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| 1 |
ID:
180654
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| Summary/Abstract |
How can one encourage greater public cooperation with police forces and improve their legitimacy during times of protracted conflict and fragile governance? Can police militarization play a role in improving public perceptions toward law enforcement in these contexts? The prevailing perception is that police militarization undermines public opinion toward the police. Yet, there has been little empirical evaluation of the impact that militarization has on public attitudes in conflict-affected regions. Relying on original survey data collected in the city of Kismaayo, Somalia, this study examines the impact that perceived police militarization has on public perceptions toward a newly introduced police force operating in a region with an active insurgent-terrorist threat. Results of regression analysis and qualitative field interviews suggest that militarization can actually improve residents’ willingness to cooperate with the police, as well as perceptions of police legitimacy. The perceived militarization of this nascent police force conveys a level of preparedness and professionalism to residents exposed to decades of conflict.
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| 2 |
ID:
188441
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article examines frontline officers’ experiences with community policing and how these experiences shape their attitudes toward different security actors engaged in counterterror activities in a region experiencing protracted conflict (i.e., Kismaayo, Somalia). Relying on path dependency theory and an original and new dataset, the current study finds that officers with experience with the organizational adaptation dimension of community policing are less likely to believe that militarized forces with offensive functions are suited to respond to terrorism, while experience with the community engagement dimension makes officers less likely to believe an armed intelligence force with an informant cultivation mandate is suited for countering terrorism. These findings expand the scholarly understanding of community policing and counterterrorism by focusing on officers’ actual experiences with different dimensions of community policing and how these experiences shape frontline officers’ attitudes in a region dealing with prolonged warfare, an active terrorist threat, and a plurality of forces.
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