Covid-19 and the changes the pandemic brought were unexpected and new for everyone. And just like others police services had to quickly learn to adapt, find their ways to keep operating, make it safe for staff and citizens, and also understand the new focus the global problem has brought up in their field of work.
Fortunately, as Estevan Police Chief Paul Ladouceur pointed out, police, in general, are very good at adapting to fluid situations as being prepared for the unexpected has always been a part of their job.
“This is no different. We obviously had to practise social distancing at the workplace like everybody else. We had to ensure that we have the proper protective equipment available to our staff and our members,” said Ladouceur.
Few expected the pandemic to develop to this scale, but Ladouceur said that they turned out to be as prepared as possible, keeping in mind that there was no other precedent of that magnitude in recent history.
“A lot of internal changes certainly have occurred. We had to enact our internal pandemic business plan for this virus, which involved moving individuals to different positions within the organization, some back to frontline patrol to deal with the potential increase in call volume,” said Ladouceur.
Even though the call numbers were down a bit in comparison to the previous month, in reality, the EPS had a chance to take the lower priority calls. Ladouceur also noticed that they started to see an increase in what they call “spin-off occurrences from the pandemic,” such as domestic calls, mental health issues and also an increase in thefts and fraud due to financial problems caused by the quarantine.
“We are assessing that to see what is (ahead). It’s not just going to stop. When COVID-19 finally does drift away … the reality is the aftereffects and the aftermath of this may carry on for a period of time,” said Ladouceur.
The EPS also received a “significant number” of calls related to self-isolation, especially in the beginning of the quarantine. But none of them resulted in any kind of enforcement, since all community members brought to police attention were indeed complying with the regulations.
“It was a case of people just wanting to be cautious, making sure that we were aware that someone was potentially violating.”
Another challenge the Estevan Police Service (EPS) had to adapt to was fast-changing and evolving legislation. Members constantly had to be up to date on the new practices and educational components, along with ways to deal with any potential violations or lack of knowledge for general public, which were often updating on weekly or bi-weekly basis.
The adaptation was no easy job, but Ladouceur praised the community for handling the difficult situation and expects to see the same level of responsibility going forward.
Now that some restrictions are off, EPS started receiving new calls about some smaller gatherings in which people are seen getting closer together than two metres. In those cases, police recommend using common sense.
“Thing that people have to keep in mind is just because there is a low level or no level of cases in our immediate area doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be practising the measures and the recommendations that are put in place,” said Ladouceur.
The EPS has been responding to calls about gatherings, where people were formally following the regulations. Officers attended to educate citizens and remind them that even if they are meeting in a group of nine, it’s not necessarily safe.
“There are recommendations and there are orders … Group over 10 that’s a violation (of the order). If someone is refusing to self-isolate or quarantine, that’s a violation. Having a group of eight people together is not a violation, but it’s going against the recommendations.
“And what we want to do is instill common sense in people. The whole idea is not to have to enforce and legislate and go out and charge people for not complying. The whole idea is to educate the community of the importance of complying and importance of practising and following recommendations,” said Ladouceur.
He went on to explain that on top of following the main recommendations, to do their best to protect themselves, people also should try to keep their close circle of those they are staying in touch with quite narrow.
“If we don’t put this on ourselves and take the necessary responsibility on then we may be extending this much longer than we already have,” said Ladouceur.
Even though everyone is eager to reopen, the police are not in much of a hurry to get back to normal. Ladouceur said the system they put in place is working and it’s more important for them to ensure that the community is safe first. At this point, the EPS also has committed to continue attending kids’ birthdays when they can as they’ve been doing during the last weeks.
“The response we are getting is fantastic. The kids absolutely love it and the parents are very surprised and happy to see us there. Sometimes you have to step outside your box and what your true mandate is and your role is and just do the things that are right,” said Ladouceur.
