A Bibliometric Analysis and Mapping of The Global Research Landscape on Public Distrust Toward The Police: Implications for The Indonesian National Police

This study aims to analyze the global research landscape regarding public distrust toward the police and its implications for strengthening the legitimacy of the National Police of the Republic of Indonesia. This study uses a bibliometric method with a quantitative-descriptive approach to analyze the global landscape of research on public distrust toward the police and its implications for strengthening the legitimacy of the National Police of the Republic of Indonesia. Data obtained from Crossref, Scopus, and Google Scholar for the 2020–2025 period using the keywords "police," "legitimacy," "trust," "distrust," and "public perception." The analysis was carried out through network analysis, co-occurrence mapping, and density visualization using VOSviewer. The results of the study show that global research is still focused on the issues of police legitimacy, public perception, and law enforcement, while public distrust has not been studied as an independent variable. Research representation in developing countries, including Indonesia, is still minimal, indicating a contextual gap and the dominance of developed countries' perspectives. Implicitly, this study emphasizes the need to reposition public distrust as an independent conceptual construct and encourage police reform based on procedural fairness by design, transparency through accountability analytics, and strengthening citizen engagement to build public trust and strengthen the institutional legitimacy of the police.