The expert citizen: The key to future police legitimacy?

At a time when police agencies across the western world are struggling to maintain an effective service and also support and retain legitimacy within communities, important questions have been asked as to how this is to be achieved. The changes imposed upon police agencies in the UK, for example, mean that there could be a reduction in the number of front-line uniform officers and a lack of ‘engagement’ with ordinary members of the community which ultimately may have an impact upon the legitimacy of the police with the communities they service. This in turn may actually affect the very nature of the
democratic policing model alleged to exist in England and Wales. This article explores one way in which it is envisaged this legitimacy may be upheld, by use of the expert citizen. This concept is critically explored within the framework of police legitimacy and the democratic policing model, which manifests itself in England and Wales through the idea of community policing and neighbourhood policing teams.