By Fran Warren, Francesca Gualco, Hannah Davidson, Ella Edginton

Purpose of the paper: The main purpose of this paper is to assess how COVID-19 may have impacted international policing responses during the easing of lockdown in other countries in order to identify any useful learning. For this reason, evidence from Scotland is not included. Jurisdictions covered England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway and France. Note on the evidence This paper highlights factors around policing responses to be considered as part of forward planning, based on the evidence and intelligence available. The information in this paper was collected through a ‘rapid intelligence review’ of publicly available sources, such as relevant agency reports, government reports, and news reporting. This paper provides the most up-to-date available evidence, commentary and intelligence on international policing responses but as the evidence is rapidly evolving it may not be in all cases, completely up-to-date at the time of reading. Please note that the information provided covers the period up until 15 June 2020.   

Edinburgh: Scottish Government, Justice  Analytic Services, 2020. 76p.