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Who’s protecting the police while they protect the public during the COVID-19 pandemic?
The International Association of Chiefs of Police organized a call between law enforcement agencies and officials from the White House and the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, according to an ABC News report.
And one of the most blunt requests during the hour-long teleconference came from a police chief from outside of San Francisco, who said, “Stop testing NBA players, and start testing our first responders.”
Chief John Carli of Vacaville, Calif., was referring to reports that professional basketball players including Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets, as well as players from the Utah Jazz, Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Philadelphia 76ers and other teams have tested positive, even as a shortage of coronavirus tests in the U.S. has hampered the nation’s response to the rapidly escalating pandemic. There have been many anecdotal reports from Americans unable to get tested for COVID-19, even when they have shown symptoms.
Carli admitted that he has had to use “backchannels” at a local hospital to get tests for his officers who could have been exposed to the coronavirus. “We’re gonna lose our first responders,” he said on the call recorded and reviewed by ABC News. “Somebody needs to make a decision at the very high level so that we’re not having to have these decisions made [this way].”
Police departments revealed their workforces are buckling, similar to many industries across the country, due to officers getting sick, or getting exposed, and having to quarantine or isolate themselves. Indeed, a senior Department of Homeland Security official revealed on the call that “several thousand” DHS employees have been put out of commission over the last few weeks, as well.
Bill Brooks, a police chief in Norwood, Mass., noted that his department’s mission has “completely changed” from just three weeks ago. “Our core mission at this point is not only public service but sustainability. I need the police department to be operational and healthy 60 days from now,” he said.
That means regular law enforcement practices like routine traffic stops have essentially skidded to a halt, he said, noting, “We really told our people not to do traffic enforcement at all.”
What’s more, officers in some parts of the country have orders to avoid arresting people “if at all possible,” outside of the most violent crimes and matters of life and death, the police chiefs revealed on the call. In fact, as the coronavirus spreads in New York City’s jails, including Rikers Island, there has been pressure from the Board of Correction to release inmates in order to reduce jail populations, such as those in custody with little time remaining on their sentences.
“We will be asked to enforce orders but not make physical arrests,” Brooks said on the call. “And it will come down to the amazing skills of cops to make that happen.”
