Influencing Police and Community Relations in Abu Dhabi with a Soft Power Approach during COVID-19

Abstract

Abstract Soft power policing is emerging as the policing catch phrase in 2021 in part arising from multiple police–community relations challenges gaining an increasing public focus globally. This article presents the soft power approach to policing engaged by Abu Dhabi police pre- and during the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the underpinning strategies and initiatives deployed to sustain community trust and confidence levels in Abu Dhabi Police. A review of global indexes promotes Abu Dhabi Police as a world leader in police–community relations, an achievement sustained throughout the COVID-19 global crisis. This research explores the ways in which achievements are impacted by a sustained and an all-encompassing policing approach that places soft power at the centre of police and community relations.