Police reduce responding to calls to prevent spread of COVID-19
Police reduce responding to calls to prevent spread of COVID-19
In Lansing and the surrounding communities, police are no longer responding to minor calls, according to MLive. In an effort to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, the police are avoiding calls that are not particularly serious in nature and will not be responding in person for the time being.
The goal across the nation has become a trend when it comes to limiting public interaction and the spread of COVID-19, especially among local law enforcement. The purpose of reducing the number of calls that the police are responding to is to protect both law enforcement officers and the citizens in the community as well.
The Lansing Police Chief Daryl Green released a memo on March 12, according to MLive, that discussed which calls officers were no longer responding to, in order to be proactive in the new coronavirus exposure mitigation. All larceny, retail theft, retail fraud under $1,000, attempted break-ins, break-ins at unoccupied homes and buildings, harassment via email or phone and credit card theft are all on the list of crimes that the police are not responding to in person. All reports that need to be made or filed for these types of crimes will be handled through the Web or a telephone call.
Lansing is not alone in implementing these changes and is not the only city facing these challenges. Several other police departments have resorted to the same strategy to prevent the virus spread. While some cities are not stopping police calls, they have taken other actions, which include limiting or eliminating public access to facilities, including prisoner visits.