East Lyme Police Enact New Rules To Prevent Spread Of COVID-19

EAST LYME, CT — The East Lyme Police Department has issued new guidelines in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. This includes social distancing, closing the department's lobby to the public, and other measures .

Below is a statement from police posted on their Facebook page:

We find ourselves in a very uncertain time with an uncharted course ahead of us. The East Lyme Police Department is dedicated to ensuring that we continue to keep our community safe during this time. To accomplish this we are closely following guidance from our local, state and federal public health officials and have put several operational changes in place. The goal of these changes is to limit the chance of infection for both members of the public and our public safety staff. The East Lyme Police Department will continue to conduct active visible Patrols in our community.
The changes put into place are as follows:

The lobby of the East Lyme Police Department will be closed to general access. To reduce face to face interaction when possible, we will be speaking with members of the public via the telephone whenever possible. Those wishing to speak with an Officer are directed to call the Police Department (860-739-5900) or utilize the yellow phone on the side of the building to speak with a dispatcher. If contact must take place in the lobby, Officers will maintain social distance and/or utilize the transaction window.

The East Lyme Police Department based upon the Governors directive of March 17, 2020, will no longer conduct applicant fingerprinting at our building until further notice.

If Officers are required to respond to homes/business’s, our dispatch personnel have enhanced the screening of callers to help determine the type of response required. When possible, callers will be directed to meet Officers outside rather than have Officers enter unneeded into buildings to limit possible exposures. While we understand that the nature of our work will not always allow this, cutting these interactions when we can will benefit everyone.

Everyone in our Community is hopeful that this is a short lived event, though at this point we know that harder times are ahead of us. We want to thank you for your cooperation and together we will partner to navigate these difficult times with everyone’s health and safety as our top priority.