A substantial body of existing literature has outlined the importance of police having the trust and confidence of the public they serve. In attempts to increase this level of trust, many police organisations are implementing various forms of capacity building programmes, of which a concept called ‘gender mainstreaming’ is a relatively common feature. While its focus is ostensibly on assessing taking men’s and women’s concerns and needs into account at all levels, stages, and forms of operations, the visible face of gender mainstreaming in a police context is commonly an increase in the number of women represented within the organisation. Within existing literature – both academic and grey – there is a common assumption: that this increase in women’s representation in the police will result in increased levels of public trust in the police. Moreover, there are some who state that an increase in women’s representation in the police will result in increased levels of women’s levels of trust in the police. In scanning relevant literature, however, there seems to be no theoretical or empirical justification offered. Previous studies emphasise the importance of civilians’ perceptions of procedural justice, and of their ability to have motive-based trust in the police. Making judgements about this latter form of trust can be hard for civilians, who often have little evidence available which indicates the trustworthiness of police officers. Instead, they turn to ‘value-based narratives’ – those pieces of information that can communicate officers’ values and intentions. A shared social bond is suggested as one such narrative. Using the Social Identity Approach (SIA) as a theoretical framework, then, this thesis explores the extent to which one form of social bond – a shared gender identity – can act as a mechanism for building trust in the police.