Local law enforcement is taking many of the same precautions as the public in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Officers with the Tucumcari Police Department are doing their due diligence with use of gloves and washing hands. They also are sterilizing equipment, including police cruisers, more often, according to the Quay County Sun.
The Quay County Sheriff’s Department is utilizing masks in an effort to protect its personnel. It is also using rubber gloves as it takes pains to be conscious of its environment.
“Be more mindful of what you touch,” Sheriff Russell Shafer told the Sun. “Don’t go into houses unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
The department also has plastic face shields in its inventory for possible use. In the meantime, the focus is on washing hands and practicing social distancing.
Along with the virus, there has been an undercurrent of concern regarding mental health throughout the nation. For law enforcement, it is addressed in morale as the officers are putting their lives on the line against an unseen enemy when they clock in to protect the public.
Tucumcari Police Chief David Lathrom said morale is fine at the department.
There is a concern that should an officer become infected, the department would be short-handed. Those potential issues have been thought out and there is a plan in place.
Lathrom told the Sun the department and sheriff’s office work well together in addition to other departments. Officers would be able to work minor cases on the phones to help offset the loss of manpower.
“It shouldn’t have a big impact on the people here in town even if officers go down because we have planned for that sort of thing,” he told the Sun.
Shafer told the Sun there is not a great plan for his seven-man force, but he was meeting with other agencies to develop a plan should it become necessary.
The Quay City Detention Center has a low population, according to the Sun, and it has currently stopped visitation. If needed, front office personnel would cover shifts.
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