The Effect of Legitimacy Training on Audience Legitimacy

The final element of the legitimacy puzzle associated with this research undertaking consisted of a field test of trained and untrained counterterrorism officers during interactions with terrorist suspects. Across nearly all dimensions, questions, and statements, suspects exposed to trained officers perceived the experience as more professional, just, and fair. The differences are strong and significant between treatment and control conditions. The evidence illustrates that the training, whilst having no significant effects on officer self-legitimacy, nevertheless stimulated the willingness amongst experienced officers to adopt modified behaviours, and the style of policing delivered during interactions with suspects improved their perceptions of the legitimacy of policing, as well as perceptions of confidence and respect for officers. The findings further demonstrate that, despite the challenging and intense situational context, trained officers have also caused an increase in the public perception of the effectiveness of counterterrorism measures. Encountering trained officers, despite the involuntary nature of the interaction, still profoundly influenced perceptions and interpretations of police effectiveness in counterterrorism amongst suspect groups. Finally, the differences between treatment and control participants are discussed in terms of their willingness to report a crime and help the police in counterterrorism matters. Whilst there was no opportunity to test police cooperation, the trial has at least been able to show improvements in the willingness to act upon the tested reflections. Treatment participants expressed a greater willingness to report to the police various terrorism-related activities, including extremism and threats to national security. Taken within the context of the experiment, the ‘target’ populations of ‘no suspicion’ Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act of 2000 stop and examination powers, who are more likely to experience these involuntary and invasive procedures, these results are encouraging.