Promoting trust and police legitimacy in African Australian communities: A critical reflection on community engagement strategies and practical recommendations for police
| Author | Mohammed M. Ali,Stephane Shepherd,Berhan M. Ahmed (Shiday) |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14613557221145593 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Original Research Articles |
Promoting trust and police legitimacy in
African Australian communities: A critical
reflection on community engagement
strategies and practical recommendations
for police
Mohammed M. Ali
Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University, Australia
Stephane Shepherd
Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology and
Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health, Australia
Berhan M. Ahmed (Shiday)
Faculty of Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia
Abstract
Community engagement strategies intended to build trust and legitimacy are used widely by police agencies. Available
research on the utility of these strategies shows mixed results and police have been criticised for adopting a ‘one-size
fits all’mentality when employing these strategies across minority groups. Yet, community engagement strategies remain
a preferred tool for police seeking to improve their relations with minority groups. This article unpacks police–commu-
nity engagement as a tool for promoting trust and legitimacy among African Australians. The first half of the article pro-
vides an overview of community engagement strategies and presents an engagement typology that is used to assesses
critically the strengths and limitations of key strategies used by police vis-à-vis trust and legitimacy. The second half of
the article canvasses the relationship between African Australian communities and the police, and draws attention to
sociocultural factors that must be considered by police when developing and implementing engagement initiatives. The
article concludes with several recommendations for police including the need to prioritise the needs of the community
over intelligence gathering by embedding employment and education ser vices into engagement initiatives.
Keywords
Community engagement, African Australian, police, community policing, police–community relations
Submitted 28 May 2022, Revise received 21 Sep 2022, accepted 27 Oct 2022
Introduction
Building trust and legitimacy among citizens is crucial for
police agencies. When people trust the police and view
them as legitimate they are more willing to cooperate
with police, report crimes and their own victimisation
Corresponding author:
Mohammed M. Ali, Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University,
176 Messines Ridge Road, Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, QLD, 4122, Australia.
Email: mohammed.ali@griffith.edu.au
Original Research Article
International Journal of
Police Science & Management
2023, Vol. 25(1) 116–130
© The Author(s) 2023
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DOI: 10.1177/14613557221145593
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