Officers of Character

Our city and department leadership has been intricately involved in developing the response to the COVID19 crisis since the national declaration occurred. The Executive Leadership immediately met and established emergency operation plans. This thrust each department manager into high gear to collectively develop a their part of the total city emergency management plan. In close collaboration with our Fire Department, we developed linked Operational Plans and Field Directives to guide our employees through the unknown. This took an enormous amount of manpower, time, and energy. Throughout this process, social distancing was implemented and enforced throughout our department. Employees were instructed to stay in their areas. This creates distance between Divisions, Units, and people. Over time the "Message" and "Meaning" to our goals and objectives can lose their effectiveness. Take every opportunity to address the value each of your employees are to your organization and reaffirm their contribution to the mission. We are all human and have limits, and during "CRISIS" your people need to hear your positive voice the most. Keep up the good work!-)

Bedford PD has been working daily to update our OPS Plan and Field Directives. It has made the transition from work-group to line officer fairly seamless. We feel others may benefit from the documents and would like to see what others have developed. Be safe!

I am curious what others are doing for work related exposures or possible exposures. In TX, our city insurance carrier (TML for most municipalities) is being very tight-lipped about how this is ultimately going to be addressed. If an officer becomes positive, is it going to be covered by worker comp? I know of at least one state-wide union that is pushing the state (TX) to declare any first responder who tests positive for COVID19 to be presumptive it was duty-related. For our internal agency protocols, if someone (arrestee, involved person, etc) self-declares they have it or a family member states they have it and officers are exposed to that person, we are completing our normal first report of injury documentation. If we come into contact with someone who is confirmed to have COVID19 through official testing, we are doing the same documentation and also treating it like a blood exposure (additional paperwork and notification of City Infectious Disease Control Officer). Anyone have other ideas or protocols you are using? Always looking for a better way!