ABSTRACT
This online survey (N = 2365) examined the experiences of (non-sworn/non-warranted) staff serving in police forces in England and Wales during the March to July COVID-19 virus lockdown in the UK. Particular attention was paid to staff working from home, those able to partially work from home and those who remained at work in their usual police location. Home working staff were generally less stressed than those remaining partially or totally at their work location. Public interacting staff were particularly stressed. Regression analyses found that for all staff, irrespective of location, tiredness and finding work more difficult were implicated in increased stress. For those remaining at their place of work homeschooling and lacking preparedness for another lockdown were additional stressors. The importance of feeling valued is discussed. Some recommendations are offered in the light of these findings including the concept of moral injury repair. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
The three lockdown periods across 2020-2021 due to COVID-19 had significant consequences for police. Pandemic lockdown experiences were explored based on online interviews with 25 officers of varied ranks and from across five regions in England and Wales. The analysis demonstrates the existence of two counter-prevailing dynamics in the working world of police in England and Wales across the three lockdown periods. Changing government directives, deteriorating relationships between the police and the public and senior officers' sensitivity to the needs of the workforce, were foci of concern and discussion. On reflection, officers acknowledged that relationships between senior management and police improved over the three lockdowns. However, officers found it difficult to balance the demands of the profession and the claims of the state while seeking to retain policing by consent with an increasingly fractious public unsettled by restrictions to their freedom of movement and government activity.
ABSTRACT
An online survey (N = 2063) of women working either as police officers or non-sworn/warranted police staff addressed personal well-being and work-related factors during the first COVID lockdown in the United Kingdom from March to August 2020. Overall, 59% of all respondents reported being more stressed during the lockdown than they had been previously. A key factor in stress levels was the respondents? organisational support measured by a computed index of trust, communication, and support (TCS). Those respondents having a positive orientation towards TCS were less stressed than those whose orientation was more negative. Findings differentiated the experience of respondents typed as front-line police officers, front-line police staff, police officers serving in support functions and police staff in support functions. Innovative COVID-19 working arrangements are highlighted as beneficial new practices worth retaining.