Police self-legitimacy, use of force, and pro-organizational behavior in Slovenia

Abstract

Previous empirical analysis of police legitimacy had focused mainly on legitimacy as perceived by people over whom police exercise power (e.g., offenders, victims, and the general population). We know relatively little about police officers' sense of their own legitimacy, what predicts such self–legitimacy, and the consequences of self–legitimacy for behavior and decision choices officers make. This chapter draws on survey data from police officers in Slovenia to explore these issues. Officers with a greater sense of self–legitimacy were officers who received fair treatment from their supervisors, had good interpersonal relations with colleagues, and who believed the recognized them as legitimate. Self–legitimacy, in turn, was found to predict the decision of officers to choose verbal warning rather than threat of physical force to take control of situations. It was associated with a greater likelihood to engage in pro–organizational behavior. The quality of interpersonal relations with colleagues was the strongest predicted of pro–organizational behavior but not decision to use force.