Fear and Duty: How COVID-19 Changed the Face of Policing in NYC

Reflecting on my experiences in 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I recall being reassigned from a federal task force to uniformed patrol in a low-income area of Queens, New York. This was due to a significant shortage of officers, many of whom were out sick with COVID-19, some in critical condition. As a veteran detective with a background in proactive policing, I was tasked with supporting patrol operations in an environment that had undergone a significant shift sin...