Brokers

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, police officers are being deployed in new ways and face new challenges in carrying out their work. Police services have altered deployment and shift patterns, dispatchers are screening service calls for possible infections, certain enforcement activities have been diminished or suspended while police officers are asked to enforce hastily assembled laws and policies for physical distancing. What’s more, officers are carrying out their duties, which often don’t allow for physical distancing themselves, whilst trying to protect their own health. An international, research team led by Dr. Patrick Watson (Criminology, Wilfrid Laurier University), is examining the experiences of law enforcement officers policing in the COVID-19 pandemic and, in particular, how COVID-19 has changed police officers’ work. The research team is  interested in stories from both Canada and the United States, while also inviting and hoping for experiences from further afield as well. The project examines what officers’ services/departments are asking of them, how their role is changing, how they are implementing any new powers they’ve been given, how technology is being deployed or augmented to enact social control measures, how they are serving populations at high-risk for COVID-19, and how they are protecting themselves on the job. 

The project is interested in hearing accounts from across the law enforcement community – both sworn and civilian members – as they navigate through new policies and procedures implemented in an unprecedented moment of public and officer risk. 

Respondents are invited to anonymously present their stories in their own words. The research team is also inviting officers and civilian members to register their interest in being interviewed at a later date, by separately emailing Dr. Watson their contact details. The research team hopes that because officers share their experiences it will enable critical insights into how law enforcement officers are deployed during a public health crisis. 

If you’re a police officer and you’re interested in participating, go to www.covidandcops.com. Participation can take as little as ten minutes, and will go to better understanding how COVID-19 has affected officers and the institution of policing.

If you have questions, contact the research team at Wilfrid Laurier University, covidandcops@wlu.ca.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, police officers are facing many of the same dangers and following many of the same practices as frontline healthcare workers in order to protect themselves and their families. For women police, the impacts of COVID-19 are particularly concerning. Not only do women in policing generally experience higher levels of stress than their male colleagues and are more likely to provide frontline care to vulnerable populations than men, but they also perform the bulk of domestic labour and child care at home. COVID-19 threatens to intensify these inequalities as the crisis makes it impossible to divide work and home spaces. A gendered analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 is critical to recognize these stresses and to avoid perpetuating pre-existing inequalities in policing that have traditionally excluded women from high-ranking, leadership positions where policies and decisions are made, including pandemic planning. 

Supported by a SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant ($24,879), Drs. Debra Langan and Carrie Sanders are collaborating with Ontario Women in Law Enforcement (OWLE), a networking and professional development organization, to examine whether, how, and to what extent COVID-19 has exacerbated the challenges and inequalities experienced by women in law enforcement, at work and home. This SSHRC-funded project’s objectives are to: (1) understand how COVID-19 is impacting the experiences of women in law enforcement, at work and at home; (2) assess how law enforcement agencies have responded to COVID-19, and the impact of these responses on the experiences of women in law enforcement, as well as their retention and promotion; and, (3) provide a report (co-written by OWLE and the research team), that contains concrete recommendations for how organizations can safeguard the professional and personal well-being of women in law enforcement.

OWLE recognizes that the pandemic disproportionately jeopardizes women's well-being, and risks reversing the important gains that have been made in the recruitment, retention, and promotion of women in law enforcement. The partnership between OWLE and Drs. Langan and Sanders’ research team will result in actionable recommendations based on the identification of existing practices, the limitations, strengths, and resource demands of those practices, and innovative strategies to address limitations and resource demands. This project uses a gendered analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 by examining whether, how, and to what extent the pandemic has exacerbated the challenges, complexities, and inequalities -- both at work and at home -- experienced by women in law enforcement.

Methodologically, the project employs a multi-mode approach. Drs. Langan and Sanders have collected responses from 115 participants via an online survey of women in law enforcement - those on the front lines, in supervisory/management positions, and civilians - from across Canada. The insights gained from the survey results have been used to inform the development of a set of questions that is being used to gather qualitative interview data from 25 officers who wish to elaborate on their survey responses.

The research findings will be shared with OWLE members through a written report, an infographic, and a podcast, to enhance solidarity among women and support their coping strategies. Drs. Langan and Sanders will also work with OWLE to translate findings into action-oriented policy recommendations that will be shared broadly with law enforcement practitioners (e.g., police services in Canada, the International Association of Women Police, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police).

Dr. Patrick Watson's SSHRC Funded Research

Numerous police on-duty shootings have been captured on video evidence, which has led to more police officers being charged and criminally tried. Video evidence is often a crucial aspect of these trials, but it does not tend to make the job of judges and jurors any easier. A major problem with video evidence is it depicts "the facts" of the case (who shot whom, when, where) but not the motive behind "the facts". Police officers in North America are empowered to shoot subjects when they reasonably fear for the safety of themselves or others, and when these incidents come to court, the question isn't "what happened?" but rather "was what happened reasonable?" This research looks at eight police-involved shootings that have proceeded to criminal trial (four convictions, four acquittals) and asks "since video evidence is so important to criminal trials, but doesn't solve the legal question itself, what is being done with video evidence?.” Over the course of three years, we will conducted detailed case study analyses of these eight cases to develop a better understanding of how video evidence is used in criminal trials for police on-duty shootings, and whether or not their are prospects for more systematic use and guidelines for judges and jurors to assess what is depicted in video evidence.