Goshen police officers are now using face masks when making person-to-person contact with the public. Goshen Police Chief Jose Miller says since anybody could be carrying the virus, whether they are showing symptoms or not, officers will wear the masks to protect themselves as well as the public. The chief says the change is not meant to scare people, but to show them just how serious this pandemic is to everyone.

Goshen Police Chief Jose Miller issued the following statement:

Police officers come into contact with many people throughout our community every day.
Recently with the spreading of the coronavirus, Goshen Police Department has modified
procedures to include our response to calls for service. One major change is we now respond to non-emergency calls by taking them over the telephone. This has helped reduce the person to person contact lowering the unnecessary potential exposures. Even with all the safety precautions the public and professionals are following, the virus continues to spread.

Officers are provided with a PPE mask and gloves to utilize anytime they are with an individual who is confirmed to have COVID-19 or has flu like symptoms. We previously informed our officers not to use PPE equipment if the person they have contact with does not show any symptoms. Yet, the CDC reports, “Data suggests that symptoms may appear in as few as 2 days or as long as 14 days after exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19”. The concern is officers may not wear PPE equipment not knowing someone they encounter may actually have COVID-19. This is especially true in the dynamic situations officers respond to where there is no time to question an individual about possible symptoms. This ultimately risks exposure to other officers and members of the community.

Since the safety of our officers and community is our primary concern, we have re-evaluated the use of the PPE masks by our officers while dealing with the public. We feel the uncertainty of relying strictly on visible symptoms is not worth the risk of possibly spreading this virus. Therefore, we will be requiring our officers to wear a PPE mask anytime they have person to person contact with someone. This again, is to protect the community and the officers since symptoms may not be visible for up to fourteen days. This change in our policy is not to scare the public, but to protect them and to show them just how serious this pandemic is to everyone.

We will continue to follow CDC recommendations, and want to reiterate the importance of
social distancing. We will do our part to ensure our officers are healthy and that they can continue to respond to the needs of our community throughout these trying times. Please do your part and continue to follow the Executive Orders issued by our Governor so together we can minimize the spread of this deadly virus in our community.