Santa Rosa officers adapt to new crisis as coronavirus spreads

When Sonoma County schools shifted to at-home instruction last month to block the spread of the coronavirus, Santa Rosa school-resource officer Armando Jauregui figured a change of pace was imminent.

But keeping up with quickly changing situations is part of the job, said Jauregui, a 20-year veteran of the Santa Rosa Police Department who previously worked on the department’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Investigations team and assignments in patrol.

The department reconfigured itself to respond to the immediate and long-term needs of its community and staff after turbulent wildfires in 2017 and 2019, and it would do the same during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We adapt to whatever crisis is going on,” said Jauregui, whose assignment as a school resource officer embedded him at Elsie Allen High School. “We look at, ‘So, we have these resources, how do we use them for our benefit?’?”

The department began that process in short order, moving detectives and some of the department’s school-resource officers into patrol to help respond to calls from citizens in need of help, the department’s primary focus.

Last weekend, officers, sergeants and other civilian staff working in public-facing roles switched to schedules of three to four half-day shifts followed by two weeks of home isolation to prevent the spread of the virus among staff and the public in the event that an employee became infected.

Officers were equipped with personal protective gear in case they came into contact with someone suspected of carrying the virus, and the agency began meticulously cleaning its offices and patrol cars.

The department also learned about a cadre of officers in San Jose who were tasked with compliance to their county’s local health order in relation to the coronavirus, and decided to mimic the unit in Santa Rosa.

Jauregui was one of a handful of officers put on the local version of the team, taking complaints called into dispatchers about businesses that had not closed down despite being ordered to do so by Sonoma County’s public health officer. Jauregui also patrolled the city for signs of activity at businesses that should be closed, keeping a copy of the orders and phoning the Sonoma County Counsel’s Office when it was unclear if there was a violation, he said.

Most of the employees at those businesses said they were unsure about whether the order applied to them, while others seemed to be waiting to be told to close down, Jauregui said. All have been asked to voluntarily comply with the orders by the city’s officers, who have opted to educate rather than issue citations for failing to comply.

“What do you do? They’re trying to keep their business open, I get it,” Jauregui said of his interactions with the businesses.

“But the best way I sell it is, ‘Look, you have to do your part to keep the community safe.’?”

Jauregui’s sentiment rang especially true this week, when the coronavirus’ impact on public safety workers materialized into the worst-case scenario for family, friends and coworkers of those infected.

The Santa Rosa Police Department announced Marylou Armer, a detective and longtime employee at the agency who was one of nine officers who previously tested positive for the virus, died because of complications from the respiratory illness.

Armer’s death put into focus the contradictory nature of public health guidelines to prevent people from catching the virus, such as working from home and avoiding contact with strangers, with the reality of first responder professions, which sometimes requires sworn officers, deputies and other trained employees to step into harm’s way during times of crisis and confusion.

“I think there’s worry but you can’t focus on that,” Jauregui said in an interview before Armer’s death was made public.

“For anybody in public service - doctors, firefighters, EMTs - you’re going to have to set that aside and do what you have to do to help the public. That’s what a lot of people signed up for.”

Santa Rosa Police Chief Rainer Navarro highlighted how fortunate the department was to have a special team of officers doing business compliance checks, which in turn frees up other officers who may be needed for more urgent calls for help and ensures complaints about businesses violating the local health orders are quickly answered.

Navarro commended Jauregui’s diligence in his new, temporary role, one aimed at reducing the toll of the virus within the community in the long term.

“I’ve seen him doing this work almost every single day,” Navarro said of Jauregui.

“They’re taking the lead in doing the educational piece of what the health order is.”

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com.