This information has been sourced from the article published in the Daily Times Pakistan and is available to be read in full here.

COVID-19 has affected people all over the world with frontline workers such as police officers being at a higher risk of contracting the virus. This is due to them coming into contact with large a amount of people in the community whom may even possibly have the virus themselves.

Around the world, many police officers have caught the virus with a number of them having passed away due to it. Each and every police officer around the world is putting their life on the line during a global pandemic to help keep the community safe and in order.

In Pakistan alone, over 500 policers officers have tested positive for having COVID-19 with 9 having succumb to the infection.

For more information regarding COVID-19 and police officers, read the full article here.

This information has been directly sourced from the statement regarding COVID-19 in prisons and other closed settings published by UNODC, WHO, UNAIDS, and OHCHR. The statement is available to be read in full here.

We, the leaders of global health, human rights and development institutions, come together to urgently draw the attention of political leaders to the heightened vulnerability of prisoners and other people deprived of liberty to the COVID-19 pandemic, and urge them to take all appropriate public health measures in respect of this vulnerable population that is part of our communities.

Acknowledging that the risk of introducing COVID-19 into prisons or other places of detention varies from country to country, we emphasize the need to minimize the occurrence of the disease in these settings and to guarantee that adequate preventive measures are in place to ensure a gender-responsive approach and preventing large outbreaks of COVID-19. We equally emphasize the need to establish an up-to-date coordination system that brings together health and justice sectors, keeps prison staff well-informed and guarantees that all human rights in these settings are respected. 

The statement addresses reducing overcrowding; Ensuring health, safety and human dignity; Ensuring access to continued health services; Respect human rights; and Adhere to United Nations rules and guidance.

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• Policing and Society: An International Journal of Research and Policy

  Call for Papers

  Special issue on The Policing and Public Health Interface:

  Critical Issues from the COVID-19 Pandemic

  Edited by Jennifer Wood and Patricia Griffin

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• The COVID-19 pandemic has both illuminated and transformed the many intersections between policing and public health. Both sectors deploy coercive as well as ‘soft’ tools to shape the behavior of populations and manage their flows in order to reduce the spread of disease and cool down outbreak hotspots. Joint efforts to promote public health and safety have confronted inequalities in access to common goods, including health and justice. Front-line workers across these sectors have experienced grave threats to their physical health and emotional wellbeing, while at the same time placing their families at risk when they bring ‘the job home’. 

  Policing and Society is canvassing proposals for papers that advance both our global understanding of the many nexus points between law enforcement and public health during the COVID-19 pandemic. These include, for example:

• Aspects of intersectoral or interdisciplinary cooperation in disrupting the spread of the virus at local, national and global levels. 
• Impact on policing strategies: policing COVID-19 and police during COVID-19.
• The roles of both sectors in reproducing or mitigating health and justice disparities in their COVID-related practices, paying special attention to vulnerable populations.
• The criminalization of non-compliance and the unintended consequence to police and community relations.
• Risk, security management, and the expanded use of surveillance technology in both sectors.
• The impact of the pandemic on the health, wellness and resilience of officers, the family system, and policing organizations.

Conceptual, empirical and policy-focused papers are encouraged.  Due to the critical and timely nature of this topic, submissions are due by September 30, 2020.

Please visit our website for guidelines on manuscript submission: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/gpas20/current

If you would like to discuss a potential contribution then please contact: Jennifer Wood at woodj@temple.edu.

Responding to mental health crises is a regular part of a police officer's work. Yet how can the police determine who is a danger to themselves or others and who needs urgent mental health services?

I would like to invite you to the upcoming EU Public Health Week seminar " Helping Police Assess Mental Illness", which will discuss interRAI's Brief Mental Health Screener (BMHS) for police, developed by Dr. Ron Hoffman, a former police officer and police trainer.

This European Public Health Week seminar takes place:

13 May 2020 at 15:00 - 16:30 UTC+1 (Swiss time).

For more information and to register for this free webinar, go to: https://www.laeskushner.net/english/euphw-police-mental-illness/

This information has been directly sourced from the article written in The Conversation which available to be read in full here.

Despite many countries around the world implementing strict lockdown measures to contain and reduce the spread of Covid-19, but this is more difficult in some countries and regions than others.

This is due to high density slums in many African countries which therefore isolation measures are impossible to enforce.

Heavy handed policing approaches are also not as effective in some countries due to many police forces using excessive force and in fact creating more harm within the community.

Harm reduction practices should be more highly valued in these situations as well as context dependent strategies based on the country or area and use what is better suited.

For more information regarding this, read the full article here.

This information has been directly sourced from the Call- for - Papers for the Journal of CSWB.

We are just over a month into the declared COVID-19 pandemic and all its associated tragedy around the world. So much has already been learned in this short period, and we know that many more lessons are yet to be discovered and shared for the benefit of safe and healthier futures, everywhere.

The global lens has perhaps never before been so sharply focused on the valiant and vital work of our health, human services and first responder professionals, and by extension, on the researchers, analysts, scholars and policy-makers who must capture, build and disseminate the knowledge and evidence that supports their work and their safety.

We have chosen to dedicate our next Journal of CSWB Issue 5(2) to supporting this urgent effort as best we can, with a target date to publish this special issue by mid-July.

As such, we are issuing this special call-for-papers as widely as possible in hopes of receiving, reviewing, and featuring as many well-informed perspectives of direct or indirect relevance to the current public health crisis and its associated challenges for community safety and well- being in all its forms. Our article categories include (*peer-reviewed) Original Research*, Practice Guidelines*, Social Innovation Narratives*, Commentaries, Records of Proceedings, Editorials and unique Food-for-Afterthought perspectives. Our Editorial Sections span Trust, Strengths, Services and Justice.

To meet our publishing timelines, we will need to receive items requiring peer review by May 10, and all other selections by no later than May 31. On behalf of our whole editorial and publishing team, I hope you will join us in this mission, and we look forward to receiving your works.

(Please visit www.JournalCSWB.ca to register and/or for more information on the submission guidelines)

This information has been directly sourced from an article published on The Crime Report and is available to read here.

The threat of Covid-19 in prisons is concerning, there are too many people too close together with minimal, basic sanitary and medical supplies. 

Not only do detainees travel in and out of prisons quite frequently, but so do guards and administrators, which could enable Covid-19 to be brought into the prisons as well as out.

"The people we need to repair the COVID-19 disaster will come from both criminal justice and public health"

For more information regarding Covid-19 and prisons, read the full article here.

This information has been directly sourced from a blog post posted on Deloitte Middle East Matters and is available to be read in full here.

The threat of coronavirus as well as lockdown restrictions have provided a breeding ground for crime across different countries.

This has been done through criminals exploiting people through fake medical supplies which has targeted those worried about their own or loved ones health during the pandemic.

Social isolation, although necessary to reduce the spread of Covid-19, has increased the risk and prevalence of domestic violence in some countries.

On top of this all, as there has been a significant increase in the number of people working remotely, cyber crime has also increased. It has enabled cyber criminals potentially more platforms and people to exploit.

For more information read the full article here.

This information has been directly sourced from an article published for the Institute for Security Studies which is available here.

Despite South Africa's COVID-19 lockdown designed to attempt to stop the spread of the virus and eliminate its presence, it is having averse affects in regards to overall death numbers.

This is due to high levels of police brutality with reports of police having killed three people in the first five days of lockdown, the same number of lives taken by COVID-19.

Most police and soldiers are being respectful and profession during such a tough and challenging time but many are not.

For more information regarding this read the full article here.  

This information has been directly sourced from the UN Women's action brief regarding women, peace and security and Covid-19 in the Asia- Pacific which is available here.

"In countries across Asia-Pacific, the response to COVID-19 is escalating with serious implications for peace and security, and the rights of women and girls. The enactment of national emergency powers, introduction of military checkpoints and lockdowns, closed borders, and restrictions on citizens’ movement and speech, all mirror a governance context similar to that of a conflict setting. This brief introduces the issue, presents considerations of the implications of COVID-19 in the women, peace and security agenda and offers some recommendations on the way forward."

The brief outlines the issues, key considerations and recommendations in regards to this issue. To view these in full, access the brief here.