Assessing public support for expanded police powers in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic: Testing the limits of Sunshine and Tyler's empowerment hypothesis

Abstract

PurposeThis study seeks to extend recent research on perceptions of “pandemic policing” by examining public support for the ability of police to surveil, quarantine, detain, and remove individuals from their homes, if suspected of exposure to or manifesting symptoms of the coronavirus. This study draws from extant research on public willingness to empower police, including common normative and instrumental explanations of empowerment. We also assess whether perceptions that governments exploit emergencies influence willingness to empower police. MethodsUsing a nationwide opt-in sample of 600 American adults surveyed in late April 2020, OLS regressions examine the correlates of support for expanding police powers at that time. ResultsThere was greater than 50% support for six out of seven possible expansions of police authority. Regression results indicate that normative orientations (police legitimacy, perceptions that governments exploit national emergencies) and instrumental considerations (fear of COVID-19, perceived severity of its consequences) influence willingness to empower police, though normative orientations appear to have stronger effects. ConclusionLegitimacy is a powerful predictor of empowerment, even in exceptional circumstances. Strategies meant to deal with these circumstances will need to be cognizant of the long-term need to cultivate legitimacy by various institutional actors, including police, and the relevance of instrumental considerations in shaping support for these strategies.