. The study finds
that legitimacy shapes cooperation with the police and has a lesser
influence on cooperation with others in the community. Consistent with
the findings of prior research, legitimacy itself is found to be linked to
the justice of the procedures used by the police to exercise their
authority.  Finally, the study explores the influence of personal
experience with the police on legitimacy and cooperation. Results
suggest that experiencing procedural justice during     a personal
experience increases legitimacy, irrespective of the favorability of the
outcome. These results suggest that the police can generally enhance
their legitimacy by using fair procedures.
I Generous support for this research was provided by Grant 98-VF-GX-0005 from the
National Institute of Justice and Grant SES-0240938 from the National Science Foundation. All
opinions are those of the authors and do not reflect the views or positions of the Department of
Justice or the National Science Foundation. Vivian Wang provided excellent research assistance.
° University Professor, Department of Psychology and School of Law, New York University.
Professor of Law and Public Health, Columbia University; Director, Center on Crime,
Community and Law, Columbia Law School.

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