Event
Pandemic Effects on Law Enforcement Training and Practice
Taking early stock from a research perspective
The CEPOL Research and Science Conferences aim to convene practitioners, trainers and educators in policing and other areas of law enforcement, with researchers and academic scholars from Europe and the international sphere since 2003.
This edition of the event will be organised in partnership with the Mykolas Romeris University (Lithuania) – and for the first time as an exclusive online event.
The conference is aiming at the participation of practitioners from European law enforcement forces and institutions, as well as affiliated postgraduate researchers and academic scholars. Participation requires registration and will open on 1 April 2021.
The emergence of the Coronavirus and its pandemic spread across the globe has had a dramatic effect not only on the daily routines of citizens in general, but also on the work of police and other law enforcement bodies and officials in particular. As disruption hit manifold areas of social and business-life, those put in charge of upholding the law and security had to constantly adapt their institutional resources and practices to new and frequently changing regulations introduced to curb the spread of the pandemic disease. The policing of curfew orders, “social distancing” rules or the compliance with wearing obligatory face-masks have become unusual areas of law enforcement attention and were raised as a topic of public scrutiny and debate in many European countries. At the very time when police and other law enforcement bodies had to quickly restructure and re-configure their resources, the opportunity structures for a broad spectrum of criminal offences changed and even became more inviting.
The pandemic crisis has been a challenging new reality for law enforcement bodies and officials across Europe in varying and fluctuating degrees for almost a full year. Decisions had to be taken, experiences have been made institutionally, collectively and on the individual officer’s level, and (first) lessons have been learned about policing and enforcing the law in pandemic times.
Concerned specifically with the professional continuous learning of law enforcement officials in Europe and with the transfer of scientific evidence- and research-based insights and findings from the academic to the professional sphere, CEPOL invites contributions to its online conference event, based on empirical studies on a variety of aspects and topics of policing and enforcing the law during the pandemic crisis and beyond.