Mehmet Ali TEKİNER
Cem KAYABAŞI
The concepts of police legitimacy and cooperation with the police have frequently been used in the last two decades. Whether citizens' perceptions of cooperation with the police and police legitimacy change according to their demographic variables such as gender, age, and income level has been investigated in many studies. However, the results obtained are not consistent and vary. In this study, the data of the research carried out within the scope of the doctoral dissertation thesis conducted with the quantitative research method, scanning type and survey technique with the participation of 1000 citizens in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in 2017 have been used. The survey was applied in the capital and all districts of TRNC, using quota and convenience sampling techniques according to population rates. Whether there are differences between the accepted perception levels of the participants regarding the factors of police legitimacy and police cooperation has been measured according to Tankebe's approach, as regards gender, age group, marital status, education level and monthly income demographic variables. According to Tankebe's approach, police legitimacy consists of procedural justice, fairness in distribution, legitimacy and efficiency factors. The research results show that citizens in the age group 65 and over are less willing to cooperate with the police than those in the 25 - 34 age group. It is observed that willingness to cooperate with the police does not differ significantly according to other demographic factors. Compared to citizens in other groups, primary school graduates and those with an income of 2500 TL or less are found out to have more positive views on procedural justice, fairness, efficiency and legality of the police, which are factors of police legitimacy. No significant difference is detected between the participants' views on the factors of police legitimacy according to gender, age group and marital status.
Keywords: Police Legitimacy, Cooperation with Police, Legitimacy Factors, Demographic Factors, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus