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2020 Annual Report • Police Department • St. Anthony Village, Minnesota <br /> <br /> <br />5 | Page <br /> <br />We endeavored to remain committed to working cooperatively and innovatively to address the <br />challenges encountered by this viral illness and asked our residents to engage in community hygiene <br />practices as noted in guidelines set forth by the CDC and MDH. <br />Efforts made by our police officers and City staff to monitor compliance related to social distancing, <br />among other orders issued through the Office of the Governor, focused primarily on education, with no <br />enforcement action having to be taken. Our entire staff remained encouraged by the support received <br />from our residents during the time we were obliged to adhere with the Governor’s executive orders, <br />direction and recommendations. <br />STAYING CONNECTED AND SHARING GOOD NEWS <br />Our Community Engagement Officers along with our entire <br />staff have put a considerable amount of time and <br />consideration into content for our social media platforms in an <br />effort to stay connected and provide up-to-date information to <br />those in our service area. As a result, our online impact and <br />following has increased. <br />Recently, Lt. Diegnau responded to a call where he and the St. Anthony Village Fire Department (FD) <br />personnel rescued several baby ducks from a storm drain. Lt. Diegnau became aware that a citizen had <br />taken photos of the activity and asked for copies. Those photos were then sent to Officer Rushton who <br />posted them on Facebook. KARE-11 saw the post and highlighted it during their evening newscast. This <br />small yet thoughtful act reflected well on every member of our PD and FD that responded to that call for <br />service. <br />WE VALUE OUR STAFF <br />Not surprisingly, the pandemic created additional stress beyond the traditional levels felt by our staff. A <br />national study reported that the two greatest sources of increased stress among front line workers and <br />first responders were (1) fear of infecting family members or loved ones with the virus and (2) increased <br />enforcement of restrictions on the public. <br />As our first responders navigated the challenges of the pandemic and other trends, the mental and <br />physical well-being of our personnel and their families remained important. We attempted to remain <br />vigilant about monitoring the physical health of staff members during the pandemic, and attempted to