Police Officers Stationed At Wydown Middle School

Press release from the City of Clayton:

April 1, 2020

"Police departments throughout the United States are dealing with workforce reductions resulting from officers testing positive for COVID-19. To reduce the risk of losing officers to a quarantine, starting today, one half of the Clayton PD’s Patrol Division will be stationed at Wydown Middle School. The other half will remain at our police station on S. Brentwood Blvd. Dividing the patrol personnel should prevent an entire squad or more from being quarantined if one officer is infected with COVID-19.

This plan will not have a negative impact on the services we provide. This temporary arrangement of the Patrol Division will ensure that we have adequate personnel to protect the community. The plan will remain in effect until the threat of community exposure is significantly diminished.

Currently, school district staff are not working inside Wydown Middle School. Prisoners will not be brought to the school. Prisoners will still be transported to our main police station on S. Brentwood.

We would like to thank the School District of Clayton for their generosity in allowing us to use Wydown Middle School. We will take good care of the building, and we will be good neighbors to the residents near the school.

We also want to take this opportunity to thank the Clayton community for the gratitude and encouragement expressed to our officers on the street over the past few weeks. The positive feedback is very much appreciated during these stressful times."

Mark J. Smith
Interim Chief of Police

This press release was produced by the City of Clayton. The views expressed here are the author’s own.