Abstract
Purpose: Facing the COVID-19 pandemic, police officers are confronted with various novel challenges, which might place additional strain on officers. This mixed-method study investigated officers' strain over a three-month-period after the lockdown. Methods: In an online survey, 2567 police officers (77% male) from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Spain participated at three measurement points per country in spring, 2020. Three-level growth curve models assessed changes in strain and its relation to stressor appraisal, emotion regulation, and preparedness through training. To add context to the findings, free response answers about officers' main tasks, stressors, and crisis measures were coded inductively. Results: On average, officers seemed to tolerate the pandemic with slight decreases in strain over time. Despite substantial variance between countries, 66% of the variance occurred between individuals. Sex, work experience, stressor appraisal, emotion regulation, and preparedness significantly predicted strain. Risk of infection and deficient communication emerged as main stressors. Officers' reports allowed to derive implications for governmental, organizational, and individual coping strategies during pandemics. Conclusion: Preparing for a pandemic requires three primary paths: 1) enacting unambiguous laws and increasing public compliance through media communication, 2) being logistically prepared, and 3) improving stress regulation skills in police training.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 101756 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-14 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of Criminal Justice |
| Volume | 72 |
| Early online date | 19 Oct 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2021 |
Funding
This work was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant number: 833672 ). The content reflects only SHOTPROS consortium's view. Research Executive Agency and European Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein. We acknowledge the willing cooperation of all participating officers. We would like to thank the responsible police officers in each participating department for their support in distributing the online survey: Peter Lamplot (Sicherheitsakademie des Bundesministeriums f?r Inneres, ?sterreich), Ivo Engelmann and Manfred Strzeletz (Polizei Berlin), Manfred Beuchert, Dieter M?ller, and Andreas Stenger (Polizeipr?sidium Mannheim, Polizei Baden-W?rttemberg), Andreas Capeder and Andreas Moschin (Stadtpolizei Z?rich), Gerard Willemsen (Nationale Politie), and Jes?s Alberto Alonso Velasco and Jos? Javier Vilar?n Guill?n (Polic?a Auton?mica of Euskid). We thank Nicole Knies, R?diger Koch, Lisa Lampl, Dr. Veronika Lerche, Markus Murtinger, Alexander Sch?fer, Valerie Schlagenhaufen, and Prof. Dr. Dr. Mario Staller for their valuable comments to the study design and analyses. We also acknowledge the great support by Antonia Kind, Carolin Krupop, Katja Pollak, Thomas Stoll, and Friederike Uhlenbrock. This work was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant number: 833672). The content reflects only SHOTPROS consortium's view. Research Executive Agency and European Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Nationale Politie | |
| Sicherheitsakademie des Bundesministeriums f?r Inneres | |
| Horizon 2020 Framework Programme | |
| European Commission | |
| Horizon 2020 | 833672 |
Keywords
- coping
- COVID-19
- crisis management
- law enforcement
- pandemics
- ssstress
