While the city of Sioux City shut down public spaces including the museum, art center and playgrounds; business is still going on, including law enforcement.
Siouxland Public Media’s Sheila Brummer explores the impact of the COVID-19 on the Sioux City Police Department.
The Sioux City Police Department is seeing one major trend during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of drunk driving arrests dropped significantly.
Last month, officers made 52 OWI arrests. The number fell to less than half in March, for a total of 24 arrests with only five in the past two weeks.
“Obviously, this is because the bars are closed and sit down restaurants and people aren’t getting in their cars drunk and driving home.”
That’s Community Policing Sergeant Jeremy McClure, who says officers are working their normal shifts; conducting traffic stops and answering calls for service.
“By the nature of our job we have interaction with people. We follow of the guidelines as much as possible. We have plenty of PPE for the officers to use when needed. We are trying to adapt the best we can to the circumstances and still do our job.”
Sgt. McClure also offers this advice during quarantine conditions.
“The biggest thing is just watch out for each other. I expect residential burglaries will go down but if you see something suspicious, report it. Also, if you own a business review your security procedures, especially if you are in the business less. Make sure your door locks work properly, you don’t have malfunctioning doors. That you have security measures in place do reduce your chances of becoming a victim.”
Sgt. McClure says so far no officers in Sioux City have come down with COVID-19.