The third in the Northern Research Police of Autumn 2023.

Presenter: Rannveig Þórisdóttir, Division manager, National Commissioner, rannveig@logreglan.is

Chair: Guðmundur Ævar Oddsson, goddsson@unak.is

This seminar will report the first findings of a research on police legitimacy in Iceland and how ideas of legitimacy are different between different social groups. Icelandic society has undergone significant changes in recent decades that have made the society more diverse and multinational. The interaction between the police and society is therefore becoming more and more complicated, as the police are entrusted with wider powers than other institutions of society, but at the same time various requirements are made on their services. The police therefore must constantly claim their mandate in order to govern and ensure the recognition of those who are ruled. The police also needs to be very aware of how the importance of this relationship, as the legitimacy of the police is one of the bases for the police to be able to fulfil their role. These results are part of is a part of a bigger project on factors that influence how attitudes towards police legitimacy are shaped and what influences this process.

Rannveig Thorisdottir is a division manager at the National Police Commissioner of Iceland amongst other in charge of IT, statistical analysis and research. She is also an adjunct at the University of Iceland. Rannveig holds a MA in Sociology for the University of Iceland and is currently a PhD student in Sociology at the University of Iceland focusing on Police Legitimacy. Her research focus has mainly been on victimization surveys, for example trust in the police, fear of crime and protective measures. She has also worked with official data, mostly police data and has taken part in the European sourcebook publication. Most of her work has been in the field of criminology publishing in journals such as Nordisk Samarbeidsråd for Kriminologi, and YOUNG.