Policing the pandemic: Frontline officers’ perspectives on organisational justice
| Author | Denise Martin,Neil Leslie,William Graham |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14613557221132492 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Original Research Articles |
Policing the pandemic: Frontline officers’
perspectives on organisational justice
Denise Martin
Division of Sociology, School of Business Law and Social Sciences, Abertay University, UK
Neil Leslie
Division of Sociology, School of Business Law and Social Sciences, Abertay University, UK
William Graham
Division of Sociology, School of Business Law and Social Sciences, Abertay University, UK
Abstract
Much of the literature on the policing of the coronavirus pandemic reflects research that has been extra-organisationally
focused, examining the prospective impact of the police approach to applying the public health legislation on relationships
with the public and the potential impact on police legitimacy. Less research has been intra-organisationally focused; inves-
tigating the potential affect on police officers of policing during an extraordinary public health crisis, wh ich has required
them to navigate an ambiguous and constantly fluctuating legislative and policy landscape that has driven significant
changes to internal working practices and operatio nal procedures within their organisational environment. Using original
empirical data from a small multi-method study within one Division of a United Kingdom police force, we examined the
issue from an organisational justice perspective; exploring perceptions of intra-organisational fairness, and how these may
have directly impacted upon the responses of frontline officers during the pandemic. We argue that in this period, both
organisational processes and their resultant outcomes did not meet normative expectations, as they discriminated against
officers with public-facing (frontline) roles. This directly impacted upon the officers’experience of the ‘organisational cli-
mate’. The resulting sense of organisational injustice felt by frontline officers reduced their morale, impacted upon rela-
tionships with senior officers, and nurtured feelings that they were not being treated with respect, dignity and trust. We
conclude by discussing the potential implications of the study for police organisations and their leaders, outlining oppor-
tunities for organisational learning and consider the need for the development of policy that complements notions of
organisational justice.
Keywords
Pandemic, organisational justice, organisational climate, front line, learning from crisis
Submitted 14 Jan 2022, Revise received 28 Jun 2022, accepted 30 Aug 2022
Introduction
In early March 2020, the World Health Organization
declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak as a
global pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis went on to have a
profound effect on policing in the United Kingdom (UK)
and beyond (Maskály et al., 2021). However, even before
the current public health crisis, the contemporary policing
environment had been identified as particularly challenging;
one of seeminglyconstant organisational changeand reform,
coupled with increasing public demand and media scrutiny
(Newiss et al., 2021).Historically identified as an occupation
Corresponding author:
Denise Martin, Division of Sociology, School of Business Law and Social
Sciences, Abertay University, Dundee, UK.
Email: d.martin@abertay.ac.uk
Original Research Article
International Journal of
Police Science & Management
2023, Vol. 25(1) 30–41
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/14613557221132492
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