Essay on COVID-19: Recognizing a National Security Threat through Human Behavior

Introduction

As the entire world faces the threat pose by the emergence of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the major commentators, state as well as the national leaders around the globe are beginning to recognize it as a real national security threat. However, it is essential to note that in the human behavior terms, the danger is not from the external enemies, but on the contrary from all the individuals that refuse to comply with guidelines as well as the instructions that are put in place and fail to alter their behaviors, in an attempt to adapt to the developing situation (Khan et al., 2020). With coronavirus and the individuals refusing to comply in and active and ongoing threat, then become a threat to others as well as to themselves. Many countries face external threats to their security, but the coronavirus risk represents a threat from its populace based on the distinct social-psychological elements. However, as the guidelines and instructions to shelter in place to curb the danger posed by this epidemic, and shut down on all the non-essential business practices, the law enforcement officers will play a significant role in making sure that the populace complies to the set guidelines in stopping the spread of COVID-19. This research paper is tailored to answer the question; how the COVID 19 has changed the daily life of the law enforcement officers?

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As the coronavirus epidemic continues to unfold globally, with the breathtaking changes that it posed to the entire population barely a month ago, the enforcement agencies have, however, responded with the prioritization of covid-19. However, it is essential to note that law enforcement officers have to deal with the same difficulties and constraints that the lest of rye societies and communities face (Khan et al., 2020). Them, like all of us, are facing significant travel constraints, learning to work while observing the social distancing rule, as well as dealing with family, colleagues, and friends who are sick from COVID-19. And in this process, the life of the law enforcement officers and all other individuals whose professional expertise are considered essential, have experienced a lot of changes in their day to day routines.

What We Know

The law enforcement officers have the most critical role in the fight against the coronavirus, as there is a need to enforce the rules and the regulations that have been stipulated and disperse crowds of individuals at gatherings as well as other events. This is because compliance with the instructed regime as well as derivatives is a long rusting issue when it comes to human behavior. Individuals do not do what is right for them as well as cease all behavior that poses a threat to their life (Keller, 2020). And in such the same is seen in the COVID-19 era and all the guidelines that have been put in place. Just as individuals continue to increase their consumption of sugary, fatty, and unhealthy foods, smoke consistently, and additionally refuse to exercise, this is the same thing that is observed when it comes to coronavirus and all the government guidelines that have been put in place. Insofar as the afore mention behavior is concerned and in the era of covid-19 sites other citizens at significant risk, and this poses a grave threat to the state health and security in which requires that the law enforcement is on the frontier to make sure that all citizens comply with the stated guidelines.

Impact of Coronavirus

Where the measures such as social distancing as well as stay at home measures and order have been put in place in most of the countries internationally, many of the essential workers such as the doctors, nurses, farmworkers, the grocery store workers, the cleaners as well as the transport workers, the law enforcement officers as well as all other first responders have remained active and whose responsibilities have increased significantly including the placing of the social distancing as well as shelter in place guidelines that make it very challenging to practice (Keller, 2020).

Increase in Workload for The Law Enforcement Officers

As a large percentage of individuals are at shelter-in-place or are in some sort of confinement, there has been an increase in new forms of crimes (Varalakshmi & Swetha, R, 2020). Changes in the crime patterns have already been seen. As a significant number of individuals are staying at home, the amount of burglaries has significantly decreased. However, the thieves are increasingly targeting business premises or factories and the manufacturing firms that are standing empty.

Additionally, since the initiation of the coronavirus related quarantine, there has been an increase in the case of domestic violence, and records reveal that women and children are at higher chances of being victims.

Also, the monitoring of the online activities has shown an increase in the online activities with pedophiles seeking children's sexual abuse materials, and this is made possible by the shortages in the moderators who monitor, identify as well as remove all the contents from the online.

Additionally, cybercrime has also significantly increased, with almost a third of the world population at home-the online fraud skyrocketing in addition to other crimes. The covid-19 epidemic and all the guidelines put in place have altered the law enforcement officer acting in such a way that it has increased their workload (Varalakshmi & Swetha, R, 2020). On top of the police officers making an effort to stop the spread of the disease by enforcing the state stipulated guidelines and given the nature of people not to do what is good for themselves, the police officers now are facing a new challenge of managing all sprouting criminal activities.

Deployment of Police Officers from The Rural Areas

As a result of COVID-19 quarantine or shelter in place, it is most likely to trigger significant police or patrol changes permanently or temporarily as most of the supplementary and the law enforcement officers are called upon from the rural areas to ensure the residents in the urban centers do not violate the shelter in place ordinances. Mainly the police officers are most likely to be deployed from the rural area, and this slims the police presence in the rural areas, and this might lead to increased criminal activities in the rural area (Quarantine Law Enforcement & Corona Virus (COVID-19) Pandemic in India. 2020). Additionally, this changes the daily routine if the law enforcement officers as it separates them from their loved ones making it difficult to balancer their responsibility and worry for their families.

Limited Medical Services and Hospitals for The Mission Officers

Concerning the medical equipment and health-related matter, the law enforcement officers that are on missions have their equipment and facilities. However, these facilities are not designed for a public emergency, and consequently, the facilities many quickly become limited if the officer starts falling sick. This is because stopping criminal activities put the officers at a higher risk of contracting the covid-19. It however protocol guidelines that in case of any difficulty for the mission officers to be evacuated and in this case this might not be possible since most of the nations have closed their bounders making it very difficult to evacuate the law enforcement officers and hence altering the daily life of the law enforcement officers.

Officer Health and Safety

The domestic or the local official and all citizens ought to understand the significant risk that the law enforcement officers safe in probably being faced by the COVID-19 virus. Like the healthcare practitioners, the police officers, as well as all other first responders and, are most likely to encounter individuals infected with the virus (How COVID-19 is impacting RI law enforcement - WPRI.com. (n.d.). Additionally, apart from the law enforcement officers being at a higher chance of contracting the virus, they may be experiencing significant stress, increased pressuring this time of epidemic as well as other continued responsibilities outside4 of work, along them being the probability of their families contracting the disease and this creates stress, anxiety, and fear. And this affects their daily work routine significantly as they might not be able to perform their roles actively.

Limitations Impose by Courts

While the effects of the COVID-19 virus are different from one country to the other and one region to the next and by the office, the non-essential investigations are most likely to experience delays. The daily practices of the officers working in these offices, and that used to proceed on with their tasks without any fiction haver become extremely difficult (Sisak et al., 2020). The law enforcement officers in this area are most likely to face the challenges in gathering and reviewing the essential documents as well as evidence, in the meeting of the credible witnesses and in communicating with law enforcement agencies. The document for the cases takes longer time to process, the preparation of the witness becomes very difficult to prepare and may not appear to for the hearings owing to the travel restrictions imposed, and this affects the regular work routine of the law enforcement officers (Varalakshmi & Swetha, R, 2020).

Conclusion

Like the rest of the population, the law enforcement officers and agencies face significant restrictions by the increasing evolution of the COVID-19 virus that has significant changes we live or day to day life and in the way we perform our tasks. The law enforcement agencies have taken significant measures to prioritize the effects of the COVID-19 related issues as well as crimes while continuing to press on with their daily activities as well as their long-standing law enforcement tasks. However, in their daily tasks of enforcing the law, they inevitably face a significant risk of contracting the virus, and they have to overcome the practical limitations as well as the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

How COVID-19 is impacting RI law enforcement - WPRI.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.wpri.com/video/how-covid-19-is-impacting-ri-law-enforcement/4433438/

Keller, M. G. (2020, April 18). Crime and COVID-19: Carroll County law enforcement report some rate decreases since the state of emergency began. Retrieved from https://www.baltimoresun.com/coronavirus/cc-carroll-county-crime-coronavirus-decline-20200416-u4z5xvtebfdm5obalid6vln5uu-story.html

Khan, S., Ali, A., Siddique, R., & Nabi, G. (2020). The novel coronavirus is putting the whole world on alert. The Journal of Hospital Infection, 104(3), 252-253. https://doi-org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1016/j.jhin.2020.01.019Quarantine Law Enforcement & Corona Virus (COVID-19) Pandemic in India. (2020). Journal of Xidian University, 14(4). doi: 10.37896/jxu14.4/068

Sisak, M. R., Bleiberg, J., & Dazio, S. (2020, March 18). Police shift priorities as novel coronavirus crisis grow. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/u-s-police-shift-priorities-as-novel-coronavirus-crisis-grows

Varalakshmi, R., & Swetha, R. (2020). Covid-19 Lock Down: People Psychology due to Law Enforcement. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 102102. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102102