ABSTRACT

After the novel coronavirus began spreading across the U.S., many state and local governments imposed COVID-19 restrictions in an attempt to slow the spread. These COVID-19 mitigation techniques had a large impact on policing, as they created a new crime category for police to enforce, COVID-19 public health violations. The current study aims to address some of the uninvestigated questions about policing a pandemic using a unique dataset that combines three sources of official data from San Antonio, Texas. Specifically, we examine the associations between enforcement of COVID-19 public health violations, police calls for service, and COVID-19 case numbers. We also test for interactions between COVID-19 case numbers and police calls for service with respect to a change in the enforcement of COVID-19 public health violations. Results indicate that both police calls for service and COVID-19 case numbers are significantly associated with enforcement activities for COVID-19 public health violations. Additionally, enforcement is conditioned by the amount and type of police calls for service. Policymakers should consider the work and responsibilities the agencies they expect to enforce these COVID-19 policies already have. Haphazardly assigning an agency, such as the police, this new role without carefully considering whether they can feasibly take on more could lead to less enforcement of the COVID-19 restrictions.

摘要

在新型冠状病毒开始在美国传播后，许多州和地方政府实施了 COVID-19 限制措施，以减缓传播速度。这些 COVID-19 缓解技术对治安产生了重大影响，因为它们为警察创建了一个新的犯罪类别，即 COVID-19 公共卫生违规行为。目前的研究旨在使用一个独特的数据集来解决一些关于监管流行病的未经调查的问题，该数据集结合了德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥市的三个官方数据来源。具体而言，我们研究了 COVID-19 公共卫生违规行为的执法、警方求助电话和 COVID-19 案件编号之间的关联。我们还测试了 COVID-19 病例编号与警方就 COVID-19 公共卫生违规行为的执行变化相关的服务电话之间的相互作用。结果表明，警方呼吁服务和 COVID-19 案件编号都与针对 COVID-19 公共卫生违规行为的执法活动显着相关。此外，执法取决于警方要求服务的数量和类型。政策制定者应考虑他们期望执行这些 COVID-19 政策的机构已经拥有的工作和责任。在没有仔细考虑他们是否可以承担更多职责的情况下随意分配一个机构，例如警察，这个新角色可能会导致 COVID-19 限制的执行减少。政策制定者应考虑他们期望执行这些 COVID-19 政策的机构已经拥有的工作和责任。在没有仔细考虑他们是否可以承担更多职责的情况下随意分配一个机构，例如警察，这个新角色可能会导致 COVID-19 限制的执行减少。政策制定者应考虑他们期望执行这些 COVID-19 政策的机构已经拥有的工作和责任。在没有仔细考虑他们是否可以承担更多职责的情况下随意分配一个机构，例如警察，这个新角色可能会导致 COVID-19 限制的执行减少。