Residents’ perceptions of policing and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic
Policing: An International Journal
ISSN: 1363-951X
Article publication date: 10 August 2021
Issue publication date: 8 February 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic has raised unique challenges for police. Reductions in manpower due to officer illness and the need to social distance to suppress spread of the disease restricts the ability of police to fully engage with the public and deliver full services. Changes to policing strategies may affect residents’ feelings of safety and their relationships with police. The purpose of this study is to understand high crime area residents’ experiences with police and safety during the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study draws on household surveys of residents across three high crime, disadvantaged neighborhoods in St. Louis County, Missouri. We implemented three methods. First, we synthesized qualitative feedback about the impact on safety and policing. Second, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks tests compared pre-pandemic assessments of policing and safety measures to measures collected during the pandemic. Finally, we employed multinomial regression to examine how perceived changes in policing affected residents’ change in safety during the pandemic.
Findings
Residents saw police less and engaged with police less during the pandemic. They reported hearing gunshots more often. Reduced police presence in neighborhoods led to mixed effects on safety, largely decreasing residents’ feelings of safety. However, two factors that consistently improved safety were positive encounters with police and police being less involved with minor offenses.
Originality/value
This is the first study that assesses the pandemic impact on residents’ perceptions of safety and police in disadvantaged, high crime contexts.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors of this manuscript have complied with APA ethical principles in their treatment of individuals participating in the research, program, or policy described in the manuscript. The research has been reviewed and approved by the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Human Subjects Committee under protocol 19051.
Funding: This project was supported by Award no. 2017-AJ-BX-003, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Citation
Nouri, S. and Kochel, T.R. (2022), "Residents’ perceptions of policing and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 45 No. 1, pp. 139-153. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-05-2021-0067
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited