FSS-DSOC Seminar: “Police and Mentally Ill Persons: The Role as Guardians”, by Prof. Liqun CAO

This research advances a critical theory of police legitimacy in ethnically, racially, and economically stratified democracies such as Canada. Although police legitimacy has attracted growing attention in criminology, it remains a contested concept. This article critically examines key themes in the literature—particularly confidence in the police and procedural justice—while juxtaposing them with democratic policing theory. It argues that race and ethnicity remain understudied in both U.S. and Canadian research, especially regarding differential treatment within the criminal justice system. Because even-handedness and fairness are central to democratic policing, explaining the roots of racial and ethnic tensions is essential to understanding legitimacy. Ultimately, police legitimacy is best understood as arising from the tension between democratic ideals and the realities of social and racial stratification, and policing by contestation is a more feasible model.

Professor Cao Liqun is an internationally renowned criminologist and currently holds the position of Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Criminology at Ontario Tech University in Canada. He received his PhD in Sociology from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio in 1993. Before joining Ontario Tech University, he held positions in the United States at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti and Salem State University in Massachusetts. His research essays have appeared in many top national and international journals, including Criminology, Journal of Criminal Justice, Justice Quarterly, Policing, Social Problems, and Social Forces.