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A systematic review on the impact of extreme crises, such as natural disasters and public health emergencies (PHE) on law enforcement agencies and personnel identified four broad areas of concern: 1. The impact on intraorganizational dynamics: PHEs often test existing emergency plans to their limits. Pandemics, especially, tend to create resource shortages and staff absenteeism (eg officers falling sick) on the one hand, while driving service demand up on the other. The latter is often increased through a surge of specific crimes such as fraud, the need to enforce crisis-specific measures, and the increased time and effort needed to deal with even minor incidents. 2. The impact on officer wellbeing: PHEs can increase the likelihood of police officers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety. At the same time such crises increase the dependency on unhealthy coping mechanisms such as the abuse of drugs or alcohol. Police culture can become a barrier between mental health problems and getting support through counselling, therapy, etc. Nevertheless, police officers are more resilient than other first responders, potentially because of the training they receive and the screening processes involved in their recruitment.

3. The impact on police community relations: Police-community relations are likely to suffer during a PHE. Tensions on both sides might be heightened because officers may have to enforce measures that infringe civil liberties. A lack of knowledge and understanding of a disease amongst officers can result in discrimination and mistreatment of infected persons on the part of the police (highlighted …