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The COVID-19 outbreak and its practical impacts are changing policing and police responses. Alongside the relentless efforts of the health sector, the role of police forces has been the subject of debate between the global South and North. As the first study in Vietnam, this paper explains how Vietnam’s police applied community-based policing to prevent and detect the interlaced occurrences among old and new patients at the communal cluster. Multiple sources were used to collect secondary data on police responses in the first lockdowns between February and March 2020. Online interviews with police leaders and six frontline officers were conducted to collect primary data. The findings show that, in each case, Vietnamese police implemented dynamic operations as much as possible in an effort to elicit voluntary collaborations to detect and contain COVID-19. Police used “onion-layer” and “door-to-door” approaches to coordinate and cooperate with their partners in the health sector. In addition, delivering persuasive propaganda was highly prioritized to incite local people to take up preventive measures rather than enforce them. The paper concludes with four specific recommendations and further discussions aimed at improving community-based policing’s effectiveness in future exceptional circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides the results from Western Europe of a wider project (Envisaging the Future of Policing and Public Health Globally) for the Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association (GLEPHA) which aimed to identify policing and public health alternative initiatives to provide community safety and well-being. A desktop review of projects that included evaluation evidence and/or impact of innovative delivery were selected for the study. The criteria allowed the inclusion of international, national, regional, and local initiatives that fit the broader aims of the global "envisaging the future" GLEPHA project. In total, 41 projects were reviewed with varying levels of information on approach and evaluation. Data capture recorded the country, location, funder details, themes (e.g., violence, mental health, drugs), key words, program descriptions, and any links and key findings from evaluation studies. A number of key themes, drivers, and challenges were identified in collaborative work between policing and public health. These included elements of communication and generating a shared language, the need for evaluation to be embedded in the project plan and mobilisation, and the problems with "hot-topic" issues and short-term funding. This paper also outlines two case studies of projects within Western Europe: Violence Reduction Units in the United Kingdom, and the Stockholm prevents Alcohol and Drug Problems (STAD). Key aspects of these projects are presented and the successes and potential challenges discussed. Key recommendations regarding the future of law enforcement and public health-related initiatives are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though not high-profile, collaborations and partnerships between law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and public health organizations do exist across Africa. Law enforcement and public health (LEPH) partnerships are common in responding to epidemics, such as sexually transmissible infections (STIs), tuberculosis, and malaria, and pandemics, such as HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. Some collaborations are in response to gender-based violence (GBV), particular socio-economic problems and challenges, counterinsurgency and terrorism (when it happens within civilian spaces), to address issues of rape, disease, and death. Such approaches are led by local and national governments, law enforcement agencies (LEAs), civil society organizations (CSOs), regional economic bodies, and United Nations agencies. Success and sustainability are achieved mostly were partnerships have long histories of working together, especially among those with established common goals aimed at local, national, and global health outcomes. However, antagonism also exists between CSOs and LEAs, with CSOs placing blame on LEAs for harms caused, and LEAs perceiving CSOs as enemies of the state. The situation arises because of their work with, and advocacy for, the rights around culturally or politically taboo or sensitive matters, such as sex work or homosexuality. Often, partnerships have either not been formed, or, where they have formed but have failed to achieve consensus and joint results, have collapsed. This paper does not pretend to fully represent the pan-African experience, as local variations and conditions are myriad and complex. But it does ultimately observe that partnerships among law enforcement and public health hold promise for improving community outcomes, and much more will need to be done at all levels to achieve effective, humane, and sustained cooperative responses to difficult public health issues in the African context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the summer of 2020, the Global Law Enforcement and Public Health Association (GLEPHA) launched a worldwide effort to identify and understand public safety approaches that leveraged the promise of public health frameworks and interventions. This article describes initial results from an effort to identify established and burgeoning programs applying public health approaches to meeting public safety needs in North America. It also includes an assessment of current challenges for sustainably implementing these models and ensuring equitable outcomes for all communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article delves into the relationship between policing and public health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The police have been seen as a crucial and extensively mobilised resource that has been utilised in responding to a public health crisis. The response to the pandemic shows the police mainly as enforcing state orders in which they have a traditional function related to the use of force. It is argued here that the classic definition of policing in terms of the use of force allows for the police becoming 'decoupled' from the institutional frames of criminal justice and public order. The perspective of a decoupled police would have real consequences for their involvement in public health. The article concludes with the conditions necessary for police to be a legitimate force in the public health domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]