Plural Policing, Security and the COVID Crisis

“Anyone curious about how plural policing unfolds in times of crisis should read this book. Experts empirically describe the dynamics during the fight against COVID-19 in 9 countries and show how existing trends and patterns in plural policing are confirmed or not, making it an attractive read. It reveals an intriguing patchwork and generates insights for academics and practitioners about the (non-)active role of a diversity of actors in the governance of security during crises. This collection contains several insights and lessons learnt for scholars as well as practitioners of policing.”

—Marleen Easton, Professor and head of the research group 'Governing and Policing Security' (GaPS) at the Department of Public Governance and Management at Ghent University, Belgium 

This book critically examines how countries across Europe have dealt with the COVID crisis from a policing and security perspective. Across the chapters, contributors from different countries examine the data, press coverage, and provide professional observations on how policing, law enforcement, police powers and community relations were managed. They focus on how security and governmental actors often failed to align with the formal scripts that were specifically designed for crisis-management, resulting in the wavering application of professional discretion and coercive powers. Their different approaches were evident: in some regions police were less dominantly visible compared to other regions, where the police used a top-down visible and repressive stance vis-à-vis public alignment with COVID rules, including the imposition of lockdown and curfews. Some contributors draw on data from the COROPOL (Corona Policing) Monitor which collated data on crime, plural policing and public order in Europe and around the world during the early phases of the COVID crisis. Overall, this book seeks to provide comparative criticalinsights and commentary as well as a practical and operational understanding of security governance during the COVID-19 crisis and the lessons learned to improve future preparedness.
Monica den Boer ​is Professor of Military Policing Operations at the Netherlands Defence Academy. Her primary research focus is on the evolution of military policing, as well as border policing, international policing, urban policing and the policing of organised crime and terrorism. She served as member of the Dutch national parliament from 2017 to 2020. Prior to this she worked in several academic and professional environments, including the Police Academy of the Netherlands and the VU University Amsterdam.


Eric Bervoets is a police scientist and criminologist. He has been active as a researcher since 1997. After a master's degree in public administration at Rotterdam Erasmus University, the Netherlands, Bervoets obtained his PhD in 2006 with a dissertation on policing troubled neighbourhoods. In 2020, he was appointed Research Fellow at the Netherlands Defence Academy.

Linda Hak obtained her BSc in Criminology at Erasmus University and a master’s degree in Legal Psychology at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. She served as a research intern at Bureau Bervoets and is employed as a detective assistant for the National Police of the Netherlands.