Some Lompoc Police Department employees have tested positive for COVID-19.
Chief Joseph Mariani said the cases over the past two weeks come after the department was “without incident” for nearly eight months.
Chief Mariana says both the City and police department have been very proactive from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were the first to close and restrict our lobby to minimize contact for our employees and the public. We also went to great lengths to obtain Personal Protective Equipment and established protocols to isolate employees within the building to minimize the risk of exposure to the virus. We restricted access to our facility to include volunteers as well as non-essential workers. When feasible we allowed some of our employees to work remotely. We also established procedures to promote safety to our officers and the public as much as was reasonable and practical given the nature of our work,” Mariani told KSBY News.
He says employees who tested positive were told to isolate at home, per CDC guidelines, adding the department has been working with others to “ensure that we are utilizing every resource and option to maintain a safe work place and minimize risks to the members of the public that we engage with.”
Due to privacy laws, the chief is unable to elaborate on the positive cases.
Many other local law enforcement agencies have been impacted by positive cases among staff during the pandemic.