05-03-2021 Council Work Session Packet

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3Lino Lakes Public Safety Department 2020 ANNUAL REPORT ONE VISION. ONE MISSION. Police Division Throughout 2020, the Police Division of the LLPSD made significant changes to the way we responded to and handled calls for service, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic hit, before responding to calls, Officers closely assessed the needs of those calls to determine whether or not in-person contact was necessary, or if the call should be handled by phone in an effort to decrease the number of close-interactions with individuals throughout the community. Officers increased protective measures for themselves and for the people they met by wearing protective masks and increased distance from those they interacted with. Although not the police department’s preferred style of interaction, more than ever, officers handled calls by phone rather than in-person and on many occasions, found themselves asking people to talk with them outside of homes and businesses rather than inside, to lessen the likelihood of transmitting/contracting the COVID virus. Probably the greatest disappointment among the staff of the Lino Lakes Police Department was the complete cessation of all community programs, community events, police department initiatives, and the day-to-day interactions. Our officers had grown accustomed to providing service through face-to- face interactions over the years. Once the pandemic hit, the police department team was no longer able to establish in-person connections with Lino Lakes residents and the members of our business community. COVID did not do any of us any favors in this respect. Our agency needed to put almost all educational programs on hold throughout 2020, but we really look forward to turning that all back on in 2021. Once the Governor’s Executive Orders prohibited gatherings, both the police and fire division partook in an initiative to show support to the Lino Lakes Community, at a distance, with special event drive- by’s. The police division participated in 44 drive-by’s during this time. Events ranged from birthdays, graduations, neighborhood support, a drive-by parade at our assisted living facilities, and even one small backyard wedding and a gender reveal. A very non-traditional approach to police/community interactions, but it was one of the few things we could do during a challenging time to remind our residents how much we appreciated them. Despite the pandemic, officers maintained traditional patrol levels and were still able to handle traffic- related problems throughout the city, without much change. Although the officers didn’t stop their proactive efforts, they did modify the way they interacted with drivers by not taking items from individuals, rather, they would write down necessary information, such as driver’s license numbers and insurance information, then return to their squad cars with their written notes rather than exchanging the items with individuals. An interesting note about the new cautious approach to traffic stops; although the overwhelming majority of people with whom the officers interacted were accepting of the precautionary practices, some were offended that the officers wore masks or wouldn’t take their items. It made them feel as though they were a viral threat to the officer. On the other hand, others expressed frustration that the officers stopped them at all, despite the violation(s), and felt the officers posed a viral threat to them and shouldn’t have stopped them. Additionally, a common theme