By Austin Rust-
During this novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, troopers of the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) have adapted to a new set of guidelines set for law enforcement. These guidelines, set by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and Ohio Department of Health (ODH) are now in place to protect OSHP personnel, their families, and Ohio’s motorists from COVID-19.
According to OSHP Public Relations Officer Trooper Sheldon Goodrum, MPA: “The CDC and ODH have put out guidelines for law enforcement – (these are) certain things we can do to make sure we’re maintaining proper hygiene, disinfecting certain areas, etc. Patrol Posts are giving the troopers disposable gloves to use while working. Some posts are giving out face masks, as well.”
“We have been encouraged to stay off-post (as much as possible),” Trooper Goodrum continued. “Typically, troopers return to their posts at the beginning and end of their shifts, (but) we have been encouraged to start finishing cases at the computers in our patrol cars if we can. It’s a good system, because not only are we practicing that social distancing – keeping ourselves safe – but it also keeps us visible out there in the public. We know that Ohioans and motorists want to see us; they want to see us slowing down cars and doing our jobs. If we were all here at the post because we didn’t want to be out there exposing ourselves (to COVID-19), then we wouldn’t be visible – people wouldn’t see us. This system we’re using is two-fold: we’re staying safe, staying visible.”
At OSHP posts, which remain open to the public, administrators have been directed to regularly disinfect computer monitors, keyboards, and mice, as well as phones, door handles, and rooms in regular use, such as the dispatch center. Services offered to the public have not been impacted.
“We’re disinfecting as much as we can to stay ahead of this,” Trooper Goodrum explained. He noted that a required yearly in-service for OSHP troopers covering changes to policy had been temporarily postponed, and mock crashes scheduled at schools (now closed) were cancelled.
So far, there have been no known cases of COVID-19 among the OSHP, said Trooper Goodrum. “We’re encouraging troopers, dispatchers, and our professional staff – if they’re sick, or feel like there might be something going on – to use the time off they’ve accrued to stay at home, find out what’s going on, take some medicine, and then come back to work when they feel well again.”
Moving forward, Trooper Goodrum explained that it was OSHP standard procedure (even before the COVID-19 outbreak) to disinfect patrol cars after transporting anyone in the back seat. “First, let me explain that not everyone who goes into our back seat is a prisoner, or has done something wrong,” he began. “When I handle a crash or a disabled vehicle on the road, sometimes the safest place for a person to be is the next exit, a gas station, or a rest area. After anyone – whether it is a prisoner we’re taking to jail or someone we’re relaying to a safer place – goes into that back seat, we disinfect and sanitize the patrol car. Our patrol cars are also cleaned at the end of each shift.”
“What we’re doing – our core mission – has not changed,” said Trooper Goodrum. “We are still subject to call. We’re handling crashes, stopping cars, looking for criminal activity and impaired driving. We’re still doing everything that we were doing before the coronavirus. That mission is still our mission, and we have not slowed down, but we are tweaking the ways we do things.”
Trooper Goodrum explained that whereas before, he might have asked the driver of a stopped car to hand him their license, registration, and proof of insurance, some troopers are now encouraged to ask motorists to hold up their information so that it can be copied down. “So we have tweaked how we do things a little bit to follow the new guidelines,” Trooper Goodrum added, “but our mission has stayed the same, and it has not significantly slowed us in the commitment we have to the safety of motorists and Ohioans. We’re not letting the coronavirus pandemic change that.”
“As a law enforcement officer, there’s a certain level of stress every day just given what we do,” said Trooper Goodrum, “especially with never knowing what we’re being exposed to when we search vehicles, or never knowing what’s going to go on with each stop that we make, but I think that this coronavirus has made us a little more cautious. Some troopers, for example – they would go home, take their uniform off, and just hang it in a closet with other clothes. But now, uniforms have to be kept separate – you don’t want to bring what you picked up out working into the home where it could affect your kids, wife, or husband. Is there a little bit more stress? Yes, because we are trying to be more cautious. We’re always thinking of worst case scenarios. But is (that stress) so significant that it’s seriously impacting the work that we do? No, I don’t think it is.”
“Anytime that there’s an increased risk to our troopers, professional staff, and dispatchers, who may be exposed to something they’re not normally facing, we put out guidelines to combat it,” said Trooper Goodrum. “As these things happen, the OSHP and the Ohio Department of Public Safety stay ahead of it. We find what works best, and we’re always refining operations to keep people safe – not only our own people, but also the Ohioans we interact with every day.”
“We are out in force like we always have been,” Trooper Goodrum concluded, adding: “If you crash or witness a crash, if your vehicle’s disabled, or if there’s something in the roadway, dial #677, hit send, and it will connect you to the nearest OSHP Post. Speak with a dispatcher – the dispatcher will get some information from you, and they will send a trooper to your location or the location of a reported crash.” Goodrum also recommended use of the Safer Ohio app.
On a final note, Trooper Goodrum explained that with Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) offices now closed, the OSHP will not be taking enforcement action on individuals with license plates which expired as of the close of business March 18.
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