Security is one of the most fundamental human needs according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The police play a crucial role in fostering a sense of security among residents in any modern democratic society. People's experiences with the police shape their attitudes towards the institution, which in turn influences their level of trust in the police. Quantitative research indicates the general level of public trust in the police, as well as its main predictors, but it does not provide insight into the mechanisms behind these correlations. Studies show that age is an important predictor of trust in the police, so the goal of the qualitative research on which this thesis is based is to determine young people's attitudes towards the police and to understand the genesis of these attitudes. Given the social, economic, cultural, and other specificities of local communities, the target population for this study is young people in a Croatian city: Pula, with a sample drawn through targeted sampling from the student population at the Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, as students are typically a very active part of civil society. The research was conducted using the method of semi-structured interviews. Since young people represent the future of the community, the results are expected to provide the local police with guidelines on how to further develop their legitimacy.