Hinsdale Coronavirus: How Police Are Coping

HINSDALE, IL — Hinsdale Police Chief Brian King said his department is not holding group roll calls these days. It's happening remotely. And he said police cars are being disinfected more frequently now.

"Officers wear face masks and coverings in the police station and outside in their duties," King said in an interview.

Overall, he said, the crime rate has dropped in Hinsdale since the governor's stay-at-home order last month. But police are still receiving reports of overnight burglaries and thefts.

He also said the department was seeing "slight increases" in domestic disturbances and mental health cases.

With fewer cars on the roads, King said, the number of accidents has dropped.

"There are not as many stops," he said.

As for whether the police are refraining from stopping drivers for lesser infractions, King said, "The officers are using discretion."

WESTERN SPRINGS

Like many towns, crime is down in Western Springs while people are staying home during the coronavirus pandemic, but the vandals damaging fences have continued, a top police official says.

As for traffic enforcement, "officers are not taking a proactive approach of making traffic stops for minor infractions," Deputy Police Chief Dan Albrecht said in an email.

In the last few weeks, he said, the police department has seen many changes. It has restricted officers from being inside the department as much as possible. They are typing their reports inside their cars, most are eating their lunches in them as well, and the time for roll calls has been significantly reduced, Albrecht said.

Officers are still responding to ambulance calls, but do not go into houses unless the fire department requests them to, he said.

"All officers have been provided personal protective equipment and they are decontaminating the interior of their respective police vehicles with a disinfectant," Albrecht said in the email. "We have adjusted some of our staffs hours in the attempt to stagger working hours with the goal of having less staff working in the same area at the same time."

LA GRANGE

In La Grange, most people are following the governor's stay-at-home order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but the order doesn't mean people are trapped in their houses, the local police chief says.

Some residents have expressed concern about people biking, running and walking in local neighborhoods, Police Chief Kurt Bluder said in an interview. Those are acceptable activities, he said, as long as people are obeying social distancing.

"In a village like La Grange, a very walkable community, people can walk from their residence to the store or curbside pickup," the chief said. "On the surface, you may see people out and about, but they may well be adhering to the order itself. You might see a group walking, but you may not know they are a family who lives together."

When the weather warmed last month, people were congregating in local parks, particularly teenagers in pickup basketball games, Bluder said. In dealing with such situations, he said, police seek voluntary compliance.

When police officers arrive for their shifts, Bluder said, their first duty is to immediately disinfect their cars. Then they report to a garage bay for roll call, where they spread out to achieve social distancing, he said.

The goal is to keep officers outside the police station building as much as possible, with officers wearing personal protective equipment when they come into contact with the public. Even in normal times, officers spend most of their shifts in the field, the chief said.

"That's what is unique about law enforcement. Their office is the 2 1/2 square miles of La Grange," Bluder said.

Since the governor's order, the police department's calls for service have been down "a little bit," the chief said.

RIVERSIDE

Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel has been with the police department for 35 years, a dozen as its chief. He said he has seen nothing like the last few weeks.

"There isn't a single aspect of policing that hasn't changed," he said in an interview.

One of the biggest changes is that the police temporarily have a substation in an old park building. This lets officers spread out and lower the probability of the virus spreading in the department. These days, officers "have very little citizen contact" and the police station is no longer the scene of "hustle and bustle" as it used to be, Weitzel said.

"We treat everyone we come into contact with as if they're infected. If this hits the police department, it would be very devastating. We're trying to do everything possible to limit that," the chief said.

Officers have been required to come to work in their full uniform with their equipment, rather than using the locker room or going to roll call, Weitzel said. They are asked to go directly to their squad cars and start work, minimizing the need to use the station. He said no more than two officers are assigned to particular cars — another way to protect them.

"I have given directives that I never thought I would have in my entire life: Wash your clothes every day. Use disinfectant soap," said Weitzel, who continues to work in the main police station. Additionally, officers are required to wear personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves and glasses. And they have been given sanitizing wipes.
As for traffic enforcement, officers are not pulling over drivers as often, Weitzel said.

"If they're not seeing a very egregious traffic offense, they're not making traffic stops now," he said. "We're only stopping people who are really, really reckless. Drivers probably know we're not doing normal traffic enforcement. There are people who are taking advantage of that."

Weitzel described local officers as "very conscious" about social distancing.

After the stay-at-home order ends, the chief wonders how many of the current practices will become normal policing. He said he did not know.

Read more:

Illinois Coronavirus Update April 15: 24,593 Cases; 948 Deaths

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