Whether in a metropolis or rural jurisdiction, cops are enduring the same ominous circumstances (only exponentially) posed by the coronavirus pandemic while still serving with distinction and meritorious mettle. The in-progress tsunami of stories revealing heroic deeds by cops are unfortunately accompanied by collateral damage typified by police paradox: Losing life while life-saving.
A major part of the atrocities we see mounting is the depleted supply of PPEs to enable self-protective measures when human contact is necessitated.
With this pandemic essentially demanding all hands on deck, law enforcement officers are where they have always been: on the streets of America, exceptionally maximized. And on those streets ordinarily traversed by a mass populace, a silent bug invisible to the naked eye somehow weaseled its way into the respiratory system of thousands of cops, aggregately. No one could possibly say with certitude that our beloved LEOs would be unaffected; the opposite is evident. The inevitability of self-sacrifice has never been more accurate than the proportion of our present-day pandemic. Certain doom is what we have to account for. Despite that bleak projection, though, protective measures can be implemented.
A community-serving neighbor of mine —a cop employed by a major municipality— recently revealed his ire after his police agency handed out a solitary sample-size bottle of hand sanitizer for each squad member. My thought was That’s like one crumb to each of a flock of famished birds. With a shake of my head I said, “You mean, like a hotel-size complimentary bottle?” His head bobbed in affirmation, annoyed, while saying “Yep!”
Naturally, every cop expects the appropriate supply of things to make the job safer. Nothing new. What is new is the diminution of certain supplies—our nation’s reserves and surplus rooms came up drastically short. Big problem.
Of the roughly 18,500 cop shops employing almost one million police personnel spread across America, this is but one example of a shortage of staple items belonging in every LEO’s arsenal. Rubbing alcohol? Same dilemma; his squad commander issued one full bottle for the entire squad to “share.” If you’re thinking That’s counterintuitive, we are on the same page.
With that cat out of the bag, we turn to the grassroots resolve: America to the rescue!
Folks across our resilient nation are stepping up and offering their hand sanitizer supplies to cops while small businesses (the folks who really inspiring in all this shocking tragedy) are diverting from whatever they usually manufacture and instead brewing batches of sanitizers for police departments to keep safe their frontline warrior cops.
Analyzing a bevy of such poignant stories endowed with Americans stepping up and doing the absolute right thing, local companies, many not even considered an incorporated chain of any sort, have assembled their employee base, ensured pubic health factors, and started their respective systems to produce hand sanitizers for law enforcement officers. Not only that, many of these entities are hand-delivering them directly to police stations—sanitary, sterile, gloved, and stacked with social distancing in mind…all deals sealed with a smile and utter gratitude. Like a wartime effort, only grassroots local.
I’ve easily culled from a handsome number of small businesses who have voluntarily invested time and effort to ensure cops are protected, armed with fresh batches of hand sanitizers. Locally, a dad whose company is called 3 Daughters Brewing whipped up stacks of cases containing individual canisters of hand sanitizer for Tampa Bay area law enforcement agencies to distribute to police personnel working their beats.
https://www.facebook.com/TampaPD/videos/867332950356703/?v=867332950356703
The largest cop shop in the U.S., the NYPD sent out an S.O.S. to the White House, asking for protective gear for its 35,000-plus police officers. According to the New York Post, within a 16-hour span, NYPD cops had cases of medical face masks and other health-related equipment delivered by plane. The Post explained: “In a mission dubbed ‘Operation Blue Bloods,’ President Donald Trump’s equipment czar Peter Navarro, Assistant to the President for Trade and Manufacturing Policy, cobbled together a rapid-response team including company executives who flew thousands of full-body suits on a private plane the next day.
“More than 6,000 gallons of hand sanitizer donated by alcohol company Pernod Ricard were also rushed from Arizona by a UPS trucker in 48 hours.” How’s that for rapid response by government for cops in dire need?
Speaking of “need,” what about keeping sterility with regard to rolling offices of cops? Given that they’re “out there,” how are police cruisers being maintained? Alameda PD in California was bestowed buffing services by Bactakleen, an “Alameda-based business which specializes in anti-bacterial treatment/cleansing for vehicles, homes, offices, hotels, clinics, and hospitals.” All gratis, Backtakleen sterilized every single Alameda police car. Alameda PD showed gratitude: Backtakleen’s applicator, David, “donated his services to clean APD’s ENTIRE police fleet to help ensure our employees, who routinely have community contact, are working in sanitized vehicles. It’s Alamedans like David that motivate us to stay working for you!”
To Alameda PD, David replied, echoing our subject matter today: “Thanks for the shout out Alameda Police Department for always being there for the community we live in and keeping us safe! It’s uncertain times like these when all of us need to come together and help each other out. It’s a small token of appreciation & gratitude for all that you do. You all stay safe out there!”
Synonymously, my buddy’s police department offered to contract with Servpro, a nationwide company which specializes in crime scene and disaster area cleanup. My friend’s police command staff authorized having every single police vehicle sanitized by skilled Servpro technicians. The eventual cost to the city? Zero. Handshakes were precluded; salutes from afar were exchanged. Self-sustaining sanitary supplies are also being donated by retailers so that cops can do their own thing while on duty.
Since our nation’s police forces are mandatorily on duty for countless hours, how/when are they taking brief respite to basically resupply their own homes with food and such? A growing number of big-box chains as well as some mom-and-pop shops have set aside private time for law enforcement to grab buggy and shop for goods to hold them over.
And if there is neither time nor an open eatery to pick up a meal while on duty, some restaurateurs are sort of clandestinely cooking up food and directly delivering to police stations in their area. At one time or another (hurricane season in Florida can limit goods and services), I’ve been on the receiving end of such thoughtful chefs stewing great food for this cop’s belly. The Clearwater (FL) Police Department received several shopping bags loaded with freshly-made health-oriented food trays for Clearwater officers working the streets, compliments of local health-food eatery Fit for Life.
In that same regard, I don’t know of any cop who would pass on a fresh batch of goodies from a place called The Taco Bus. Clearwater cops scored again, thanks to caring companies in the jurisdiction showing gratitude for gatekeeping duties while under severe duress from pandemic implications.
Tampa LEOs were provided a tasty olive branch thanks to the crew at a local Olive Garden.
These are a fraction of myriad stories evolving across America (and globally). From hardships come hard-earned lessons. Also from hardships emerge praiseworthy heroes never known until their hands jut, voluntarily heading into the unknown while donning the best game-face depicting inarguable fear and trepidation. There are many of this type who we are learning about and, in time, many more will avail themselves dutifully caring for the person who exhibits that certain look of vulnerability—the gaze cops know all too well, and why they took their oath.
Let’s head to the finish line with some musings: As an analyst easily intrigued by life’s ironies, I have two for today, both related to our topic.
One, my city cop/neighbor’s take-home cruiser has a white vinyl stick-on graphic affixed to the rear windshield. It depicts a vehicle and a bicyclist with the words “Three feet apart” (with a white two-sided
arrow extending between the car and bicyclist). At first I though his police department administration thought that far ahead and swiftly got on it, hiring a graphics applicator to emplace the warnings/reminders on its 1000-plus police vehicles. Not the case; the graphic symbolizes their program to enforce bicycle safety and sharing the road with vehicular traffic. But it similarly makes the case for social distancing—a concept adopted only recently. At first glance, my brain envisioned the newest most-searched words of social distancing; bike safety was not even remotely on my mind. I suspect the entire world would readily relate.
As I told my loved-ones who are nail-biting over this pandemic: albeit awkward to say/think, some very genius and innovative concepts are going to derive from this global ordeal, many by forward-thinking Americans whose mindsets conjure marvels we can all use—or at least have available to thwart or endure similar pandemics. (I saw a guy using a snorkeling device for protection, in the meat section of the supermarket. At the nozzle’s opening he has a rubber-banded mesh material. If N95s (medical face masks) are in short supply, are snorkels aggregately abundant? Looks ridiculous, but beats death.)
The second irony: For the first time in my life I can say I had to disinfect the disinfectant; with washed/gloved hands I sprayed a tall can of Lysol with alcohol spray, sealed it in an evidence-like freezer bag, and gave it to the cop across the street—from a safe distance, of course.