One of the challenges faced by law enforcement is to have a clear understanding of COVID-19 related measures in order to enforce them properly. Moreover, the public needs a clear understanding of what measures are currently in place in order to comply. Not all measures are clearly communicated through written media releases.. Many measure announcements have been issued at press conferences and Twitter briefings on behalf of government officials, or in other video formats.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, government measures and restrictions may have changed over time, rendering any comparison of rates of infection between different jurisdictions and geographies very challenging.

The Toronto Police Service (TPS) would like students to research and qualify the government and public health measures put in place by City of Toronto, Government of Ontario, City of New York, State of New York, and federal measures on behalf of Canada and the US. Students can also investigate other cities or states as they see fit (i.e. British Columbia, California), as well as possible correlated crimes leveraging search trends platforms. We ask them to:

1) Review government and public health sources of information for confirmed measures put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2) Compare confirmed measures in one jurisdiction/municipality/province/state with others

3) Identify the changes made in policies or measures over time, since the beginning of the pandemic

4) Review of reports in media regarding COVID-19 policy enforcement for accuracy and potential for misinformation

a. Recommendations for the public as well as officers to follow in order to work with the best quality information and comply with legislation

5) Prepare a final report and/or presentation of findings with recommendations for future pandemics