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45 Policing: Int'l J. 1 (2022)

handle is hein.journals/polic45 and id is 1 raw text is: Guest editorial On the other side of normal: policing in a pandemic editorial introduction Background The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) wreaked havoc across the globe beginning in late 2019. The World Health Organization declared a pandemic in March 2020, prompting governments worldwide to institute lockdowns/stay-at-home orders and other mandates restricting activities (Gostin and Wiley, 2020; White and Fradella, 2020). The pandemic affected nearly all facets of life, and criminal justice agencies were no exception. In many jurisdictions, courts closed for, at least, a few weeks, only to return to drastically modified proceedings, often conducted virtually through Zoom (Bannon and Keith, 2021; Smith, 2020). Likewise, many jails restricted new bookings as a strategy to reduce spread of the virus (Martyn et al., 2021; Novisky et al., 2020). Law enforcement agencies joined the ranks of firefighters and medical personnel working the frontlines of the pandemic. The literature addressing the effects of the pandemic on policing is rapidly growing. Generally speaking, it can be divided into three broad categories assessing the impact of COVID-19 on (1) crime and crime-reporting, (2) organizational response and police activities and (3) police personnel. First, a number of studies have assessed changes in crime and crime- reporting in jurisdictions across the globe. A study of calls for service in ten American cities found an overall reduction in calls, though directionality varied by offense type (Ashby, 2020a; see also Hodgkinson and Andresen, 2020; Stickle and Felson, 2020). Importantly, serious crime-related calls such as robbery and assault remained at expected levels. Routine activities theory is particularly salient in explaining changes to crime patterns during the pandemic; for example, residential burglaries declined in many jurisdictions (Ashby, 2020a), likely because people were not away from their homes as much when sheltering in place during a lockdown. Police reported substantially fewer calls for child abuse and neglect during lockdowns (News and Observer, 2021), largely due to mandatory reporters (e.g. teachers) not physically seeing kids when schools transitioned to remote learning and childcare facilities closed. The data on domestic assault calls in particular has been mixed. In some jurisdictions, domestic assaults decreased (Ashby, 2020a), whereas in others it remained relatively stable (Ashby, 2020a, b) or even sharply increased (Nix and Richards, 2021; Richards et al., 2021). There are logical explanations for both increases and decreases in domestic violence calls. Prolonged isolation with an abusive partner could lead to drastic increases in incidents, but the lack of resources or a safe place to go would could lead victims of domestic violence to not call police (Hansen and Lory, 2020; Nix and Richards, 2021). A second body of literature focuses on the organizational responses of police agencies to COVID-19. Many agencies significantly reduced their enforcement of non-emergency calls by reducing arrests for minor offenses, limiting proactive stops and drawing down community policing efforts (Lun et al., 2020a, b). In particular, many agencies stopped pulling over drivers for minor traffic infractions such as equipment violations (International Association of Chiefs of Police, 2020; Pierce, 2020). One key change in how police did business was an increased reliance on answering calls for service via phone and encouraging the public to report crime online (Lum et at, 2020b). Organizationally, agencies also had to navigate Guest editorial 1 Policing: An International Joural Vol.45 No. 1, 2022 PP. 1$8 ©Emerald Publishing Limited 133-951X DOI 10.110s/PIJPSM-0&Z2022199

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