This book critically examines how countries across Europe have dealt with the COVID crisis from a policing and security perspective. Across the chapters, contributors from different countries examine the data, press coverage, and provide professional observations on how policing, law enforcement, police powers and community relations were managed. They focus on how security and governmental actors often failed to align with the formal scripts that were specifically designed for crisis-management, resulting in the wavering application of professional discretion and coercive powers. Their different approaches were evident: in some regions police were less dominantly visible compared to other regions, where the police used a top-down visible and repressive stance vis-à-vis public alignment with COVID rules, including the imposition of lockdown and curfews. Some contributors draw on data from the COROPOL (Corona Policing) Monitor which collated data on crime, plural policing and public order in Europe and around the world during the early phases of the COVID crisis. Overall, this book seeks to provide comparative critical insights and commentary as well as a practical and operational understanding of security governance during the COVID-19 crisis and the lessons learned to improve future preparedness.
Author(s): Monica Den Boer, Eric Bervoets, Linda Hak
Series: Palgrave's Critical Policing Studies
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 209
City: Cham
Praise for Plural Policing, Security and the COVID Crisis
Contents
Contributors
List of Figures
1 Plural Policing, Security and the COVID-19 Crisis: An Introduction to Comparative European Perspectives
1 Introduction
2 Leading Questions
3 Trends and Patterns
4 Comparative Dimension
5 Reading Guide to the Chapters
6 An Introduction to the Authors
References
2 Policing with the Help of Data: The Use of CoroPol in the Pandemic’s Early Stages in The Netherlands
1 Introduction
1.1 Plural Policing
2 CoroPol: Collating Information During the Initial Stages of the Pandemic
3 Key Observations: Crime Shifts During the Initial Stages of the Pandemic
3.1 Opportunities as an Issue
Decrease in Classic Property Crime
Increase in Online Crime
Fraud Due to Scarcity of Goods
3.2 How Vulnerable Persons Turn into Victims
Increasing Vulnerability of Civilians
Domestic Violence
Hate Groups
Adaptation of Organised Crime
3.3 Reflection
4 Social Disorder
4.1 Actual Tensions and Disorder in The Netherlands During First Pandemic Wave
4.2 Background: Decrease in Support (of Measures) and ‘Moral Holiday’
Increasing Opposition by Economically, Politically and Socially Disadvantaged
Vulnerable Youths on a Moral Holiday
4.3 Trust in Police
5 Key Observations on Plural Policing and Security
5.1 Introduction: Observations and Predictions
5.2 Circumstances: Little Pluralism, No Protocols, Little Intel, Lack of Proximity
5.3 A Classic Police Dilemma in Extraordinary Times
Tough Measures on (Normally) Unproblematic Social Conduct
Policing Styles: Coping with Dilemmas
5.4 Summary and Reflection: A Quest for Balance
6 Conclusions and Critical Assessment
References
3 Policing and Security in Southern Europe: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Reaffirms Pre-existing Patterns
1 Introduction
2 Spain in the Face of COVID-19: State of Alarm and Decentralised Police Response
2.1 State of Alarm
2.2 Policing the Lockdown
2.3 Restriction on Fundamental Rights and Deprivation of Liberty Management
3 France: A Permanent State of Emergency, With or Without COVID-19
3.1 A Permanent State of Emergency
3.2 Police Practices Towards Hesitant Governmental Strategies
3.3 Public Opinion Still Keen to Oppose
4 Greece: Authoritarian Modes of Policing
4.1 Governmental Communication Strategy on Policing and Security
4.2 Maintaining Law and Order During the COVID-19 Crisis
5 Discussion
5.1 An Emergency Adaptation
5.2 Limits to COVID-19 Policing Vary from Country to Country
References
4 Police and Other Plural Policing Institutions in Central and Eastern Europe Facing COVID-19 Pandemic
1 Introduction
2 Policing Pandemic in Central and Eastern European Countries: The Case of Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia
2.1 New Legislation and Pandemic Response Organisation
2.2 Policing COVID-19 Pandemic in CEE
3 Assessment of the Functioning of (Plural) Police Institutions During a Pandemic in CEE Countries
4 Discussion and Conclusion
References
5 Policing the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany: Challenges and Learnings for Future Crises
1 Introduction
2 Extended Executive Powers: The German Federal Multilevel Setting During the COVID-19 Pandemic
2.1 Rule-Making Under the Pressure of Crises and Uncertainty
2.2 Coordination and Conflicts Between Central and De-centralised Levels of Decision-Making in a Multilevel Setting
2.3 Lack of Preparedness and Other Shortcomings in the Administration of the COVID-19 Pandemic
3 Plural Policing in a Federal Multilevel Setting During the COVID-19 Pandemic
3.1 Policing the “Normal” Versus Policing a Pandemic Crisis?
3.2 Public Health and Public Order: Distribution of Tasks and Authority Between Police Agencies and Health Administration
3.3 Public Policing of Far-Reaching Restrictions to Fundamental rights—Just Another Variation of Police Discretion?
3.4 Data Collected for Combating the Pandemic—to Be Used for Policing Purposes?
3.5 Problems of Protest Policing During the Pandemic
3.6 Plural Policing in a Pandemic: New Tasks for Private Security Forces
4 Learning for Future Crises
4.1 Uncertainty, Risks and Policing
4.2 Towards a Culture of Learning from Errors
5 Conclusion and Outlook
References
6 Policing by Consent in a Pandemic: Security Governance and Policing of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom
1 Introduction
2 Security Actors Influencing UK COVID-19 Policing
3 Implementing COVID-19 Regulations
4 COVID-19 Police Surveillance
5 Conclusion
References
