March 14, 2020 by Carol Britton Meyer
Deputy Police Chief David Jones has some simple advice for Hingham citizens during the current coronavirus challenge: "Don't panic. Use common sense, have good hygiene, remain at a safe distance in your interactions with the public, and limit contact with elderly family members, friends, and neighbors -- the most vulnerable population."
In accordance with Friday's suspension by town officials of all non-essential services as of the close of business, the HPD's administrative offices will remain closed through at least Sunday, March 22, including the Records Department. The police station is also closed to public access.
"Non-essential personnel will work remotely for the time being," Jones said. Signs are posted at the station informing visitors of this temporary policy.
However, there will be no interruption in providing emergency and other essential services to the public. The police log will continue to be posted online, and records requests will be handled remotely. (See hpd.org for further information.) "Things will just be handled a little differently for now," Jones said.
Anyone entering the police department lobby seeking assistance who would ordinarily speak directly with a police officer will now be directed by signage to talk to someone behind the glass to minimize HPD officers' contact with the public for the protection of both.
Important updates are regularly posted at hpd.org along with the HPD's Twitter and Facebook links, embedded in the page for easy access.
To enhance the safety of Hingham police officers and their families, there's a plan in place to minimize contact between different shifts -- outgoing officers leave one way while incoming officers enter through a different location. "So if there was any exposure to the coronavirus, it would be limited to that particular shift," Jones explained.
Now that all Hingham Public Schools are closed through at least March 27, school resource officers are joining the regular police officers to increase HPD staffing.
All firearms license permit appointments and civil fingerprint ( identification of a person's fingerprints primarily for the purposes of determining whether an individual has a prior criminal arrest record and/or for verifying the person's identity at a later date) applications have been put on hold, to be rescheduled at a later time -- depending on guidance offered by state and Hingham officials, including the health department.
All Hingham Police Department tours, civilian ridealongs as part of the Citizens Police Academy, and the next sessions of the Academy -- one scheduled to meet at Linden Ponds and the other at the Hingham police station -- have been postponed.
"We definitely plan on hosting these activities again, but we want to protect our officers and their families as well as our citizens by minimizing contact as much as possible at this time," Jones said.
Other precautions are being taken as well, including sanitizing the police cruisers for every shift and disinfecting the keyboards and phones inside the police station.
As the scenario plays out, "Things could change moving forward, especially since we work with a lot of state and other agencies and area police departments to develop the best practices across the region," said Jones.