From bonds to bounds: The cultural diversity experiences of police officers as custodians of their own social capital

Abstract This study is an attempt to understand police officers' interactions with cultural diversity within the framework of social capital. Utilizing semi‐structured interviews and thematic analysis within a phenomenological research framework, the findings reveal that being a police officer enhances and limits the trust relation at the same time. Although they are expected to transfer to other cities in certain periods and encounter diverse cultures, thereby enhancing their social capital, as officers' discretionary power diminishes and they increasingly adhere to established regulations, which constrain their flexibility and autonomy in public interactions. This regulatory reliance often results in a withdrawal from discretionary engagements with the social diversity. The data informing these findings originate from Türkiye; however, the conclusions regarding the cultural aspects of police‐citizen interactions, viewed through the lens of social capital, have broader implications that extend beyond national boundaries, which is evaluated in comparison with international studies.