myAIPMEnforcing COVID-19 restrictions could erode public trust in police
Dr John Coyne | Policing Insight
"Police in many countries have been given extraordinary powers to enforce lockdowns and tackle COVID-19; but as Dr John Coyne, Head of Strategic Policing and Law Enforcement Program at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) points out, applying those powers could seriously erode the public’s trust in policing.
Scenes of Australian police, mostly Victorian, using physical force to deal with non-compliant citizens protesting against COVID-19 restrictions have become news fixtures.
Breakfast television commentary swings between criticising police use of force and targeting the confrontational approach of members of the public armed with mobile phones and attitude.
COVID-19 lockdown protesters’ acts of defiance must be increasing the risk of spreading the disease, but the more worrying and longer term outcome could be their corrosive impact on Australians’ trust in their police.
A loss of public trust in police will affect their social licence to operate in our communities. This loss of trust will have a direct impact on police services’ operational performance – with damaging flow-on consequences for social cohesion.
The long-term impacts on policing
COVID-19 is fundamentally a health problem, and the average Australian police officer would prefer not to be undertaking lockdown-related duties. Given the high level of public trust in police, and their existing capabilities, there’s little wonder that our governments looked to them to implement and enforce our COVID-19 rules.
The virus is so infectious that governments had little choice but to implement lockdowns and they brought with them an unprecedented demand for police services.
In response to the broader COVID-19 challenge, the federal, state and territory governments have provided police with extraordinary powers. Aware of the possible impact on their public image, police services would have been concerned about their roles during the pandemic."
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Enforcing COVID-19 restrictions could erode public trust in police, Dr John Coyne, Policing Insight, 2020
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