Determinants of Citizens’ Willingness to Cooperate with the Police: The Role of Legal Cynicism, Power Distance, and Self-Efficacy

This study investigates citizens' willingness to cooperate with the police in person and through existing digital technology by examining several influencing factors. Prior studies have documented the relationship between police legitimacy, fear of victimization, and police cooperation. Police legitimacy reflects citizens' belief in the fairness and effectiveness of law enforcement, which in turn shapes their willingness to cooperate during encounters and report crimes or suspicious activities. Fear of victimization can either motivate or inhibit interaction with the police. However, scant research explored the influence of other factors that may contribute to police cooperation. Chief among them is legal cynicism which refers to perceptions of the law and its enforcers as illegitimate and ineffective, a skepticism which may decrease collaboration. Two other key factors in explaining citizens’ willingness to cooperate are power distance, which reflects beliefs about the degree to which hierarchical and nondemocratic procedures for governance are acceptable, and political self-efficacy, which is the confidence in one's political knowledge and ability to influence outcomes. In this study, controlling for the role of political legitimacy and fear of victimization, we explore the impact of other factors, such as legal cynicism, political self-efficacy, and power distance the citizens' willingness to assist the police in both traditional and digital contexts. Data for the study comes from a survey of 570 university students in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. The study discusses policy implications for fostering police-community relations and enhancing effective security coproduction strategies in the new digital age.