Pandemic policing in the time of Omicron

The rise of Omicron is putting extra pressure on many public institutions and local police say they are by no means immune.

Waterloo Regional Police Chief Bryan Larkin says the latest variant of COVID-19 to take hold is once again changing the way police work during a pandemic.

“Obviously the world's changed,” said Larkin during his weekly 'Ask the Chief' segment on The Mike Farwell Show.

Larkin adds police are enhancing what personal protective equipment they use, moving toward more protective N-95 and KN-95 masks and eye-wear instead of the blue surgical masks which have been worn previously.

The chief also says they've paused all non-mandatory training and education, changed they way they recruit, triage service calls differently, and have also been forced to alter the way victim services operate.

“These are different times and even myself and the deputy chiefs and the leadership teams, we only meet virtually,” said Larkin. “I'm literally 10 feet down the hallway from the deputies but we're not meeting in-person, we're meeting virtually.”

Larkin says a lot has changed since the start of the pandemic and much continues to change with the rise of the Omicron variant, especially as case counts within the police force rise along with those in the general public.

“In the last 30 days we have 37 positive members,” said Larkin. “In the first 20 months [of the pandemic] we had 33.”

Larkin says one thing that hasn't changed has been the challenge presented by misinformation swirling online and on social media.

The chief, meantime, also says 98 per cent of the force has been vaccinated against COVID-19 while only two members have refused to comply with the alternative, regular rapid testing.

“We have two members that have chosen not to comply with the directive and ultimately that's now a labour matter being handled by our labour team.”