Police as a mechanism of social control during the pandemic

Še nedolgo nazaj, v letu 2019, ko se je še neznani virus širil po Kitajski, nekje daleč stran od nas, si nismo mogli predstavljati, da bo samo v nekaj mesecih zajel celoten svet in povzročil svetovno zdravstveno krizo. Življenja, kot smo ga poznali pred pandemijo, nismo več poznali, začela se je neka nova realnost, ki so jo zaznamovali ukrepi za zajezitev covida-19. Nekateri ukrepi, ki so veljali, so v ljudeh vzbujali nestrinjanje in nezadovoljstvo, mnogim so bili nesmiselni in preveč invazivni za osebno svobodo. V Sloveniji je bilo moč zaznati splošno nezadovoljstvo prebivalstva nad ukrepi, ki jih je izvajala in nadzirala policija. V času pandemije se je po celotnem svetu pokazalo, kako vpeto je družbeno nadzorstvo, tako formalno kot neformalno, v naša življenja. Državno formalno nadzorstvo in njen najvidnejši »element«, policija, sta pokazali dejansko moč nadzorstva ter tudi, kaj pomeni, ko ljudje nadzorstvo zaznavajo kot pretirano, saj se pojavi splošno nezadovoljstvo z oblastjo, njenimi organi, nezaupanje in državna nepokorščina. V Sloveniji smo to videli tudi na številnih protestih. V luči vsega tega dogajanja, pa je nastalo to diplomsko delo z namenom pojasniti pomen in vlogo družbenega, predvsem formalnega nadzorstva, natančneje policije, ki je za ljudi najvidnejši nadzornik, še posebej v teh »novih« časih. Zaradi nezadovoljstva in nestrinjanja z nekaterimi ukrepi za zajezitev virusa covid-19, je bila opravljena raziskava med prebivalci Republike Slovenije o delu policije, zaznavanju vloge policije pri zajezitvi pandemije in »ubogljivosti« državljanov pri upoštevanju ukrepov za zajezitev virusa covid-19, kjer je bilo ugotovljeno, da so se večini sodelujočih, ukrepi kot so policijska ura, prepovedano gibanje med občinami, obvezno nošenje mask na prostem in drugi, zdeli nesmiselni, zato so jih mnogi kršili, policija pa tudi s svojim represivnim delovanjem ni vplivala na večje spoštovanje ukrepov. Sodelujoči so zato v raziskavi policijo opredelili kot niti pomembno in niti nepomembno, v smislu dejanskega doprinosa k zajezitvi covida-19. Samo delovanje policije med veljavnimi ukrepi pa je po raziskavi, ki jo je izvedla policija sama, vplivalo tudi na zaupanje prebivalcev Slovenije do policije, ki je v primerjavi s prejšnjimi leti precej nižje.Not long ago, in 2019, when an yet unknown virus has spread across China, somewhere far away from us, we could not have imagined that in just few months, it would cover the entire world and cause a global health crisis. We no longer knew life as we knew it before the pandemic. A new reality began, marked by measures to contain covid-19. Some of the implemented measures aroused dissent and dissatisfaction in the people, and for many, they were meaningless and too invasive for personal freedom. In Slovenia, it was possible to detect general dissatisfaction of the population with the measures, which were implemented and controlled by the police. During the pandemic, it became clear around the world how social control, both formal and informal, is embedded in our lives. State formal control and its most visible “element,” the police, have shown the real power of control, as well as what it means when people perceive control as excessive, as there is general dissatisfaction with the government, its organs, mistrust, and state disobedience. We have also seen this in Slovenia at numerous protests. In the light of all this happening, this diploma work was created in order to explain the meaning and role of social control, especially formal social control, by the implementation of the police, which is the most visible supervisor/controller for people, especially in these “new” times. Because of dissatisfaction and disagreement with some measures to curb the covid-19 virus, a survey was created among the population of the Republic of Slovenia, on the work of the police, the perception of the role of the police in controlling the pandemic and the "obedience" of citizens in taking measures to contain the covid-19 virus. We found that to the most of the participants, measures such as curfew, prohibited movement between municipalities, mandatory wearing of masks outdoors and other measures, seemed pointless. Therefore, many of them also violated them, and the police, even through their repressive actions, did not influence greater compliance with the measures. Participants in the study therefore defined the police as neither important nor unimportant, in terms of their actual contribution to the covid-19 containment. According to research conducted by the police itself, the operation of the police with valid measures also affected the confidence of the population of Slovenia in the police, which is much lower than in previous years