Key Points

1. 1) The COVID-19 pandemic motivated the adoption or expansion of alternative-to-arrest policies across the United States. Led by an increased use of citation in lieu of arrest, these policies helped reduce police-civilian interactions and unnecessary justice system involvement.
2. 2) These COVID-19-motivated policy shifts are fragile. Their status as emergency measures connected to the pandemic, along with the unilateral manner in which law enforcement agencies enacted many of them, make them especially vulnerable to rollbacks. Indeed, even though the pandemic continues to rage, some jurisdictions have already reversed course on alternatives to arrest.
3. 3) Policymakers can make alternatives to arrest more sustainable by increasing the number of actors with authority over them. This includes enacting policy changes through legislative processes rather than executive order as well as passing measures that shift the duty to respond to certain crises away from law enforcement officials.