Video Drives Enforcement Legitimacy

When cellphone or police‑camera footage of an enforcement action becomes widely seen, public legitimacy for that agency can shift rapidly and decisively, changing support for structural reforms (e.g., abolition, oversight inquiries) within days. The effect is mediated by partisan cues: the same footage polarizes partisans while producing a broad desire for formal investigations and clarifying which level of government (federal vs state) the public expects to hold accountable. — Rapid, video‑driven legitimacy shifts turn local policing incidents into national policy levers, affecting prosecution, congressional oversight, agency budgets, and the feasibility of structural reforms like abolishing or reconstituting enforcement bodies.