“Othering” by Consent? Public Attitudes to Covid-19 Restrictions and the Role of the Police in Managing Compliance in England

The aim of this paper is to consider the relationship between an emergent decay of social trust created by the Covid-19 pandemic and the formation of “in” and “out” groups. Data from 37 extensive semi-structured interviews with members of the public in England found that identifying the “other” through normative conceptions of “security and order” was used by participants to legitimize their own presence within the “in” group, while self-reported compliance with restrictions was used to construct identities to be in line with that of the “in” group. These findings have important implications both for social trust within and between communities and toward the police

‘Giving the right service to different people’: revisiting police legitimacy in the Covid-19 era

The suspension of certain civil liberties and the extension of police powers to combat the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has provoked concerns about the longer-term implications of the pandemic on police legitimacy. Drawing upon pathways to police legitimacy identified within the literature, this paper examines police officers’ perceptions of the impacts on, and potential challenges to, police legitimacy arising from the pandemic. Qualitative interviews, video diaries and focus groups were conducted with police officers in one police force area in England, captured over a five month period in winter 2020/21. The experience of policing Covid-19 left many police officers concerned about the possible consequences for the relationship with the public. The paper cautions that any gains in public perceptions of procedural justice through using enforcement measures only as a last resort, may be offset by losses in other pathways to legitimacy. Expectations of enforcement and increased visibility plus prolonged changes to deployment practices have all heightened a focus on the more instrumental aspects of police legitimacy. Concerns were also voiced that the policing of Covid-19 has accentuated divisions in society, exacerbating the sense of multiple publics to police, with different and often competing expectations of – and beliefs about – the police. Enforcement falling more heavily within some groups and locations risks exacerbating long-standing concerns about distributive fairness. As agents of social control with unique powers to exercise force and compulsion, the pandemic will require the police to exercise continued vigilance on the means by which public consent and support are sustained