NEW ORLEANS — The city of New Orleans confirms five NOPD employees tested positive for coronavirus, but did not specify how many of those are sworn officers, if any at all.
With those positive cases, another 51 employees are in self-quarantine or being told to stay home.
"I think that it's inevitable really," said Donovan Livaccari, who heads to Fraternal Order of Police.
Livaccari says he's happy with the department's efforts to ensure officer safety, but given the nature of the job, protection only goes so far.
"As long as we have people out on the street answering calls for service, we're going to be running that risk and I think that there's no avoiding that for the police department," said Livaccari.
The number released by NOPD includes those who have been in direct contact with the disease and those exhibiting symptoms associated with it.
"This number includes personnel that have either come into direct contact with an individual known to be carrying COVID-19 or were exhibiting flu-like symptoms,” said a spokesperson for the department in a statement.
With that amount of people taken away from the jobs at NOPD, the question is whether that will impact things like response times.
"You know this is a kind of circumstances that we're not quite used to, so, you know, we have to adapt as best we can," said Livaccari.
These police department cases come as the city's fire department faces the same problem. More than four dozen firefighters reportedly either tested positive for coronavirus or came in contact with someone who did. That leaves the department even shorter on manpower than before.
"I heard that we have 54 guys who have been exposed or confirmed," said five union chief Aaron Mischler.
Mischler, who tested positive himself, says calls for help will continue, so these first responders will also. Livaccari says that's the same case for the police department, no matter the threat.
"It's difficult to deal with an adversary that you can't see," said Livaccari.
It’s unclear whether those five positive cases are at NOPD headquarters or in precincts across the city. NOPD reports three of those 51 employees have been cleared to return to work.
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