The COVID-19 pandemic has both illuminated and transformed the many intersections between policing and public health. Both sectors deploy coercive as well as ‘soft’ tools to shape the behavior of populations and manage their flows in order to reduce the spread of disease and cool down outbreak hotspots. Joint efforts to promote public health and safety have confronted inequalities in access to common goods, including health and justice. Front-line workers across these sectors have experienced grave threats to their physical health and emotional wellbeing, while at the same time placing their families at risk when they bring ‘the job home’.
Policing and Society is canvassing proposals for papers that advance both our global understanding of the many nexus points between law enforcement and public health during the COVID-19 pandemic. These include, for example:
- Aspects of intersectoral or interdisciplinary cooperation in disrupting the spread of the virus at local, national and global levels.
- Impact on policing strategies: policing COVID-19 and police during COVID-19.
- The roles of both sectors in reproducing or mitigating health and justice disparities in their COVID-related practices, paying special attention to vulnerable populations.
- The criminalization of non-compliance and the unintended consequence to police and community relations.
- Risk, security management, and the expanded use of surveillance technology in both sectors.
- The impact of the pandemic on the health, wellness and resilience of officers, the family system, and policing organizations.
