Members of the ASU community held a virtual roundtable to discuss ways law enforcement is adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Professors of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, School of Social Work, and the Morrison Institute for Public Policy discussed the pandemics’ impact on crime as well as ways the police force has had to adapt to prioritize the health of the public.
Around 500 attendees of the community tuned in to watch the roundtable moderated by Tom Jackman, a Washington Post reporter.
ASU professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Chuck Katz, emphasized the importance of police holding an open line of communication with the public even if only virtually.
“There are a number of forums that now take place where the police can be communicating electronically with neighborhoods and ensuring that the public engages with stay-at-home orders,” Katz said.
According to Katz, one of the most important contributors to keeping the public safe is the public, and their understanding of the importance of stay-at-home orders.
“You don’t want to get it to the point that it’s a police situation, it’s a health situation,” Bob Robson, an ASU professor of practice said.
The panelist also discussed the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) leadership in attempting to reduce jail populations during the pandemic due to new social distancing rules and how this would affect the community’s safety.
Jerry Oliver, ASU professor of Practice, stated that the pandemic allows law enforcement to reexamine sentencing for nonviolent offenders.
“We need to think long and hard about the opportunity to start to move people out of those jail cells situations and into more community-based situations that would be helpful not only to the communities but to many families in the community,” Oliver said.
Another major concern of law enforcement is an increase in COVID-19 related scams within the community.
Law enforcement has seen an increase in scams related to the stimulus package, price gouging, fake medicines and test kits, according to Katz.
“The best that we can do as law enforcement, the governor’s office and others, is making sure that they communicate well with the public particularly in some communities where we have more vulnerable people,” Katz said.”Making sure they understand the risks… what is real and what is not real.”
Police and community relationships are also a concern for law enforcement agencies.
“Police departments have a role to play with staying in touch with some of the key citizens and key leaders and being prepared if we revert to a little desperation out there within the community,” Katz said.
The panelist spoke on the importance of learning from situations like the coronavirus pandemic to better serve citizens if an event like this ever happens again.
“There’s going to be more emphasis in the future on officer health and wellness as a consequence of this, as well as the health and wellness of officers’ families because they can also be impacted,” Katz said.
According to Katz, the best strategy for law enforcement and for the public to implement during the pandemic is staying home.
“By the time you have to use police force, we’ve already lost, the first line of defense is police leadership, having positive interactions with various faith-based leaders, community leaders and neighborhood leaders, to make sure no public events are being held and that people are staying in their home,” Katz said.
Contact the reporter at Pmachad2@asu.edu.
