Pandemic forces Sonoma County law enforcement to confront new dangers

Troubling news came Friday to Ray Navarro, Santa Rosa’s police chief: Two more of his officers tested positive for COVID-19.

The test results from Sonoma County health officials bring to five the number of SRPD officers infected with the viral disease that’s fueling a global pandemic.

Navarro said it appears that public contact by the two newly diagnosed officers, one a detective and the other a member of the patrol staff, “has been limited and minimal.”

In all, 20 Santa Rosa police employees now have been tested. Navarro said four of the tests - performed on three officers and a civilian employee - came back negative. He awaits pending results of the other 11 tests.

“It’s like it’s hitting home,” the chief said.

He announced new measures intended to bring about earlier detection of new infections among SRPD employees. Officers, sergeants and civilians working in community service for the police department will switch to a schedule of three or four days of 12.5-hour shifts followed by two weeks of isolation at home. The department has about 175 sworn positions.

If an employee contracts the virus, Navarro said, “that two weeks off allows for the signs (of infection) to show.” He said the schedule is being instituted as a best-practices approach by other U.S. law enforcement agencies.

On Thursday, the day before Navarro learned of the two additional confirmed cases of coronavirus disease, Navarro said the pandemic’s arrival at the SRPD has inflicted what he called “a very sobering effect on all our staff.”

In addition to the five officers who’ve tested positive, another four Police Department employees have gone into isolation at home, either because they began to feel ill or suspect they may have been exposed to the new coronavirus.

One deputy with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, who had retired and then returned to duty as needed, is hospitalized after testing positive.

Sheriff Mark Essick said the deputy fell ill after taking a Gulf of Mexico cruise early in March.

“We are very confident that he got it on a cruise,” Essick said. He added that the deputy did not work any shifts after the cruise.

The sheriff said two other deputies are home in isolation after possibly being exposed to the virus. They had patrolled in the same car after one experienced a possible exposure outside of work.

Essick said both deputies were placed into isolation “out of an abundance of caution, not because we think they had a positive exposure.”

Throughout the Bay Area, California and the nation, generally small but growing numbers of law enforcement officers and firefighters are in isolation or treatment after contracting the respiratory disease or coming to suspect they may have been exposed to it.

On top of the anxiety suddenly common to much of humanity over the health of loved ones and over kids out of school and spouses possibly out of work, those who drive patrol cars contend now with the threat of exposure to the virus.

“It’s tough,” said Ken Savano, chief of the Petaluma Police Department. “It’s certainly changing the way we deliver services.”

Navarro, the Santa Rosa chief, said of the his department’s employees, “We’re all human, too.” On top of the special risks confronting peace officers, he said, “we also have the normal risk of every other community member.”

“We’re all taking this very seriously.”

In Santa Rosa and elsewhere, officers are donning protective gear, driving cruisers that are disinfected regularly and exploring ways to deal with community members, when possible, without being face-to-face.

Navarro said he does not know how the five officers who tested positive for COVID-19 and are in isolation were exposed. It’s possible that none of them picked up the virus while working out in public.

The prospect that SRPD employees might be exposed off-duty and then be spreading the virus to co-workers and members of the public has commanders and unions urging officers to be mindful and cautious while off work.

Shelter-in-place “is a legal order,” Navarro said. “We have to be sure we’re abiding by it.”

Law enforcement agencies in Sonoma County and everywhere are introducing anti-infection safeguards and procedures. Sheriff Essick said that when deputies and county jail correctional officers report for work they must check themselves for signs of fever or other symptoms.

“When they walk in the door, there’s a thermometer sitting there, and a checklist,” he said. If symptoms are present, a deputy or jail officer is to go home on sick leave.

Local law enforcement agencies also are taking advantage of the priority that peace officers and firefighters receive in the administering of tests for the coronavirus.

Navarro said his department is working with the county’s health officer to test more Police Department staff, “specifically those who may have come into contact with the affected individuals.”

Throughout departments there are now carts of gloves and masks and, often, goggles.

“We’ve got Clorox wipes in every patrol car,” Essick said. “Everybody’s on their toes and everybody’s thinking about it.”

These days, Navarro said, the Santa Rosa police headquarters “smells like a hospital - lots of bleach.”

“We’re holding our briefings outside,” the chief noted. And, when possible, officers and detectives are following up on calls for nonemergency service with phone calls rather than in-person visits.

On the streets, many officers are working to limit how often they encounter people face-to-face, and how close they move to that people. David deRutte, spokesman for the Sonoma County office of the California Highway Patrol, observed that an upside of the current crisis is the obvious reduction in the number of vehicles on the highways and roads.

Despite the vast new realm of danger implicit when an officer approaches someone in the line of duty, deRutte said the CHP office in Rohnert Park is practicing new standards of cleanliness and exposure prevention, and at this point is navigating the coronavirus crisis quite well.

“We don’t have any confirmed cases from our office,” he said.

Savano, the Petaluma chief, said officers are going less often into homes and businesses as they seek reluctantly to limit the personal encounters they know are essential to effective community policing.

“There are times when the officers have to get involved and have to have contact with people. We’re trying to make that as infrequent as possible.”

Though it’s a tougher time for police officers, Savano said, “They they recognize that their service is essential to the community, and they’re doing their best.”

You can reach Staff Writer Chris Smith at chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.