Police Officers’ Evaluation of the Impacts of COVID-19 on Policing, Police Leadership and Police Officer Quality of Life in Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract Public health emergencies make an impact on policing in many ways, create unique challenges for police departments and affect the quality of life of police officers. These impacts include response, enforcement, preparedness, and inter- and intra-organizational dynamics. While there is much research on policing the pandemic in the Global North, similar scholarship emanating from the Caribbean is limited. With this lacuna in mind, the views of 32 members of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service were collected via semi-structured interviews at the back end of the COVID-19 pandemic and used to answer four research questions. The results indicate a host of impacts on policing, police leadership and police officer quality of life as a result of the COVID-19-facilitated pandemic. The current study adds to the limited scholarship on policing during the pandemic and offers guidance on policing practice to ensure police officer safety and preparation for future health pandemics.