{"title":"A Qualitative Study: An Examination of Police Officers' Lived Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic.","authors":"Richard C Helfers, Johnny Nhan","doi":"10.1177/10575677211050427","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe prompting stay-at-home orders for all but the most essential workers in society. Policing was one of the professions that is essential for community safety, regardless of the circumstances. Officers were on the front-line of the COVID-19 public health crisis and their preparedness was crucial for officer and community health. During the onset of the pandemic little was known about how officers perceived the virus and how police agencies prepared officers to work in a highly contagious environment. This study used semistructured interviews of police officers in two states in the United States that had elevated cases of the virus. The authors explored the lived experiences of police officers to explore officers' perceptions, concerns, implications the pandemic had on patrol activity, and agency preparedness during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results revealed structural and cultural forces that resulted in officers and their agency leadership not taking the pandemic seriously, ill-preparation and ill-equipping, and disincentives in reporting exposure. Moreover, officers' fears were largely not based on their own well-being, but on the risk of spreading the disease to their family members.</p>","PeriodicalId":51797,"journal":{"name":"International Criminal Justice Review","volume":"32 3","pages":"308-327"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9247632/pdf/10.1177_10575677211050427.pdf","citationCount":"4","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Criminal Justice Review","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10575677211050427","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 4
Abstract
In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe prompting stay-at-home orders for all but the most essential workers in society. Policing was one of the professions that is essential for community safety, regardless of the circumstances. Officers were on the front-line of the COVID-19 public health crisis and their preparedness was crucial for officer and community health. During the onset of the pandemic little was known about how officers perceived the virus and how police agencies prepared officers to work in a highly contagious environment. This study used semistructured interviews of police officers in two states in the United States that had elevated cases of the virus. The authors explored the lived experiences of police officers to explore officers' perceptions, concerns, implications the pandemic had on patrol activity, and agency preparedness during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results revealed structural and cultural forces that resulted in officers and their agency leadership not taking the pandemic seriously, ill-preparation and ill-equipping, and disincentives in reporting exposure. Moreover, officers' fears were largely not based on their own well-being, but on the risk of spreading the disease to their family members.
期刊介绍:
International Criminal Justice Review is a scholarly journal dedicated to presenting system wide trends and problems on crime and justice throughout the world. Articles may focus on a single country or compare issues affecting two or more countries. Both qualitative and quantitative pieces are encouraged, providing they adhere to standards of quality scholarship. Manuscripts may emphasize either contemporary or historical topics. As a peer-reviewed journal, we encourage the submission of articles, research notes, and commentaries that focus on crime and broadly defined justice-related topics in an international and/or comparative context.