In the early 2020, the spread of COVID-19 and the resulting stay-at-home orders issued by the governments across the world prompted many police agencies to adjust how, what, and whom they police. The pandemic has compelled police agencies to reassess their tasks and restructure their organizations. To explore the extent and nature of these changes within police organizations and their responses to the environmental changes, the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University and Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge have initiated the first worldwide study of police organizational changes and responses to COVID-19 pandemic.
The Policing during COVID-19 empirical study addresses three critical questions:
1) What are the nature and extent of organizational changes within police agencies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
2) How have police agencies changed their official policies and regulations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
3) What are the anticipated consequences of such organizational changes?