A comparative exploration of perceived community and police adherence to COVID-19 regulations

Ivković, S. K., Wu, Y., Liu, Y. V., Kotlaja, M., Sun, I., Neyroud, P., Maskály, J., Kobajica, S., França, L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7826-4079, Mraović, I. C., Borovec, K., Dausan, A. F., Lobnikar, B., Mihelič, K. P., Sauerman, A., Chang, K.-M. and Roch, J. (2025) A comparative exploration of perceived community and police adherence to COVID-19 regulations. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. ISSN 1552-6933 doi: 10.1177/0306624X251366679

Abstract/Summary

Based on an early 2020s survey of 3,500 police officers from nine countries, this paper explores perceived community and police adherence to the COVID-19 regulations. We propose that both public and police perceived adherence with the COVID-19 rules are related not only to individual-level factors (e.g., gender, concern for own health) but also to country-level factors (e.g., quality of governance, protection of citizens’ rights). Our findings reveal that individual-level factors, such as the concerns for personal and family health, were strong and consistent predictors of perceived community and police adherence. While misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with the perceived community adherence, it was not related to the perceived police adherence. Moreover, country-level factors, such as the stringency of COVID-19 rules and regulations and the protection of citizens’ rights, were also significantly related to both perceived community and police adherence.