SAN ANGELO, Texas — COVID-19 has been a pandemic for almost a week and in fear of the spread of it, many stores have closed and events have been canceled, but what about our police force?
What precautions is the San Angelo Police Department using to protect its employees and officers to hopefully slow the spread of the coronavirus?
SAPD Public Information Officer Tracy Piatt-Fox said, “It’s important to know we’re following the guidelines from the CDC, as well as local officials in terms of reducing that unnecessary risk of exposure. And some of the changes that we have made have helped us to reduce the interaction.”
If an individual wants to get a copy of a police report or any record, SAPD urges citizens to go online to obtain them. Also, anyone looking to report a crime committed can done online to minimize interaction with the police department employees. The SAPD is stressing that if there is a crime progress to please call 9-1-1. If it’s nonessential, not a crime-in-progress, go online and file a report.
To protect officers on the street, there is a temporary protocol that the police department is using to help reduce the risk of contamination from COVID-19 for not only the citizens, but officers as well. Should one of the staff members of the police department become infected, there will be a standard protocol that is in the SAPD policy for contamination.
“We all need to work together when we’re dealing with a health emergency, whether it be local or global, we need to remain calm. It’s really important that we stay plugged in and get our information from trusted sources such as officials, and we need to avoid that online hysteria that has done nothing but create issues, whether it be at the grocery store or the doctor’s office,” Piatt-Fox said.
To file an online report, go to sanangelopolice.org/coplogic.