The COVID-19 Pandemic: Trust in Authorities and Criminal Justice Systems

• Published date: 01 June 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/07340168231194089
• Author: Amber Horning,Joselyne L. Chenane
• Date: 01 June 2024

The COVID-19 Pandemic: Trust

in Authorities and Criminal

Justice Systems

Amber Horning

1

and Joselyne L. Chenane

1

Keywords

law enforcement/security, corrections, comparative crime/justice

Shortly after March 13, 2020, the University of Massachusetts Lowell announced a grant for studies

investigating the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, US citizens were f‌ighting over and hoarding

toilet paper. Many seemed anxious about the shutdown with schools and workplaces closing and

the public receiving indeterminate stay-at-home orders. Additionally, the US culture wars and dis-

trust of the government from both sides contributed to what could ignite the powder keg. The pos-

sibility of public protests, riots, and widespread unrest seemed inevitable. Further, there was no

vaccine, scientif‌ic predictions that vaccine approval was years if not decades away, and there was

the element of virus mutations. Each country grappled with how authorities would handle the regu-

lations related to COVID-19 and how the public would respond to these rapid, stressful impositions.

Given Dr. Chenane’s expertise in policing and mine in risk, we decided to devise a study explor-

ing trust in authorities and fear during this global public health emergency. Our interest in public trust

extended beyond the government and the police to corrections and other criminal justice systems

faced with decisions unprecedented in this century. We formulated the idea of a special issue dedi-

cated to understanding the broad questions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, how is public trust in

authorities affected? How do authorities respond, and how do distinct groups perceive them within

countries and cross-nationally?

Much research examines public trust in the government and criminal justice institutions .

Variation in public trust in authoritative systems may be attributed to intersectionality and percep-

tions of equity. Multiple factors can inf‌luence the public’s perception and responses to authoritative

institutions, and they include (1) structural inequality, (2) preexisting relationships between the

public and authoritative institutions, and (3) prior interactions with authorities (see Figure 1).

These factors will impact a baseline level of trust in authorities. With the advent of a global emer-

gency, the public will have preexisting levels of trust, and as authorities respond, the public evaluates

the fairness and effectiveness of these responses. These factors and other variables, such as fear of

personal and community health or social and economic worries, may impact the public’s attitudes

1

School of Criminology and Justice Studies, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Amber Horning, School of Criminologyand Justice Studies, University of Massachusetts,113 Wilder St., HSSB 4th Fl., Lowell,

MA 01854, USA.

Email: amber_ruf@uml.edu

Editorial

Criminal Justice Review

2024, Vol. 49(2) 109-116

© 2023 Georgia State University

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/07340168231194089

journals.sagepub.com/home/cjr

about and compliance with authoritative institutions during a critical event, such as the COVID-19

pandemic.

Within policing, scholars have argued that trust is essential for building and strengthening police-

citizen relations (Fagan & Davies, 2000; Gau & Brunson, 2010; Hamm et al., 2017; Nix et al., 2015;

Pryce & Chenane, 2021; Tyler et al., 2014; Tyler & Fagan, 2008). Generally, trust between the public

and criminal justice and other social service institutions is essential for the stability of communities

(Goldsmith, 2005) and cooperation between these institutions and the public (Hough, 2012; Jackson

& Bradford, 2010; Murphy, 2017; Sargeant et al., 2014; Sun et al., 2012, 2014; Sunshine & Tyler,

2003; Tankebe, 2008; Tyler, 2005; Van Craen, 2013; Van Craen & Skogan, 2015). Nonetheless,

during times of national emergency, it might be easier for police and other criminal justice agents

to default to law-and-order tactics rather than strategies (e.g., procedurally just policing), which

have been found to enhance public trust in the police.

There is a growing body of research on trust in authorities during emergencies, disasters, or pan-

demics (e.g., Borowski & Stathopoulos, 2020; Reid, 2013; Reinhardt, 2019). The public’s attitudes

toward the government, the state, and government entities, such as the police, can be impacted by

these events. During national emergencies, the public’s distrust of the government and law enforce-

ment can increase, elevating fear (Smallman, 2015). For example, during the swine f‌lu outbreak, half

of the American adults felt that the federal government, corporations, or both were involved in at

least one conspiracy to cover health information (Painter, 2014). Additionally, communities experi-

encing structural disadvantage, prior negative interactions with authorities, and inequity during other

emergencies will have diminished trust in authority f‌igures for vital reasons. For instance, in a study

about a hypothetical pandemic in New York City, Fuller et al. (2007) conducted focus groups with

different ethnic communities about whether they would trust their government to furnish necessary

survival staples and maintain civil order. Their level of trust and feelings of preparednessvaried

greatly, with Black communities having the least trust in the government and police to maintain

Figure 1.Trust in authorities during an emergency event: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

110 Criminal Justice Review 49(2)

order in their neighborhoods. Still, there are variations in trust of authority by race and ethnicity

within countries (e.g., Arriola & Grossman, 2021; Cochran & Warren, 2012; Jamison et al.,

2019). Dong and Bouey (2020) found that the Chinese government exacerbated the rate of mental

distress during the outbreak of the coronavirus by initially downplaying its severity, which also neg-

atively impacted public trust in the government. By country, there is probably even more signif‌icant

variation because of existing relationships between the public and the government and police that

will dictate residents’and citizens’trust in authorities, especially during a crisis.

Crucially, there will be cross-national differences in the public baseline level of trust for author-

ities, impacting how these systems respond. For instance, it may be diff‌icult for the public to perceive

the police as fair and respectful (particularly in totalitarian societies) during emergencies when public

views of law enforcement are already unfavorable (Akinlabi, 2017, 2020; Alemika, 2009; Roché &

Oberwittler, 2018; Tankebe, 2010). Indeed, studies conducted during the pandemic have revealed a

high public distrust of the police in some countries (Aborisade, 2021; Lamb, 2023; Shodunke, 2022).

The relationship between the government and other criminal justice systems and the country’s political

climate contributed to variations in public trust in authorities and evaluations of their responses during this

global crisis. For instance, in the United States, democracy was already threatened by accusations of elec-

tion fraud and a policing crisis due to racial bias and police killings of Black men. The country was deeply

divided by opposing political beliefs that escalated with the subsequently attempted insurrection at the

Capitol on January 6, 2021, by former President Trump’s supporters and widespread Black Lives

Matter protests of police killings of George Floyd and deadly police interactions with Black,

Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Additionally, some conservative groups posited

that COVID-19 was a hoax or just like the “regular f‌lu,”including those in positions of authority,

such as large swathes of US police off‌icers and corrections off‌icers (Helfers & Nhan, 2022).

Each country has a baseline for public trust, with variation in trust hinging on structural disadvan-

tage, their communities’relationship to authority, and prior interactions with authorities. Trust can

change based on fear and the actual responses of authority during the global crisis. The historical

context, events within each country, and levels of fear based on health, economic, spiritual, and

social worries may impact the public differently, and it will also have distinct impacts on groups

within those countries.

In this special issue titled The COVID-19 Pandemic: Trust in Authorities and Criminal Justice

Systems, researchers explored trust, fear, and compliance with the government and criminal justice

systems in different cultural contexts. First, Jonathan C. Reid, Samantha J. Brown, and Jared

Dmello, in their study titled COVID-19, Diffuse Anxiety, and Public (Mis)Trust in Government:

Empirical Insights and Implications for Crime and Justice, investigated public trust in the US gov-

ernment using the American National Election Study. Using OLS, they revealed that public trust

during COVID-19 depended on views of the government’s COVID-19 response, beliefs about the

state of the country and government corruption, and concern about election fraud in the state of

US democracy. This study and others in this special issue show that how the public evaluates author-

ities’responses in an emergency is linked to public trust in authorities. Interestingly, variability in

public trust was attributed to their feelings about the police and the Centers for Disease Control,

showing that baseline trust in other authoritative institutions matters regarding public trust in the gov-

ernment and that multiple authorities may be under collective scrutiny in an emergency.

In this special issue, several articles explore public trust in and compliance with police during the

COVID-19 pandemic. In many countries, law enforcement was instrumental in enforcing outbreak

protocols, including curfews and mask-wearing, and they were on call in the case of protests or

riots (Maskály et al., 2021; Shodunke, 2022). However, each context is distinct regarding the rela-

tionship between the government and police, the historical backgrounds of how these authorities

interface with the public, variations in dominant and marginalized publics, and their view of

authorities.

Horning and Chenane111

Yongjae Nam, Jon Maskály, Sanja Kutnjak Ivković, and Peter Neyroud focused on types of

factors that may affect the public’s trust in police during COVID-19 in South Korea in their study

titled Exploring Trust in the Police in South Korea during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Does Fear

of the COVID-19 Matter? They found that four factors may impact the public’s trust (1) interactions

with police during the pandemic and (2) assessments of police effectiveness in enforcing COVID-19

regulations, (3) individual concerns for personal health, and (4) adherence to conspiracy theories.

Their f‌indings show that when law enforcement was perceived to effectively handle the challenges

of COVID-19 and concerns of public health, trust in the Korean National Police was strengthened.

In a similar investigation in St. Petersburg, Russia, Anna Gurinskaya, Mahesh Nalla, and Seung

Paek, in their study titled Exploring the Determinants of Citizens’Compliance with COVID-19

Regulations: Legitimacy versus Fear and explored the relationship between dimensions of state

authorities’legitimacy (normative alignment, the obligation to obey, and support for COVID-19 mit-

igation mandates and fear factor risk of sanctions and infection) on citizens willingness to comply

with COVID-19 mandates, unlike other studies in this special issue, they did not f‌ind a relationship

between obligation to obey and compliance. However, fear factors of police sanctions, infection, and

self-morality related to an individual’s reaction to legal and social rule-breaking (a strong predictor of

law-abiding behavior) were positively related to compliance.Prior studies have shown that residents

living in non-democratic or emerging democracies may comply with police due to fear instead of an

obligation to obey or feelings of police legitimacy (Akinlabi & Murphy, 2018; Tankebe, 2013).

Further, cultural dynamics may emerge, such as specif‌ic legal or social rule-breaking types.

Antje Deckert and colleagues studied whether the public trusted New Zealand Police (NZP) to

enforce lockdown rules in their study titled “It has totally changed how I think about the police”:

COVID-19 and the mis/trust of pandemic policing in Aotearoa New Zealand. Using survey data,

they compared trust with those who had been stopped by NZP during the lockdown to those

without contact, f‌inding that those with contact had less trust in NZP to enforce rules, and these par-

ticipants perceived NZP to be more heavy-handed. Using quantitative and qualitative data, they

found that participants perceived the NZP as procedurally unjust or inconsistent in applying the lock-

down rules. These researchers surmised that the unusual nature of the pandemic could cause many

segments of the population to reduce their level of trust in government, including those of European

descent who typically have a higher baseline trust. Additionally, they called for more research on

groups experiencing systemic racism, particularly Ma

̄ori. Several studies showed that prior police

contact has a detrimental impact on the public’s perception of these authoritative f‌igures.

Joselyne L. Chenane, Amber Horning, Sean Perry, and Catherine Stevens, in their study titled

Police Legitimacy and Trust During COVID-19: A Cross-National Analysis used cross-national

survey data and examined factors that inf‌luence public willingness to obey and cooperate with police

and the relationship between police legitimacy and willingness to obey and cooperate with the policy

during the COVID-19 pandemic. OLS results revealed that police legitimacy and trust remain crucial pre-

dictors of public willingness to support and cooperate with the police. Furthermore, these researchers

found cross-national differences in public willingness to obey and cooperate with police during the pan-

demic. Specif‌ically, compared to US residents, Kenyan residents were more inclined to cooperate with

police during the pandemic. In contrast, Indian and residents of other countries were less likely to feel

obligated to obey police than US residents. Existing levels of trust in police or fear of police may

impact the public obligation to obey or comply with rules during an emergency.

Christian Gallagher and colleagues, in their study titled studied COVID-19 and Policing: A

Qualitative Study of Sheriff Departments in Rural Indiana Sheriffs in rural Indiana and their percep-

tions of how COVID-19 impacted the CJ system. The two major themes were the Sheriff’s

Department’s precautions against COVID-19 and how the criminal justice system works during

the pandemic. While COVID-19 impacted trust in systems, those systems adapted to a new and pre-

viously unknown threat. Those incarcerated in jails and state and federal prisons were at extreme

112 Criminal Justice Review 49(2)

health risk due to overcrowding, making it challenging to enforce COVID-19 protocols. In addition,

they experienced psychological distress because of fear and further isolation when administrators

suspended in-person visitation. Their existing levels of deprivation made them more vulnerable to

physical and psychological health risks. Due to their prior experiences with the criminal justice

system, the incarcerated population already has a low baseline level of trust in authorities.

Contributors to this special issue also explore public trust in the corrections system, as facilities’decisions

to keep carceral populations safe were often ineffective and had several unintended consequences on incar-

cerated individuals. Miltonette Olivia Craig, Mijin Kim, and Dawn Beichner-Thomas analyzed interviews

of those incarcerated in the US during COVID-19 in their study titled Incarcerated in a Pandemic: How

COVID-19 Exacerbated the “Pains of Imprisonment.”They found that incarcerated individuals were

largely unable to protect themselves against the virus and described feelings of neglect and dehumanization

due to correctional staff’s actions and inactions. Facilities’responses to the pandemic also impacted the fam-

ilies of the incarcerated, as they received few updates on health and safety and experienced fear and hope-

lessness when their loved ones were further isolated from the outside world. Their f‌indings provide insight

into the incarcerated population’s traumatic experiences and how institutional failures increased their distrust

of the criminal legal system and contributed to their diff‌iculties in coping.

In another US study, Chase Montagnet, Julia Bowling, Anthony Azari, and Colleen Berryessa

interviewed incarcerated individuals about the conditions of conf‌inement in their study titled

“Worst experience in my life”: Conditions of conf‌inement in incarcerated settings during the

COVID-19 pandemic. Their f‌indings show that the COVID-19 lockdown measures instituted to

prevent virus transmission created environments akin to solitary conf‌inement that compromised

social connections to family and friends, increased fear of contraction, and further eroded partici-

pants’trust in correctional institutions.

In conclusion, this special issue explores perceptions of authoritative systems, such as govern-

ment, police, and corrections, during a global crisis event, the COVID-19 pandemic. This compila-

tion of studies shows how trust is operationalized and how different factors, such as fear, morality,

assessments of conspiracies, and interactions with authorities before and during the event, impacted

participants’perceptions of government and police legitimacy and trust in other criminal justice

systems. Regarding differences, totalitarian countries (e.g., Russia) or those with less developed

democracies (e.g., Kenya) may comply with police due to fear of authorities rather than an obligation

to obey or a belief in police legitimacy (see Akinlabi & Murphy, 2018; Tankebe, 2013). The public’s

encounters with police erode public trust in authorities; therefore, law enforcement should reduce

interactions involving trivial matters and routine stops during these events. Many studies in this

special issue showed that factors crucial to maintaining trust and compliance during this global

crisis depended on the public evaluation of how authorities responded.

Declaration of Conf‌licting Interests

The authors declared no potential conf‌licts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or

publication of this article.

Funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following f‌inancial support for the research, authorship, and/or

publication of this article: This work was supported by the University of Massachusetts Lowell (grant

number ZCHS-FAHSS).

ORCID iD

Amber Horninghttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1963-4295

Horning and Chenane113

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Horning and Chenane115

Author Biographies

Amber Horning, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the School of Criminology and Justice Studies at the

University of Massachusetts, Lowell. For the last decade, she has researched risk as it pertains to hidden pop-

ulations, human traff‌icking, forced migration, and citizen trust in government and police during global emergen-

cies. Her unique background and her ability to conduct qualitative and quantitative studies enable her to engage

in high-level interdisciplinary research utilizing innovative mixed methods approaches. She has presented and

published her work both nationally and internationally.

Joselyne L. Chenane, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the School of Criminology and Justice Studies at the

University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Her research interests include immigration, police-citizen relations, police

legitimacy, consequences of contact with the criminal justice system, race and justice, and neighborhood con-

texts and crime.

116 Criminal Justice Review 49(2)