ABSTRACT
This study investigates the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the policies and practices of law enforcement, with a specific focus on sheriff departments in the State of Indiana. To accomplish this, we employed a triangulation approach by analyzing common themes derived from interviews with four sheriffs, government reports, and direct observation in the State of Indiana. The findings are analyzed through the lens of “institutional isomorphism” conceptualized by DiMaggio and Powell (1983). This chapter sheds light on how the institutional responses of sheriff departments during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in homogeneous reactions, which can be attributed to coercive, mimetic, and normative isomorphic mechanisms that influenced the decision-making processes. The findings conclude that the institutional challenges and responses of law enforcement institutions such as financial strains, crime responses, protective measures, jail management, and workforce issues, have become more homogeneous and the sheriff departments adopted comparable structures, practices, and behaviors to increase their legitimacy and reduce uncertainty within their institutional environment.
