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Satisfaction with the Police in Chile: The Importance of Legitimacy and Fair Treatment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 December 2021

Lucía Dammert Open the ORCID record for Lucía Dammert [Opens in a new window] ,
Felipe Elorrieta Open the ORCID record for Felipe Elorrieta [Opens in a new window]  and
Erik Alda Open the ORCID record for Erik Alda [Opens in a new window]
Lucía Dammert
Affiliation:
Lucía Dammert is a professor of international relations at the Universidad de Santiago, Santiago, Chile. lucia.dammert@usach.cl
Felipe Elorrieta
Affiliation:
Felipe Elorrieta is an assistant professor of mathematics and computer science, Universidad de Santiago, Santiago, Chile. felipe.elorrieta@usach.cl
Erik Alda
Affiliation:
Erik Alda is an assistant professor of criminal justice at Marymount University, Arlington, VA, USA. ealda@mary-mount.edu
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Abstract

This study addresses a void in the literature on public attitudes toward police in Latin America. It integrates three theoretical models of the determinants of citizen satisfaction with police work in Chile: demographic, quality of life in the neighborhood, and experiential. The study tested the integrated model using a novel random sample of 996 individuals living in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago. The results underscore the importance of legitimacy centered on fair treatment, respect for human rights, and the perception that the police represent society. The findings are also significant for the Chilean institutional political process and for the Latin American police reform debate.

Keywords

Public satisfactionpolicelegitimacyprocedural justice
Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 63 , Issue 4 , November 2021 , pp. 124 - 145
Copyright
© The Authors 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the University of Miami

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Footnotes

Conflict of interest: Authors Lucía Dammert, Felipe Elorrieta, and Erik Alda declare no conflicts of interest.

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