The role of police enforcement in public health emergencies.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has lasted for nearly 3 years, has killed millions of people worldwide. Globally, during this public health emergency of international concern, the police have played an important role in maintaining social stability and preventing the crisis from further escalating during lockdowns.1Jiang F Xie C Roles of Chinese police amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.Policing (Oxf). 2020; 14: 1127-1137Crossref Scopus (10) Google Scholar They also partnered with local centres for disease control and prevention (CDC) to track citizens’ information to prevent the virus from spreading and conducted crisis communication to keep people away from misinformation.2Patel SS Moncayo OE Conroy KM Jordan D Erickson TB The landscape of disinformation on health crisis communication during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine: hybrid warfare tactics, fake media news, and review of evidence.JCOM J Sci Commun. 2020; 19: AO2PubMed Google Scholar However, the police are facing important challenges in the control of public health emergencies. Human rights violations could be a potential concern due to abuse of law enforcement and a lack of information transparency. In many jurisdictions in the USA,3Watts MH Michel KH Breslin J Tobin-Tyler E Equitable enforcement of pandemic-related public health laws: strategies for achieving racial and health justice.Am J Public Health. 2021; 111: 395-397Crossref PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar people from low-income groups and minority ethnic groups often suffer from excessive and unwarranted use of force by police. Also, poor communication4Laufs J Waseem Z Policing in pandemics: a systematic review and best practices for police response to COVID-19.Int J Disaster Risk Reduct. 2020; 51101812Crossref PubMed Scopus (73) Google Scholar between the police and CDCs will prevent the police from responding efficiently and effectively to the emerging outbreaks of the pandemic. Ineffective responses from the police might also result from their lack of knowledge about public health. To improve the role of the police in public health emergencies, increasing the transparency of police participation through stronger media monitoring is important. A third-party independent health organisation, such as medical associations, could also be engaged to monitor police behaviour to avoid privacy data violations. A public health and social protection position, either on an ad hoc or permanent basis, could be set up within the police system, to advise on the preparation, reaction, and recovery from public health emergencies and to improve communication between the police and CDCs. Finally, embedding public health training within the refresher training programme of the police to equip police officers with basic public health knowledge would be useful. We declare no competing interests.